bbboeken's review against another edition
4.0
There are about two hundred pages in this book that I don't care about. But they are absolutely indispensable for the final chapter. As such they matter very much.
As this is the second book from Smith's Seasonal Quartet (and my second Ali Smith book altogether), it's becoming clear that the first few pages (of an undisclosed amount) of those novels are rather hard to get through, but rewarding once you do. Smith (thankfully) takes her time to introduce the characters, the setting and some peculiarities that will come together the further you progress into to story.
There is again an abundance of intertextuality and cultural and political references. They are there for you to savour, not to outwit you.
I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment, where possibly everything will come together in the final instalment, Summer. (I do not wish to find out beforehand whether or not it does, thank you very much.)
As this is the second book from Smith's Seasonal Quartet (and my second Ali Smith book altogether), it's becoming clear that the first few pages (of an undisclosed amount) of those novels are rather hard to get through, but rewarding once you do. Smith (thankfully) takes her time to introduce the characters, the setting and some peculiarities that will come together the further you progress into to story.
There is again an abundance of intertextuality and cultural and political references. They are there for you to savour, not to outwit you.
I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment, where possibly everything will come together in the final instalment, Summer. (I do not wish to find out beforehand whether or not it does, thank you very much.)
modub's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
irene3obsex's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 It's like I knew this book held something powerful and beautiful but couldn't understand it.
beaingleby's review against another edition
4.0
Ali Smith is such an original, confusing and all around brilliant author. This is the second of her seasonal quartet that I have read, as I’m trying to read them along with the seasons and in the intended order. Having read ‘Autumn’ a few months back, I was more in synch with Smith’s signature prose this time around.
‘Winter’ includes the narratives of Sophia, a woman in her sixties who is beginning to lose her mental faculties and exists in a state of confusion in her large family home, in which she resides alone. Between Sophia’s narratives, is that of her son, Art (short for Arthur), who pays a woman £1000 to pretend to be his girlfriend over Christmas as he has recently split with his ex girlfriend of three years, Charlotte. The narratives alternate between the present day setting and Sophia’s childhood, growing up with a rebellious older sister who is a political activist and also briefly covering the early years of Art’s life when Sophia first became a mother.
Smith’s fleeting between these perspectives in a non chronological order casts light on the overall transience and impermanence of time. Her prose is truly unique and once you give up on fully understanding what is going on at all times, it is a really enjoyable reading experience that no other author is able to rival. Her prose is clever, being both abstract and deeply rooted in reality as the novel additionally casts light on recent political affairs, such as Brexit, the country’s stance on immigration, the Grenfell fire and Trump’s power in America. There is frequent playing on words and a lot of hidden meaning behind supposedly benign and trivial things but yet the plot itself is captivating in and of itself.
I would say that I preferred this to Autumn, both because of the increased familiarity I had with the writing style and because of the intrigue of the characters. I found Lux an especially fascinating character and found my favourite passages where whenever she was on the page.
‘Winter’ includes the narratives of Sophia, a woman in her sixties who is beginning to lose her mental faculties and exists in a state of confusion in her large family home, in which she resides alone. Between Sophia’s narratives, is that of her son, Art (short for Arthur), who pays a woman £1000 to pretend to be his girlfriend over Christmas as he has recently split with his ex girlfriend of three years, Charlotte. The narratives alternate between the present day setting and Sophia’s childhood, growing up with a rebellious older sister who is a political activist and also briefly covering the early years of Art’s life when Sophia first became a mother.
Smith’s fleeting between these perspectives in a non chronological order casts light on the overall transience and impermanence of time. Her prose is truly unique and once you give up on fully understanding what is going on at all times, it is a really enjoyable reading experience that no other author is able to rival. Her prose is clever, being both abstract and deeply rooted in reality as the novel additionally casts light on recent political affairs, such as Brexit, the country’s stance on immigration, the Grenfell fire and Trump’s power in America. There is frequent playing on words and a lot of hidden meaning behind supposedly benign and trivial things but yet the plot itself is captivating in and of itself.
