 |
 |
Sign in/joinLanguage: English [ others ]
Over forty million books on members' bookshelves.
|
Loading... The Accidental (Penguin Celebrations)by Ali Smith
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendations
Loading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. curiositykate | May 22, 2009 |   For a book that was experiental in style I found this easy to read. I was impressed how the author managed to portray the difference perspectives, but maintain the same voice. There were references to Alice in Wonderland in the text, and i enjoyed how Amber's dialogue and actions sometimes resembled that of the characters in Wonderland. Some of the details were quite lovely and hilarious. (  )rhondagrantham | May 13, 2009 | At first I found the style of writing off-putting. Everything was in such short, simple sentences, it looked like a first-grade reader. But as it went on, I began to see how well it worked for the type of story. It really made it feel like a direct link to the characters' thoughts, and I liked the rhythm of it. The story itself was engrossing, and while I wish we'd learnt a little more about Amber, she was such a mystery to the family, it makes sense to leave her a mystery to the reader as well. (  )kyuuketsukirui | Nov 9, 2008 | A middle-class family's summer holiday is disturbed by the arrival of an unknown woman who has a profound effect on each of them. I was pleasantly surprised by this book, having read some negative comments about it. With each chapter it changes perspective from the interloper, the 12 year old daughter, the depressed 17 year old son, the philandering step-father and the writer mother. Each perspective had its own distinctive style. It was beautifully written but still easy to understand. ( )sanddancer | Nov 8, 2008 | A self-satisfied book about a middle class couple on holiday in East Anglia & being conned in a middle class way. I finished it (because I always do) but was not satisfied by having done so and should have abandoned it. Gave it to Oxfam. (  )Jacq.payne | Oct 28, 2008 | 0.051 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0375422250, Hardcover)Before writing The Accidental, Ali Smith wrote Hotel World, shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize, and several short story collections. Her work is absolutely original, with a trademark quirky style, with whole passages that seem to have been bound into the wrong book and occasional historical asides completely outside the narrative line. Don't be fooled; with Smith, every word has a purpose.Amber is the catalyst who makes the novel happen. She appears on the doorstep of the Smart's rented summer cottage in Norfolk, England, barefoot and unexpected. Eve Smart, a third-rate author suffering writer's block, believes that she is a friend of her husband's. Michael is a womanizing University professor, but he doesn't usually drag his quarry home. He thinks that she must be a friend of Eve's. Everyone is politely confused and Amber is invited to dinner. She is a consummate liar and manipulator who manages to seduce everyone in the family in some significant way. Magnus, Eve's 17-year-old son from a former marriage and Astrid, her 12-year-old daughter, are easy prey. Magnus is in despair. He played a prank on a classmate and it went horribly wrong when she killed herself because of the humiliation it caused. He cannot shake the guilt and is about to hang himself from the shower rod when Amber walks into the bathroom, the perfect deus ex machina. She bathes him and takes him back downstairs, announcing that she found him trying to kill himself. Everyone titters. Could it be possible? This is a recurring question as Amber's behavior becomes more and more outrageous. Is this really happening, or is it some family-wide delusion? To add to the mystery, there is a Rashomon-like character to the story in that the same events are recalled by the Smarts through their own filters. This life force who is Amber is finally thwarted when Eve, after a disturbing event, compels her to leave. The family is left to re-evaluate who they are post-Amber and to decide how to live with the changes she has brought about in them through this "accidental" encounter. This is a completely engrossing novel that raises as many questions as it answers. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:24 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Abebooks |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, I found the ending weak and disappointing. The characters that had seemed so vivid and realistic in the start had certainly developed through the story but didn't seem to have ended up in any definite place by the end of the novel. Too many loose ends were left untied and the half-explanation of Amber's motives were unsatisfying, especially after the few tantalising glimpses we get of her past (although perhaps no explanation at all would've better suited the haunting presence she has throughout the novel).
Despite this, the innovative style of this novel definitely makes it a must read. (