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Ali Smith is simply brilliant. For me, Winter was more difficult to get into, but I ended up liking it more than Autumn.
Winter describes a Christmas gathering of a (typically) dysfunctional family. The family is made up of Sophie, her polar-opposite sister Iris, Sophie's son Art and Lux - a stranger Art paid to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend Charlotte.
Despite it being angry and very political, Winter had a certain air of lightness about it. I especially liked Lux, an outsider who brings chaos but also illuminates.
On the language front, Smith doesn't disappoint; her literary allusions and puns are plentiful. Nothing is accidental in her books.
She also has an unmatched sense of humour in contemporary literature. Reading her in translation would be a literary sin.
"I said, Art is seeing things. And your aunt said, that's a great description of what art is. "
The subtle reference to Autumn was beautiful. That was the turning point when I just fell in love with this book.
“That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.”
In 2020, this rings especially relevant.
Winter describes a Christmas gathering of a (typically) dysfunctional family. The family is made up of Sophie, her polar-opposite sister Iris, Sophie's son Art and Lux - a stranger Art paid to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend Charlotte.
Despite it being angry and very political, Winter had a certain air of lightness about it. I especially liked Lux, an outsider who brings chaos but also illuminates.
On the language front, Smith doesn't disappoint; her literary allusions and puns are plentiful. Nothing is accidental in her books.
She also has an unmatched sense of humour in contemporary literature. Reading her in translation would be a literary sin.
"I said, Art is seeing things. And your aunt said, that's a great description of what art is. "
The subtle reference to Autumn was beautiful. That was the turning point when I just fell in love with this book.
“That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.”
In 2020, this rings especially relevant.
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Ali Smith ROCKS. MY. $%*&-ing. WORLD. This is one of those books that makes me mad, its so brilliant. The way she snowballs all of the subject matter, wordplay, and whimsy into this incredible narrative is mindblowing and I may end up reading this several times over again. Take your time with this one. Its worth every second.
Winter is my favourite season. It’s quiet- the snow blocks all the city noise and you’re left with an eerie silence, so much so that your thoughts feel alone on their own. And it’s quiescent without guilt- snuggle in bed all day reading because you’re sick (cough cough)? No problem. Borrow your friend’s oat milk to pour over your fifth cup of hot chocolate? All bueno. Imagine that- all wrapped up in Ali Smith’s quirky (does that word have negative connotations now? Oh well I mean it in the positive sense) writing. I never know where she’s going with anything but she always traces everything back to something and I love it. I also love Iris and Sophia and Lux and Art (in nature).
“Imagine being haunted by the ghost of a flower.”
“Where would we be without our ability to see beyond what it is we’re supposed to be seeing.”
Winter is winter-baby approved
“Imagine being haunted by the ghost of a flower.”
“Where would we be without our ability to see beyond what it is we’re supposed to be seeing.”
Winter is winter-baby approved
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Winter is the story of a group of people all muddling through life, which is like all of us, really. Every character is flawed but also likable, or at least--their motivations are understandable even if you don't agree with them. I love the way it jumps around in time--the flashbacks never feel contrived; they work the way memory works, with a current moment reminding you of a past one so strongly it's like you're living it again, and then it ends and you're back in the present. And best of all, the writing in this book is gorgeous and poetic, full of lush descriptions that never feel extraneous but only another way of bringing you into the story. I loved it so much that I need to go read Autumn, and I'll be looking forward to Spring and Summer.
Wow, this book is extraordinary! I'm looking forward to Spring.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think it's hard to approach "why did I like this book so much". So if I start at the obvious "why would I *dis*like it, even if I didn't, overall" instead. The two viewpoint characters are both disagreeable politically - at least in my opinion and clearly the author's too. I think this is a difficult needle to thread for an author: how to create characters that you disagree with without them being obviously wrong. And I think as in Autumn the places where it breaks down are those where Smith directly addresses Brexit. Which is understandable, because even 5 and a half years from the vote, living with the consequences, having been involved in the "conversation", I still struggle to find the motivations comprehensible because from my personal perspective even those articulated by people are evil, facile and/or just objectively obviously wrong. Luckily these are only little bits.
So then there's also the obvious thing that Sophia and Art aren't super pleasant people. Sophia is given a lot of background that makes her sympathetic but Art... he barely gets a backstory that explains how he is how he is. He just behaves in ways that are inconsiderate and callous with no introspection and - spoiler, I guess - by the end of the book it's not clear that he's changed much. Like part of me was reading in the hope he'd finally realise and then the PoV focuses on him It's sad and pathetic. The extent to which it's clear he instrumentalises a vulnerable woman and treats her intelligence and insight mainly as something For Him is painful.
