The Accidental
by Ali Smith
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
literate people
With its rotating narrators and anti-linear plot, The Accidental seems at times purposefully dizzying and abstruse. But, while ambitious, the writing innovates the novel form in a couple of ways. There's a real prose-poemish feel and in fact one section devolves into about 10 pages of narrative poetry.
Added to that, the chapters pick up and leave off in odd parts and the plot can only be pieced together through the various voices. The strongest voice being, for me, that of Astrid, a persnic...more
Added to that, the chapters pick up and leave off in odd parts and the plot can only be pieced together through the various voices. The strongest voice being, for me, that of Astrid, a persnic...more
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Read in January, 2008
Ali Smith's novel, shortlisted for many awards and the winner of a sizeable percentage of them, tells the story of how a dysfunctional family's summer holiday in Norfolk is turned upside-down by the arrival of Amber, a mysterious stranger. Quirky and unconventional as she is, Amber slowly draws each family member out of his or her shell, and in doing so gives them a new appreciation of themselves and their relations with the world around them.
Amber herself is utterly enigmatic; so much so...more
Amber herself is utterly enigmatic; so much so...more
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Read in June, 2008
This is a novel that fits into the category of “stranger comes to town.” A family is living in a rented summer house out in the country side of Great Britain when one day a woman by the name of Amber knocks on the door. Amber walks in and everything changes for everyone in the house. I could give more specifics about what happens to each character, but ultimately, I think, that’s not the major concern here. What’s important about this novel is how Smith tells her story; free-flowing stre...more
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Read in March, 2006
In the same style as Hotel World -- the same narrative shifts and deft changes in voice. This time, our five narrators are: Eve, a mother, wife, and author; Michael, her faithless husband, a professor of English who fucks his students; Magnus, Eve's teen-age son from her first marriage, crushed by guilt; Astrid, Eve's 12-year-old daughter, moderately obsessed with her camcorder; and Amber/Alhambra, the interloper whose presence means something different to each family member. To Eve she's first ...more
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Read in August, 2008
The Accidental is not an easy read, despite what everyone else says. To follow it, one needs to transcend the traditional style of 'he said, she said' and descend into the minds of the characters. Despite the perception of choppiness, at a higher level the writing is connected and it follows the logical progression of human thought (if we can give human thought progressive properties).
The story takes place over the course of several months and explores the relationships of four member family...more
The story takes place over the course of several months and explores the relationships of four member family...more
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Read in May, 2007
This book pulled me in by the first line and started off so strong. I wanted to love it. And I ended up just really liking it. It starts with Astrid, the quirky kid stuck in a vacation home with her dysfunctional family when they get a visitor with no real explanation of how she got there or why she is there. I have to say that Astrid's language and discussion is so obtuse, you stay interested.
But I don't have good luck with books where each part of the story is told from a different ch...more
But I don't have good luck with books where each part of the story is told from a different ch...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Alicia by:
New York Times book list - go fig!recommends it for: writers and poets
This is a must-read if you are a writer/poet (or poet who loves fiction). It's definitely a writer's book. I can see why many people would dislike it, but it's pure genius. JUST BRILLANT! If you understand lit-heads, poetry meter, characterization, plot lines, emotions, word choice, undercurrent and themes... Well, let's just say you're sure to enjoy and appreciate this novel and its style.
I love how it's broken up into 3 sections (the beginning, the middle and the end). I love how the chap...more
I love how it's broken up into 3 sections (the beginning, the middle and the end). I love how the chap...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
kate atkinson fans
why are the brits so playful with language? i guess their reading public is more willing to go on a bit of a lark, suspend the plot for a while and just go with the rhetorical flow. i think maybe the english are taught to have more respect for writers, and so they trust them more, implicitly, trust that they'll come back around to the point. smith is no exception; the language here is wonderfully vivid and frisky, mischevious without being excessively cutesy or disingenuously lighthearted. l...more
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Read in March, 2008
This book was moderately entertaining. Ali Smith did a particularly realistic rendition of 12-year-old Astrid's inner-workings. Smith's development of the plot was compelling, and her characters, for the most part, believable.
Smith laid on the cliches and metaphors a bit thick, which was distracting at times. Aspects of the story were somewhat reminescent of American Psycho, in that Amber's (Alhambra) deadpan admissions to her continuously inappropriate conduct was completely lost on the lis...more
Smith laid on the cliches and metaphors a bit thick, which was distracting at times. Aspects of the story were somewhat reminescent of American Psycho, in that Amber's (Alhambra) deadpan admissions to her continuously inappropriate conduct was completely lost on the lis...more
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Read in July, 2008
I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this book. First off I should say I listened to it, and the production and acting were terrific. Having listened to it makes me want to look at the text to see how it appears on the page. I'm still unsure after having read other reviews of it on GR. The characters were at times annoying to the point where I wanted Amber to punch each of them in the face (she does punch Eve), especially Michael. I liked (had empathy for) the kids--Astrid and Magnus...more
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I can't decide if I like this book or not.
