A review by likecymbeline
The Accidental, by Ali Smith
2.0
I tried to watch Teorema once because I thought I might like it, but I found it so dreadfully slow and I just didn't care. I cared somewhat more here. The characters were fairly interesting and I wanted to know more about what was going on with them and how it would resolve. I thought there were a lot of things in this book that were well done, capturing how the family interacts with each other, with a stranger they need, and with the events going on in the world around them. However the story had little overall impact on me, even if there were several individual parts of it that were quite good, such as:
i. I was around Astrid's age when the war in Iraq began and she's the one who is thinking about it the most, which seems oddly appropriate--she's the only one young enough not to feel jaded.
ii. Her name is Alhambra and only the maid knows because only the maid is not so self-absorbed, not interpreting actions around herself or according to her own disposition, rather than around Amber. This is a family that constantly thinks they know more than they do, especially about themselves.
iii. I like the epigraphs. Books need more excellent epigraphs.
iv. I love the myth where the contestant "wins" a battle and becomes their opponent, so that ending was unexpected but perfect. However, like I said, the book itself didn't do much for me.
Spoiler
i. I was around Astrid's age when the war in Iraq began and she's the one who is thinking about it the most, which seems oddly appropriate--she's the only one young enough not to feel jaded.
ii. Her name is Alhambra and only the maid knows because only the maid is not so self-absorbed, not interpreting actions around herself or according to her own disposition, rather than around Amber. This is a family that constantly thinks they know more than they do, especially about themselves.
iii. I like the epigraphs. Books need more excellent epigraphs.
iv. I love the myth where the contestant "wins" a battle and becomes their opponent, so that ending was unexpected but perfect. However, like I said, the book itself didn't do much for me.