Tony Grist (poliphilo) wrote,
Tony Grist
poliphilo

The Accidental: Ali Smith

It's almost a genre, but maybe not quite. A mysterious stranger comes to town and transforms every life he or she touches. Works in this almost-a-genre range from Mary Poppins to Brimstone and Treacle, from An Inspector Calls to Teorema. A number of westerns- including several Clint Eastwood westerns- qualify. In Smith's treatment of the theme the angel is an ageing hippie chick and the people she turns over are a middle-class family on holiday in Norfolk. I liked the 12 year old daughter best- Smith does a grand job of getting inside her head- and the womanizing husband least- she makes him awfully soft- and has him think in verse- which is something no novelist should ever attempt. You want to lose your readers? Try tossing them a sonnet.
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  • 13 comments

  • Going Out Like A Lion

    It blew hard for several days. Which is how March is supposed to conduct itself. We walked to the Meeting House along the sea front on Thursday…

  • Returning To Charles Fort

    Charles Fort published four books that are sui generis (plus a novel no-one bothers about) and I have them in an omnibus volume. I forget how much of…

  • Just My Imagination

    Did someone call my name this morning as I was slowly waking up- my full name, "Anthony"- as my mother used to do? Well, of course they did. I heard…