On the one hand, I loved the writing style - each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, in a very flowing stream-of-consciousness sort of way, and by that giving us snippets of the story through that character's eyes.
On the other hand, though in theory the story is very interesting, somehow it just didn't really work. I'm not sure what the problem was. It wasn't boring, exactly, but it just didn't manage to be captivating, ei...more
On the one hand, I loved the writing style - each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, in a very flowing stream-of-consciousness sort of way, and by that giving us snippets of the story through that character's eyes.
On the other hand, though in theory the story is very interesting, somehow it just didn't really work. I'm not sure what the problem was. It wasn't boring, exactly, but it just didn't manage to be captivating, ei...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
people who hate the English language
Nearly every word in this book was like a shard of glass in my eyes, with the exception of prepositions and perhaps a few adverbs. Aside from the author creating some of the most annoying characters ever to grace paper, the book was about nothing. It was not about nothing in a good way a la Seinfield but about nothing with no plot. While teasing you with where this mysterious character has come from and why (ultimately, you actually couldn't care less) it offers zero resolution or pay-off. I slo...more
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I like Ali Smith a tremendous amount. She's clever and succinct in tone. THOUGH, I must say, I enjoy her short stories a tremendous-er amount than this novel, so far. Many of her short stories involve lesbianism in some fashion. I read several of them while criss-crossing Europe with a real-life lesbian; Smith's narratives made the trip more cohesive for me. No lesbians in The Accidental, so far. Still figuring out why I'm reading it. It's about the beach. I like the beach; maybe that's w...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
intelligent readers
I read this a while ago, and recently someone wrote me to ask what I thought about it. What I remember is that I love Smith's writing, the way she's made stream-of-consciousness completely contemporary and engaging. The story was confusing, and the person who wrote to me proposed such a brilliant (and retrospectively obvious) interpretation of the book. It suddenly all made sense, and I can't remember if I thought of it at the time at all. Anyway. It's a great book, and she's an amazing writer. ...more
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Read in January, 2006
I love Ali Smith. She's so inventive and irreverent. The Accidental sprang from a dream she had, and it's dreamlike. Smith often uses multiple perspectives to weave together a story. I happen to like this--and I find her really gifted at inhabiting different voices. Her other book, Hotel World, really knocked my socks off too. But the Accidental asks different questions (Hotel World was kind of a mystery about a girl who fell down an elevator shaft). Questions like: who are we and how do ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in October, 2007
I really enjoyed the style and writing - it's interesting to read each piece from the different perspectives of the main characters. I'd never read Ali Smith before so was very pleased and impressed. I must admit, though, I'm left a little disappointed, as I don't think I fully "got" it at the end. The book jacket mentions the "wonderfully enigmatic conclusion" and I agree it was definitely enigmatic! Didn't take away from me enjoying the book, but I wouldn't recommend to...more
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I felt cheated.
The story, though well told at times, promises a lot but is ultimately pointless. Some great individual stories within it - that of the son and the photoshopped girl is the strongest and really tells us something about humanity in the 21st century. But much of the rest is well trodden ground and/or too fantastic. I don't believe in the main character either as a real person or as some kind of mythological intervention.
And the narrative voices are highly irritating by th...more
The story, though well told at times, promises a lot but is ultimately pointless. Some great individual stories within it - that of the son and the photoshopped girl is the strongest and really tells us something about humanity in the 21st century. But much of the rest is well trodden ground and/or too fantastic. I don't believe in the main character either as a real person or as some kind of mythological intervention.
And the narrative voices are highly irritating by th...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
I don't know--women, mostly?
This is one of the most original books I have read in ages--really enjoyed it from beginning to almost the end. Each of the characters has a very distinct voice, and I could actually hear them, they were so real. Yet, I feel so old-fashioned in that I wanted more from the ending of the book. It was still interesting (fascinating, really), it was still original, and the voices were still true...I had just hoped for a more comprehensive end. Thus four stars instead of five, but Ali Smith probabl...more
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Read in January, 2008
I didn't finish reading this (skimmed), because I don't like the writing style. I thought I did in the first few pages, but it quickly started to feel like she was trying too hard. Then it kept feeling that way.
I'd remembered this book being highly praised when it came out, and I'd really looked forward to it. Taken with my recent disappointment in Pastoralia (also bought then) and The Fortress of Solitude, I'm starting to feel one of us is all wrong, but whether it's me or contemporary lit...more
I'd remembered this book being highly praised when it came out, and I'd really looked forward to it. Taken with my recent disappointment in Pastoralia (also bought then) and The Fortress of Solitude, I'm starting to feel one of us is all wrong, but whether it's me or contemporary lit...more
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Read in June, 2007
although not as shocking and engaging as Hotel World, this book is an interesting journey into the minds of four members of an English family on holiday in Norfolk where they encounter a myterious, seductive stranger. the story is told in stream-of-consciousness, allowing the reader to piece together events and facts, which are clearly not the centrepiece of this novel. I like Smith's style and insight into the minute details that constantly run through our heads, and the fleeting but powerful e...more
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