Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future.
The United Kingdom is in pieces,
Divided by a historic once-in-a-generation Summer.
Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness
The seasons roll round as ever......
Autumn is a tale of a friendship between Daniel, aged 101 and Elisabeth aged 32.
Their friendship begins when Elisabeth is a child and remains over the years.
Daniel is a witty and somewhat mysterious man and Elisabeth is an inquisitive child.
Now Daniel is reaching the end of his life as the UK is reaching the end of its relationship with the EU.
I found this book really difficult to read.
At points of reading this, I questioned whether I am actually clever enough to read this.
The characters in themselves were relatable and easy to read but the constant jumping back and forth in time meant that I had to really concentrate and re-read certain parts to understand where the book was going.
I have read other Ali Smith books and she isn't the kind of writer that you can read to get you off to sleep. Her writing is very clever and needs your full alertness and concentration.
She has the ability to flow incredibly witty and engaging text between characters with ease but her work is almost a piece of art rather than a book.
Whilst exploring the relationship between Daniel and Elisabeth, the book also talks about Brexit and its effect on the UK.
There are parts in the book which as a remain voter I could really relate to and I felt her description of how the results of the referendum affected society were accurate and very clever.
The book also talks about an artist Pauline Boty. I'm going to be honest, I'm not an art lover.
But I can resonate with the idea of a gifted young person, completely unrealised and unappreciated in their life and then taken so tragically.
The book also talks at some length about Christine Keller, the woman involved in the 1960s government scandal.
My mention here of these two women who featured in this book by the author at great length maybe brisk but that is because Autumn didn't drive me to want to find out more about these people as other books with I've read in the past have.
Whilst reading this my interest remained with the two characters.
I would've liked more insight into the characters of this fiction rather than the artist and the socialite.
I would have liked a bit more insight into Daniel and his mysterious life, which I felt was only touched on by the book.
I would've liked Daniel and Elisabeth's platonic friendship explored and how this relationship was perceived by others. The book does touch on her mother's concerns about an 'unnatural' friendship developing but only brushes over how this affects Elisabeth's adult life and relationships with lovers.
So my recommendation is to give it a try. This isn't my favourite book by Ali Smith and although it was challenging to read and there were pages I wanted to skip I still read it through to the end.
Personally, I love a book that makes me think about the characters when I'm not reading it, chapters that make me keep reading even though I really have to stop and get other things done.
Autumn didn't do this for me
But as I said earlier in this review maybe I'm just not cultured and clever enough to fully appreciate this book and its exploration into the art aspect of this book.
Autumn by Ali Smith is available on Amazon.
Just click the picture!
Affiliate link
The United Kingdom is in pieces,
Divided by a historic once-in-a-generation Summer.
Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness
The seasons roll round as ever......
Autumn is a tale of a friendship between Daniel, aged 101 and Elisabeth aged 32.
Their friendship begins when Elisabeth is a child and remains over the years.
Daniel is a witty and somewhat mysterious man and Elisabeth is an inquisitive child.
Now Daniel is reaching the end of his life as the UK is reaching the end of its relationship with the EU.
I found this book really difficult to read.
At points of reading this, I questioned whether I am actually clever enough to read this.
The characters in themselves were relatable and easy to read but the constant jumping back and forth in time meant that I had to really concentrate and re-read certain parts to understand where the book was going.
I have read other Ali Smith books and she isn't the kind of writer that you can read to get you off to sleep. Her writing is very clever and needs your full alertness and concentration.
She has the ability to flow incredibly witty and engaging text between characters with ease but her work is almost a piece of art rather than a book.
Whilst exploring the relationship between Daniel and Elisabeth, the book also talks about Brexit and its effect on the UK.
There are parts in the book which as a remain voter I could really relate to and I felt her description of how the results of the referendum affected society were accurate and very clever.
The book also talks about an artist Pauline Boty. I'm going to be honest, I'm not an art lover.
But I can resonate with the idea of a gifted young person, completely unrealised and unappreciated in their life and then taken so tragically.
The book also talks at some length about Christine Keller, the woman involved in the 1960s government scandal.
My mention here of these two women who featured in this book by the author at great length maybe brisk but that is because Autumn didn't drive me to want to find out more about these people as other books with I've read in the past have.
Whilst reading this my interest remained with the two characters.
I would've liked more insight into the characters of this fiction rather than the artist and the socialite.
I would have liked a bit more insight into Daniel and his mysterious life, which I felt was only touched on by the book.
I would've liked Daniel and Elisabeth's platonic friendship explored and how this relationship was perceived by others. The book does touch on her mother's concerns about an 'unnatural' friendship developing but only brushes over how this affects Elisabeth's adult life and relationships with lovers.
So my recommendation is to give it a try. This isn't my favourite book by Ali Smith and although it was challenging to read and there were pages I wanted to skip I still read it through to the end.
Personally, I love a book that makes me think about the characters when I'm not reading it, chapters that make me keep reading even though I really have to stop and get other things done.
Autumn didn't do this for me
But as I said earlier in this review maybe I'm just not cultured and clever enough to fully appreciate this book and its exploration into the art aspect of this book.
Autumn by Ali Smith is available on Amazon.
Just click the picture!
Affiliate link
Comments
Post a Comment