The Accidental: A novel (original 2005; edition 2006)

Well then....I will start with the good (it won't take long.) This book is beautifully written. This is an important point and it is the reason this is a 2 rather than a 1 star review. I often have a strong desire to hunt down writers and beat them about the head and neck with a hardcover copy of Elements of Style. This desire (for which I guess I should seek treatment) did not rear its head with The Accidental. Ali Smith's prose is dazzling. There are brief moments where it is so good that the writing itself produces a little thrill. Unfortunately there are no moments, none at all, where the characters or the story produce even the merest hint of excitement. Even good writing can't substitute for a lack of content.

I am a fairly fast reader, but it took months for me to finish this book. I would put it down for a week, pick it up, and feel the sort of dread I have not felt since 12th grade AP English forced upon me Silas Marner. But as I did with Silas, I plodded through this empty wasteland. There are 5 characters in the book, and there is no way I could have cared less about any of them. I mean that in the literal sense. I did not hate or even dislike these characters because they inspired no feelings at all. Many things occur, but the author stays so detached from the events, and the characters experiencing events are so passive, that rather than being interesting they serve as nothing but symbols. (The loss of virginity by molestation, the bully's feelings when he bullies someone into suicide, the loss of all one's possessions through theft, the passive "decision" to invite strangers into your life and then allowing them to manipulate and abuse you and all your family members, all potentially meaty events.) All are here to illustrate that disasters, unplanned events, are the best things that can happen to us as humans if we get over our preconceptions and allow ourselves to accept Ms. Smith's preconceptions in their place.

I am rarely sorry when I soldier through a difficult book, but I lament my lost time here. The Accidental is a lot of work for no payoff, the very definition of form over substance. Given how spectacularly good the author is at the craft of writing I will keep a bead on her to see if she ever finds fiction's soul. If that happens it will be one hell of a book. ( )

I liked this book...but not as much as Hotel World. Part of me thinks it went on too long...but I like how Smith is playful with words and kind of teases the reader. She's interesting. But I recommend Hotel World before this one. ( )

I was mesmerized at times by the thoughts expressed by characters, completely in their world. And at other moments found myself entirely unable care about the words on the page. The multiple viewpoints/narrators was on the whole ejoyable, as was the fractured structure. Unfortunately, all these components never formed a cohesive whole. Intriguing. ( )

I will remember the book solely because of the literary devices used, imagination that comes through writing. Otherwise book wasn't particularly entertaining, something I am looking for when I read fiction. Ali Smith has divided book into three parts: The Beginning, The Middle and The End. In each part, there is a lesson from POV of each character. All characters are members of a western dysfunctional family with their individual issues. Mother is a writer, stepfather a Literature lecturer, and two kids Magnus and Astrid.

One summer, a woman named Amber enters their lives and influences each other in her own way. This is very reminiscent of the movie 'The Page Turner' where the a girl turns up at the house of a recovering musician and assimilates in the family. The similarity sort of ends in the third part. Though Amber is a stranger, a swindler, she somehow helps each of them understand themselves and leaves an impression on each of them.

The POV of Amber were sort of hard for me to decipher; I wondered about the intent. These chapters were amalgam of all pop cultures and bit strange. There were references to Hollywood, songs and movie directors. There was Sound of Music's story, even Mary Poppins and a reference to butter scene in Last Tango in Paris. ( )

Twelve-year-old Astrid Smart goes on holiday in Norfolk with her brother Magnus, mother Eve and stepfather Michael. They are all rather preoccupied by their own concerns when their holiday is interrupted by Amber whom none of them knows but who more or less invites herself to stay and then serves as a catalyst for change for all family members in different ways. I rather liked the breathless writing, and I really liked Astrid. ( )