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A review by meganoh
Autumn by Ali Smith
5.0
Yall better buckle up for my most pretentious review yet (im so sorry this is so cunty but this is the only way i know how to capture my experience of this book).
This book really reminded me of a quote by Debussy, who said "Music is the space between the notes". It captures change and time not simply through its literal passing, but by playing different notes and allowing the reader to listen for the space between them. We jump around several perspectives, from Elisabeth's childhood, to Daniel's oldhood, from WWII, to current day Brexit and the UK's attitude towards immigration in both time periods. The experiences recounted are incredibly mundane, but manages to capture and evoke questions about the absurdity and futility in the systems around us, all while evoking humour through wordplay. The prose was beautiful, not in an overtly ornate manner. It's the kind of simple prose that I read and re-read, hoping that some part of it would stay with me. This was a book contemplating contradictions, of old and young/new, home and away, what systems are meant to do versus what they actually do. Unexpected, but riveting!
This book really reminded me of a quote by Debussy, who said "Music is the space between the notes". It captures change and time not simply through its literal passing, but by playing different notes and allowing the reader to listen for the space between them. We jump around several perspectives, from Elisabeth's childhood, to Daniel's oldhood, from WWII, to current day Brexit and the UK's attitude towards immigration in both time periods. The experiences recounted are incredibly mundane, but manages to capture and evoke questions about the absurdity and futility in the systems around us, all while evoking humour through wordplay. The prose was beautiful, not in an overtly ornate manner. It's the kind of simple prose that I read and re-read, hoping that some part of it would stay with me. This was a book contemplating contradictions, of old and young/new, home and away, what systems are meant to do versus what they actually do. Unexpected, but riveting!