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This felt like someone took a commonplace book and thought up the bare minimum of a plot to string it together. Some of it was really smart but it didn't really pull together for me. Although if it wins the Booker I might read it again.
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Interesting more than absorbing. Definitely a literary novel with beautiful language and images, it does manage to tell a rather scattered story in a very nonlinear fashion. I think one has to know a little background about the 1960s female pop artist that is part of the story (thanks, Wikipedia) to follow along. Britex also a big part of the story and I wonder if someone reads this in 20 years, if they will understand the feelings that the book conveys about that also.
It was a short novel (23 ...more
It was a short novel (23 ...more
An enriching novel full of poetic, lyrical language - the rhythm and cadence of it as much as the beautifully written language itself. It’s been described by critics as the first post-Brexit novel, but for me this wasn’t the real hook; it treats subjects as wide-ranging as time, the loss of community, love, feminism, the subjectivity of truth, and the all-pervasiveness of technology in modern society. I’ll admit I always found Ali Smith tricky, overly self-conscious and stylised, perhaps, but if
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What I love about Ali Smith is that in deceptively simple prose and through character and conversation she nudges the reader towards the ideas and concepts she is thinking about. She doesn't lecture or explain but rather offers up new ways of looking and asks the reader to consider them and draw their own conclusions. This is, I think, one of the greatest ways a writer can serve their readership. They should not give answers, but offer up new questions about the world around us and our role in s
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Jan 07, 2017
Liza
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Nov 27, 2017
Anne Davidson
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Apr 16, 2019
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