The Accidental
3 journalers for this copy...
I don't think I was as bowled-over by 'Hotel World' as most everyone else; but I appreciated the authorship and am looking forward to this follow-up, and its set in Norfolk, which is a bonus :)
(26/05) I have a confession to make; I don’t think I really understood this! I’m sure its not Ali Smith’s fault. I got the Alhambra/Amber start and finish, and her dramatic unsettling and cathartic(?) effect on the Smart family...but how it all fitted together, and the family that Eve finds in America, who are they!? But this said, I still think Smith is a great writer; her brilliant language, playing fast and loose with the normal ’rules’ of storytelling, building unique characters and voices, the sense of time and place, the shock events, all good stuff, I just wish I understood it all!
Aha, I have one thread now, Eve ‘doing an Amber’ as she moves into the dysfunctional American family home and begins to sow seeds of destruction
"Then this happened. Sorry I'm late. I'm Amber. Car broke down."
2nd revelation came to me 24 hours after finishing; what if Eve, Michael et al didn’t know Amber at all, a completely random caller/con-woman? I think that was the whole point, the fickleness of chance events. I feel much better now :)
From an Amazon review; ‘Smith suggests the Smarts are like the "group of men" in Plato's cave, who mistake the shadows of the cave for the world, and Amber is like the one who wandered outside the cave to discover the sunlight of the real world.’
Aha, I have one thread now, Eve ‘doing an Amber’ as she moves into the dysfunctional American family home and begins to sow seeds of destruction
"Then this happened. Sorry I'm late. I'm Amber. Car broke down."
2nd revelation came to me 24 hours after finishing; what if Eve, Michael et al didn’t know Amber at all, a completely random caller/con-woman? I think that was the whole point, the fickleness of chance events. I feel much better now :)
From an Amazon review; ‘Smith suggests the Smarts are like the "group of men" in Plato's cave, who mistake the shadows of the cave for the world, and Amber is like the one who wandered outside the cave to discover the sunlight of the real world.’
Journal Entry 3 by BookGroupMan at Caffe Nero IP1 Bookcrossing Zone in Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom on Friday, June 6, 2008
Released 15 yrs ago (6/7/2008 UTC) at Caffe Nero IP1 Bookcrossing Zone in Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Taking along to the bookshelf sometime tomorrow, or I may leave in town if a themed release appeals to me :)
Taking along to the bookshelf sometime tomorrow, or I may leave in town if a themed release appeals to me :)
...wrong, left in Grundisburgh some time later. If you're quick it's by the St Mary's church notice board
Journal Entry 5 by BookGroupMan at St Mary's Church notice board in Grundisburgh, Suffolk United Kingdom on Thursday, July 3, 2008
Out on a tandem ride with my husband, we found the book on the seat in the village green at Grundisburgh. I am in Canada on holiday and intended leaving it somewhere public, but met the friend of a friend, whom I am never likely to meet again and I gave it to her. She lives in the Laurentians.
Enjoyed the structure of the book, and thought it was a clever device to keep the pages turning. The abandonment of mobiles seemed a thread - and wouldn't we all like to do the same?
Enjoyed the structure of the book, and thought it was a clever device to keep the pages turning. The abandonment of mobiles seemed a thread - and wouldn't we all like to do the same?
while visiting in Parry Sound ont. I met someone from England Who passed the book along to me to read and bring to Quebec .I found the prose difficult at times and at times thought provoking.Not sure what she was trying to get across butThe author certainly has her own bright, curious style,and managed to keep me reading to the end!!