Scan barcode
A review by mrs_bonaventure
How to Be Both by Ali Smith
5.0
This book stunned me, bowled me over; partly of course because of its intricate, symmetrical and playful creativity, but more because I loved the narrative voices in both halves. I was captivated at once by being immersed in the moments of someone's life so vividly.
I read the modern section first and felt very close to the teenage girl protagonist; her life is drawn closely, minutely (and later on her main characteristic is described as "earnestness.") Then when the second half started I felt disorientated but was immediately swept into the 15thC. I was later surprised to read in the reviews that the book was printed randomly with each half in a different order and it made me wonder if my experience would have been very different reading the other way around. As it was I think it had a lot of poignancy through looking back in time and solving some of the unanswered questions of the first half.
All in all I felt nourished by this - food for the brain heart and soul!
I read the modern section first and felt very close to the teenage girl protagonist; her life is drawn closely, minutely (and later on her main characteristic is described as "earnestness.") Then when the second half started I felt disorientated but was immediately swept into the 15thC. I was later surprised to read in the reviews that the book was printed randomly with each half in a different order and it made me wonder if my experience would have been very different reading the other way around. As it was I think it had a lot of poignancy through looking back in time and solving some of the unanswered questions of the first half.
All in all I felt nourished by this - food for the brain heart and soul!