Sunday, February 05, 2006

Finite Jest

posted by Ben in at 8:24 AM NYC Time

Amazon's review of Ali Smith's The Accidental, winner of the Whitbread prize:
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.
Unrelated asides pasted in, yet only 1.1 pounds? Sign me up! Have you read her, Alice?

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Blogger Ms. NOLA on Mon Feb 06, 02:25:00 PM:
"The Accidental" is a great read. Amber, the outsider in question, is decidedly abstract and her character is not altogether convincing, but the perspectives of the four family members whose lives she changes through her intervention are the stuff of skillful perspective. Definitely consider reading it.
 
Blogger Ben on Tue Feb 07, 07:19:00 PM:
Did the asides, diversions, and other mischievous invasions into the text by the author work? Or were those only part of Hotel World?