A review by bub_9
Autumn by Ali Smith
4.0
Not that it matters, but the hardback print of this book is extraordinarily beautiful.
And so is much of the writing within - the prose is colourful and direct, and the plot is relatively harmless without being at all uninteresting.
Curiously, for a novel so clearly of its time, it is those aspects of the novel that extend beyond its present moment that make it most attractive. Even the historically specific example of Pauline Boty (and this is a device which Smith extended to the other instalments of this quartet) is interesting but not, for me, what makes this work so memorable. Instead, this book is simply worth reading because it is often very intelligent and sensitive, earnest in its ideals and generous towards its characters.
One of the funnier lines is Daniel's response to Elisabeth when she mentions university: "You don't want to go to college ... You want to go to collage". In other hands, this might come across as irritatingly self-referential, but I actually think that, in the context of this light-hearted, overcast lament about decay, it is such a collage of observations that makes this witty (though rarely straight-up funny) novel worth reading.
And so is much of the writing within - the prose is colourful and direct, and the plot is relatively harmless without being at all uninteresting.
Curiously, for a novel so clearly of its time, it is those aspects of the novel that extend beyond its present moment that make it most attractive. Even the historically specific example of Pauline Boty (and this is a device which Smith extended to the other instalments of this quartet) is interesting but not, for me, what makes this work so memorable. Instead, this book is simply worth reading because it is often very intelligent and sensitive, earnest in its ideals and generous towards its characters.
One of the funnier lines is Daniel's response to Elisabeth when she mentions university: "You don't want to go to college ... You want to go to collage". In other hands, this might come across as irritatingly self-referential, but I actually think that, in the context of this light-hearted, overcast lament about decay, it is such a collage of observations that makes this witty (though rarely straight-up funny) novel worth reading.