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Violet wells's Reviews > Winter
Winter (Seasonal, #2)
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Quite enjoyed this though for me it lacked the urgency, inspiration and poetry of Autumn. At times it read like an inferior version of the same novel. Perhaps though my bad for reading this immediately after finishing Autumn. I've got a feeling a six month time lapse would have helped me enjoy it more.
Centrepiece of the novel is a Christmas lunch. I certainly identified with the presentation of Christmas as a time when all family conflicts are unwrapped along with the presents. As in Autumn there's a kind of magical MC aspiring to reconciliation. This is Lax, a character very reminiscent of the sprite in her earlier novel, The Accidental and less compelling than Autumn's similar spirit, Daniel. Then we have a son who lives online and as a result all of his natural feeling is iced over and two warring sisters who have taken opposing paths in life. Iris, the mythologiser and human rights activist and Sophia, the pragmatist and successful business woman. Everything bad about modern Britain gets a shoe-in and is outsourced to Shakespeare's Cymbeline for a damning overview. Scrooge also features - the ghost of Christmas past a decapitated head which was the part of the novel that alienated me. Resident artist is Barbara Hepworth but nowhere near as compelling as Autumn's resident artist, Pauline Boty. Winter begins rather messily - Smith in her dressing gown and slippers again - but does get better and better. Autumn though was more accomplished and inspired in my opinion. 3.5 stars.
NB: Last night on the ITV news the newscaster was compelled to ask what kind of country we are becoming in the UK after the story of the Syrian refugee boy being physically attacked at school. I couldn't help but think of the fundamental message of these Ali Smith books and how essential and pressing it is.
Centrepiece of the novel is a Christmas lunch. I certainly identified with the presentation of Christmas as a time when all family conflicts are unwrapped along with the presents. As in Autumn there's a kind of magical MC aspiring to reconciliation. This is Lax, a character very reminiscent of the sprite in her earlier novel, The Accidental and less compelling than Autumn's similar spirit, Daniel. Then we have a son who lives online and as a result all of his natural feeling is iced over and two warring sisters who have taken opposing paths in life. Iris, the mythologiser and human rights activist and Sophia, the pragmatist and successful business woman. Everything bad about modern Britain gets a shoe-in and is outsourced to Shakespeare's Cymbeline for a damning overview. Scrooge also features - the ghost of Christmas past a decapitated head which was the part of the novel that alienated me. Resident artist is Barbara Hepworth but nowhere near as compelling as Autumn's resident artist, Pauline Boty. Winter begins rather messily - Smith in her dressing gown and slippers again - but does get better and better. Autumn though was more accomplished and inspired in my opinion. 3.5 stars.
NB: Last night on the ITV news the newscaster was compelled to ask what kind of country we are becoming in the UK after the story of the Syrian refugee boy being physically attacked at school. I couldn't help but think of the fundamental message of these Ali Smith books and how essential and pressing it is.
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Winter.
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Reading Progress
February 3, 2018
– Shelved
February 3, 2018
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November 18, 2018
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November 27, 2018
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Cheri
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 03, 2018 11:47AM
Enjoy!
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I read the two novels a year apart, Violet, and basically felt the exact same way you did (excepting that I liked the decapitated-head part).
Teresa wrote: "I read the two novels a year apart, Violet, and basically felt the exact same way you did (excepting that I liked the decapitated-head part)."You were spot on about it being too didactic, Teresa. And for me it was too overwrought with symbolism. Everything in this novel was called upon to represent some loftier overview and it felt forced. I like her more when she isn't wearing her heart on her sleeve as if she's participating in a debate. It's admirable from the humanist standpoint but I'm not sure it makes for great novel writing.
Terrific review, Violet . I have not read these novels but I may have to think about adding them to my enormous Tbr!
'Autumn' might have resonated more with me than 'Winter' too, Violet, but I am grateful it made me read A Christmas Carol and look somewhat more optimistically to the Christmas period - and I liked the interaction between the sisters a lot :-) I am heading for a revisit of 'Winter' soon as I read it in a hurry the first time and more than with 'Autumn' had the feeling of missing much of the symbolism (of which there indeed is plenty!) and want to prepare for 'Spring' and its possible cross-references to the previous seasons...