But... he's not evil. Most of what he does is just... banal. He has a relatively easy job doing something that's a net negative to the world but on the scale of things it's only a small thing and no worse than the average job. He's trying to write a blog on nature that he thinks is really important while ignoring politics and keeps slipping on updating it, makes up "personal" stories that didn't happen, is engaging with a small audience. We all make a decision about how much we engage with politics even when we know it's really important. We all have hobbies. Being a bad writer isn't a bad thing. It's good to express yourself. He fails to engage with the emotions of his politically aware ex-girlfriend but that's not that surprising, for a man. Lots of men like to pretend their reactions to things are "rational" in a way that denies the feelings of women. I mean, bad? Yeah. Not unusual though.
So then... you come to how he treats Lux. Lux appears in the story mostly for what she does for Sophia and Art. She says enough about herself that we get some insight into how she feels and what she cares about. She mentions casually a history. She's insightful and caring. And yet we never get a chance to see from her point of view. It's hard to avoid thinking about manic pixie dream girl type stuff, at least when you get shown stuff from Art's perspective. And there's a sense too a little bit here of betrayal by the author - she's casually used as part of Being Relevant To Brexit when .
Although ok - isn't that kind of, also a point, like an important one? In that she basically becomes a sort of, temporary carer for Sophia which is a reflection of actual labour issues in the UK. And of course we're only seeing it through the eyes of two quite selfish and inconsiderate people who instrumentalise her so of course we don't get the perspective even the author one. And of course they only see her for what she can give them but without even bothering to try and address the material issues that mean she can't give them more and then moping about it... honestly like I complain a little bit and then I realise it's all weaved in more expertly than I'd thought at first.
And I think the thing is... the way Lux gets treated is uncomfortably familiar. It's very, very easy to slip into thinking that things suck for you but if only this one person would fix it for you. Then you'd be ok. Looking for solutions outside yourself to problems that are your own. Thinking of other people only as ways to make you better, the main character. Art does come across as a dick, but a mundane one. The sort of person it's easy to slide into being. And of course, by the end like his unreal nature blog. For now we see through a glass, darkly.
Sophia is in a way an easier character. Her contempt for is given some complex background that makes her basically sympathetic. We also avoid any in depth look into her business life, we just see her afterwards, which means you don't need to think of any of her shadier actions there. Instead, she's mostly characterised negatively by inaction.
So then there's also the obvious thing that Sophia and Art aren't super pleasant people. Sophia is given a lot of background that makes her sympathetic but Art... he barely gets a backstory that explains how he is how he is. He just behaves in ways that are inconsiderate and callous with no introspection and - spoiler, I guess - by the end of the book it's not clear that he's changed much. Like part of me was reading in the hope he'd finally realise and then the PoV focuses on him
Spoiler
getting an erection because a younger (lesbian!) woman is sleeping near him for cash.But... he's not evil. Most of what he does is just... banal. He has a relatively easy job doing something that's a net negative to the world but on the scale of things it's only a small thing and no worse than the average job. He's trying to write a blog on nature that he thinks is really important while ignoring politics and keeps slipping on updating it, makes up "personal" stories that didn't happen, is engaging with a small audience. We all make a decision about how much we engage with politics even when we know it's really important. We all have hobbies. Being a bad writer isn't a bad thing. It's good to express yourself. He fails to engage with the emotions of his politically aware ex-girlfriend but that's not that surprising, for a man. Lots of men like to pretend their reactions to things are "rational" in a way that denies the feelings of women. I mean, bad? Yeah. Not unusual though.
So then... you come to how he treats Lux. Lux appears in the story mostly for what she does for Sophia and Art. She says enough about herself that we get some insight into how she feels and what she cares about. She mentions casually a history
Spoiler
as a child of refugees from the Yugoslav wars, who left them because she couldn't deal with the weight of traumaSpoiler
she points out that due to Brexit she's not even sure how long she'll be allowed to stay in with a Croatian passportAlthough ok - isn't that kind of, also a point, like an important one? In that she basically becomes a sort of, temporary carer for Sophia which is a reflection of actual labour issues in the UK. And of course we're only seeing it through the eyes of two quite selfish and inconsiderate people who instrumentalise her so of course we don't get the perspective even the author one. And of course they only see her for what she can give them but without even bothering to try and address the material issues that mean she can't give them more and then moping about it... honestly like I complain a little bit and then I realise it's all weaved in more expertly than I'd thought at first.
And I think the thing is... the way Lux gets treated is uncomfortably familiar. It's very, very easy to slip into thinking that things suck for you but if only this one person would fix it for you. Then you'd be ok. Looking for solutions outside yourself to problems that are your own. Thinking of other people only as ways to make you better, the main character. Art does come across as a dick, but a mundane one. The sort of person it's easy to slide into being. And of course, by the end
Spoiler
he's only a little bit changed - he's willing to try a little harder in some ways and thinking about changing his job but he's still reliant on the work of his ex-gf for self realisation. He's looking for Lux but only when it's too late, and seemingly without having a thought about what her life is like. Even his quest for a particular Shakespeare folio is him unable to look for beauty that comes from his own understandingSophia is in a way an easier character. Her contempt for