I’m not sure the best way to come into this novel. I came in knowing nothing about, feeling confused by the end of chapter 1 and then diving into internet search to find out more.
This a slow moving meditation on loss and love, how our lives enmesh with those around us and the imprints their leave on them when they go. It’s based on a series of 4 lectures Ali Smith gave; On Time, On From, On Edge, and On Offer and On Reflection. I say based because it’s a blend of fiction and fact, some parts sounding like the half-forgotten memories of someone who hears their partner preparing to give a lecture, others sounding more like her own ideas as part of a rich interior dialogue.
And rich it is. The literary references and quotes come thick and fast from Shakespeare to the Surrealists (the story of Dali getting stuck in his diving costume while delivering a lecture and nearly suffocating is priceless). Smith takes these references and quotes and sprinkles over the detritus of pop culture, Dolly Parton and Beyonce coming up a lot. Personally, I enjoyed the references, finding they have new dimensions to the story; the Kafka quote “A book is an axe for the frozen sea within us” is temptingly waiting to be turned into a clichéd extract in an IKEA frame next to a bookshelf.
High-minded, literary books aren’t for everyone and at times this one lost me as well. I’m not in favour of snobbish high Vs low culture ideas, and while it seems like the writer shares this viewpoint, her own intellectualism creeps in the way occasionally.