Angela M wrote: "Terrific review, Violet . I have not read these novels but I may have to think about adding them to my enormous Tbr!"Thanks Angela.
Ilse wrote: "'Autumn' might have resonated more with me than 'Winter' too, Violet, but I am grateful it made me read A Christmas Carol and look somewhat more optimistically to the Christmas period - and I liked..."If it wasn't for the sisters I wouldn't have liked this at all, Ilse! The emotional entropy caused by living almost exclusively online wasn't very subtly dealt with and the sprite Lax was too constructed for my liking. It all felt a bit hurried.
Great review. I was initially a little underwhelmed. Until I realised that Daniel reappears in this book in plain sight and yet pretty much everyone (me included) who read it when it first came out, missed it.
I preferred Winter; actually I preferred the cumulative effect of Autumn and Winter. After reading Paul's review - I had missed Daniel - I read them both again. This is shaping up to be a brilliant quadrillogy
I didn't miss Daniel in this book, but I had missed someone else's connection to 'Autumn' until I went back and paged through the earlier novel. I plan on rereading them after the others are published and read once.
Paul wrote: "Great review. I was initially a little underwhelmed. Until I realised that Daniel reappears in this book in plain sight and yet pretty much everyone (me included) who read it when it first came out..."Thanks Paul. I missed that too! Loved your review.
Henry wrote: "I preferred Winter; actually I preferred the cumulative effect of Autumn and Winter. After reading Paul's review - I had missed Daniel - I read them both again. This is shaping up to be a brilliant..."For me the symbolism was a bit overcooked in Winter but I agree that it won't be until all four are published that we'll be able to truly assess the achievement of these books.
I just read Autumn for the second time and really loved. I’m about to start Winter, your review is excellent.
Andi wrote: "I just read Autumn for the second time and really loved. I’m about to start Winter, your review is excellent."Thanks Andi. I've got a feeling both books would benefit from two reads.
Another beautiful review Violet. I finished Winter and very much enjoyed it but not quite as much as Autumn. I do know that Ali Smith is a genius and I love this collection so far.
Ali Smith is becoming more Ali Smith which each book, but I just love her! I would enjoy her shopping lists probably!
Sandra wrote: "Lovely review Violet."Thanks Sandra.
Andi wrote: "Another beautiful review Violet. I finished Winter and very much enjoyed it but not quite as much as Autumn. I do know that Ali Smith is a genius and I love this collection so far."Thanks Andi.
Henry wrote: "Ali Smith is becoming more Ali Smith which each book, but I just love her! I would enjoy her shopping lists probably!"I wouldn't put it past her to publish her shopping lists!
Great points you've made here, Violet � especially the one about Art's feelings being 'iced' over;-)And yes, the floater of a head was difficult to live with in the early pages but later I saw how well it fitted in and how it eventually linked both books. I felt it was symbolic of the piece of smooth stone from Daniel's Hepworth sculpture that he'd given Sophie, and which she'd kept hidden just as she kept Art hidden from Daniel. And Art was like a floating head himself, wasn't he � all head, no heart.
Sorry for going on and on � but you know how much I loved these books!
Fionnuala wrote: "Great points you've made here, Violet � especially the one about Art's feelings being 'iced' over;-)And yes, the floater of a head was difficult to live with in the early pages but later I saw ho..."
More and more I'm feeling I didn't read this very well, Fi. For one thing I rarely related what I was reading to Autumn and therefore missed all the links. The whole Daniel connection completely eluded me! Makes me realise that sometimes we don't give books the mental energy they demand and deserve!
Artful had a Ghost whose face slowly disappeared, Winter has a dismembered head. Is this a literary reference I'm missing (is it Dickens? Artful is the Dodger and Winter references Christmas Carol. But why the body bits?
I have Winter on my bookshelf and was thinking of starting it now being as it is winter. Would you recommend reading autumn first or are the books stand alone?