I would say that I preferred this to Autumn, both because of the increased familiarity I had with the writing style and because of the intrigue of the characters. I found Lux an especially fascinating character and found my favourite passages where whenever she was on the page.
bitchbane's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2 ★’s — brilliant concept but it just wasn't for me.
i primarily read ali smith's winter because it's on boxall's 1001 books to read before you die list (#1315,) which i'm slowly but surely making my way through. i was quite looking forward to this one because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews but i think this is one of those books that just isn't for me.
winter is a contemporary fiction novel about a dysfunctional family gathering for the holidays. it's also about anger, relationships, politics, and the ties that connect all of these things together in our lives.
it's clear to me why ali smith's work is so popular. she makes witty references with clever word play and very flowery, quotable prose. at the beginning i really liked that because it showed a distinctive style while managing to keep the main message in focus, but page after page after page of constant witty references and idealistic quotes started to make it all seem a bit pointless. it felt like the references and prose were there for the sake of it rather than to highlight specific points for impact.
smith also conveys messages in a unique way through her characters and plot, which is refreshing and promising. winter was somehow both distant and objective in its characterization while also being intimate and in-your-face with the messaging. i wasn't a fan of the execution in this book, so ultimately it came off as pretentious and ineffectual to me, but i think there is a lot of promise in playing with narrative distance and themes in this way.
i hated the lack of quotation marks. i'm not sure why this seems to be a trend amongst some writers now, but it just makes dialogue cumbersome to read. at one point in this book there is an argument between two people that is literally lines of dialogue one after the other. the author used [brackets] and (parentheses) to indicate who was speaking. at that point... why wouldn't you just use quotation marks? it gave 2010's text-fic energy (not what i expected from a contemporary fiction novel) and cheapened the message.
the narration, which i read in tandem with the text, was really quite good though. melody grove did a fantastic job representing characters in different ways and made the entire reading process so much easier (especially with the lack of quotation marks.)
i can see why ali smith is such a celebrated author. there were aspects of this book that were unique and interesting, but the execution was not for me. that seems pretty common theme among the lower ratings though, many reviewers have mentioned loving some of her other work but not enjoying this one as much. i'll probably give another of her books a go and see if i can find that special gem i'm hoping for.
i primarily read ali smith's winter because it's on boxall's 1001 books to read before you die list (#1315,) which i'm slowly but surely making my way through. i was quite looking forward to this one because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews but i think this is one of those books that just isn't for me.
winter is a contemporary fiction novel about a dysfunctional family gathering for the holidays. it's also about anger, relationships, politics, and the ties that connect all of these things together in our lives.
it's clear to me why ali smith's work is so popular. she makes witty references with clever word play and very flowery, quotable prose. at the beginning i really liked that because it showed a distinctive style while managing to keep the main message in focus, but page after page after page of constant witty references and idealistic quotes started to make it all seem a bit pointless. it felt like the references and prose were there for the sake of it rather than to highlight specific points for impact.
smith also conveys messages in a unique way through her characters and plot, which is refreshing and promising. winter was somehow both distant and objective in its characterization while also being intimate and in-your-face with the messaging. i wasn't a fan of the execution in this book, so ultimately it came off as pretentious and ineffectual to me, but i think there is a lot of promise in playing with narrative distance and themes in this way.
i hated the lack of quotation marks. i'm not sure why this seems to be a trend amongst some writers now, but it just makes dialogue cumbersome to read. at one point in this book there is an argument between two people that is literally lines of dialogue one after the other. the author used [brackets] and (parentheses) to indicate who was speaking. at that point... why wouldn't you just use quotation marks? it gave 2010's text-fic energy (not what i expected from a contemporary fiction novel) and cheapened the message.
the narration, which i read in tandem with the text, was really quite good though. melody grove did a fantastic job representing characters in different ways and made the entire reading process so much easier (especially with the lack of quotation marks.)
i can see why ali smith is such a celebrated author. there were aspects of this book that were unique and interesting, but the execution was not for me. that seems pretty common theme among the lower ratings though, many reviewers have mentioned loving some of her other work but not enjoying this one as much. i'll probably give another of her books a go and see if i can find that special gem i'm hoping for.
rachalex's review against another edition
challenging
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
arjunthakrar's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
rachaele's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
3.0
After reading Ali Smith’s ‘Autumn’, I had high hopes for this one — however, I just didn’t get it. I like that Smith’s writing style is a little elusive, but this felt a little too elusive and I was not really sure what to take from it, nor what the characters & story had to do with the political sections.
asummaryofsorts's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0