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I'm not sure what it is but I'm very much getting sucked into these books. I liked this one even more than Autumn even though I was expecting the opposite from what I've head from others and almost didn't read this! I feel like Ali Smith writes quite "nothing" male characters which is quite interesting. I'm not sure what was going on in some parts of this (were Art and his mother both psychotic?) but feeling uncertain didn't spoil my enjoyment. I think I just like the weirdness and wondering about what the deeper meaning might be. I was really interested in Lux. I also enjoyed pondering the relationship between Art, Sophia and Iris and felt like maybe there were some questions in that about who is a mother, what it means to be maternal etc. I will definitely revisit this series at some point because I think I would take something different from it.
reflective
slow-paced
“That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.”
This text filled me with a type coziness that I needed mid-winter and still six weeks away from daylight savings time. I absolutely adore concept that winter gives us the opportunity to practise our stillness and invoke a sense of being before defrosting and coming back to life in the spring. Which is something I will try to remember when things feel rough and the affects of season affective disorder are especially rough.
I think the way I best describe Ali Smith is as a ‘wordsmith.’ She has very much honed her craft. Her texts are almost like a meditative art, and for me, Winter was just the same.
I really enjoy how Smith characterises human connections and, particularly in Winter, the complexities of familial relationships between siblings and mother and child using this to carry her plot. And what we, personally, decide to be true and how this can influence and confuse shared memories.
However, one thing I haven’t been enjoying since I noticed it is the reoccurring character in a number of Smith’s texts: The older, stubborn (and often self righteous?..) person who is completely adverse to the development and implementation of the digital world into everyday life. Although this character-type is frequent in reality, and frames the postmodern (plot?). It is equally frustrating reading about these characters as it is explaining and aiding older generation in the digital world. These characters, to me, show an unwillingness to learn or evolve that results in members of the older generation becoming digitally illiterate. Perhaps I am unsympathetic, this could be due to my own age and relationship with the evolving digital world or maybe it’s as a result of my own relationship with those in a similar position. This is merely a personal preference.
Sidenote: The mention of the 24th World Scout Jamboree, West Virginia in 2019 very caught me off guard. Too close to my own life.
This text filled me with a type coziness that I needed mid-winter and still six weeks away from daylight savings time. I absolutely adore concept that winter gives us the opportunity to practise our stillness and invoke a sense of being before defrosting and coming back to life in the spring. Which is something I will try to remember when things feel rough and the affects of season affective disorder are especially rough.
I think the way I best describe Ali Smith is as a ‘wordsmith.’ She has very much honed her craft. Her texts are almost like a meditative art, and for me, Winter was just the same.
I really enjoy how Smith characterises human connections and, particularly in Winter, the complexities of familial relationships between siblings and mother and child using this to carry her plot. And what we, personally, decide to be true and how this can influence and confuse shared memories.
However, one thing I haven’t been enjoying since I noticed it is the reoccurring character in a number of Smith’s texts: The older, stubborn (and often self righteous?..) person who is completely adverse to the development and implementation of the digital world into everyday life. Although this character-type is frequent in reality, and frames the postmodern (plot?). It is equally frustrating reading about these characters as it is explaining and aiding older generation in the digital world. These characters, to me, show an unwillingness to learn or evolve that results in members of the older generation becoming digitally illiterate. Perhaps I am unsympathetic, this could be due to my own age and relationship with the evolving digital world or maybe it’s as a result of my own relationship with those in a similar position. This is merely a personal preference.
Sidenote: The mention of the 24th World Scout Jamboree, West Virginia in 2019 very caught me off guard. Too close to my own life.
slow-paced
challenging
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I decided a while ago that I was going to read this quartet in order, in its respective seasons to ‘get the full experience’ or something and to be honest, looking back, I’d probably tell myself not to bother. Two books in and I don’t really think the weather has enhanced the reading experience much, although I’ll probably keep it going anyway because I like gimmicks.
I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t wow me. I didn’t like it *as* much as ‘Autumn’, and it was hard not to compare the two. Admittedly, the characters in ‘Winter’ are a lot more likeable and I felt the political commentary was more seamlessly immersed within the narrative. It just didn’t leave quite as much of an impression. Maybe I’d be giving it 4 stars if I hadn’t have read Autumn 3 months ago, but if Ali Smith didn’t want me to set myself this silly little challenge then she shouldn’t have made it so darn easy for me!
I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t wow me. I didn’t like it *as* much as ‘Autumn’, and it was hard not to compare the two. Admittedly, the characters in ‘Winter’ are a lot more likeable and I felt the political commentary was more seamlessly immersed within the narrative. It just didn’t leave quite as much of an impression. Maybe I’d be giving it 4 stars if I hadn’t have read Autumn 3 months ago, but if Ali Smith didn’t want me to set myself this silly little challenge then she shouldn’t have made it so darn easy for me!
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was okay? I don’t really get the furore if I’m very honest, but I will keep reading the quartet.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes