{"id":3305,"date":"2017-06-27T17:23:52","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T11:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=3305"},"modified":"2020-04-04T19:48:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T14:18:04","slug":"autumn-ali-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Autumn by Ali Smith – A Meditation on Identity and Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ali Smith\u2019s Autumn <\/em>is the first among a quartet of novels named after seasons. It is a story about growing old, time, love and memories set in a world that is as scary as we thought it would never be; and Ali Smith does not disappoint.<\/p>\n

I was especially eager about the book since it takes place in the present-day. There are so many novels that talk about the political and cultural developments that happened years back that I was almost craving for novels that tell us the \u2018now\u2019 in the world. I was delighted with Arundhati Roy\u2019s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness<\/em><\/a><\/span> about the present-day India and needless to say as excited about Autumn <\/em>which is set in the United Kingdom after it has voted to to leave the European Union.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ROOTED IN REALITY<\/h3>\n

This is my first novel by Ali Smith and I think I will definitely be exploring more of her works. Let me begin with what struck me most about the novel \u2013 It was a small scene at the post office where Elisabeth is trying to give an application for a new passport. This scene was done to perfection. The annoying and irrelevant questions the people behind the desk ask (Are you traveling? Where to? etc) and their how they try to find reasons to reject the application (I laughed so much reading the \u2018hair in the eyes in the photo\u2019. It is such a common and frustrating reason given by officials in my country too even when there is nothing wrong with the picture).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE WORST OF TIMES…
\n[vcex_spacing]\nThe book is more about reading between the lines than the actual story. It begins on a dreary Dickensian note saying \u201cIt was the worst of times; it was the worst of times,\u201d<\/em> giving the reader a jolt of shock that the Brexit issue is surely as significant as the revolution that Dickens talks about in A Tale of two Cities. Autumn is the story of a young woman named Elisabeth and her friendship with her elderly neighbour, Daniel Gluck. When Daniel falls ill, Elisabeth moves closer to home to be with him and recollects the good times they have shared when she met him first as a child. Her mother is not encouraging of their friendship (when Elisabeth is younger) and speculates if Daniel is gay. She often questions Elisabeth on what they talk about as she is suspicious that he has other intentions towards the child. Daniel, who has lived through the fascism of 1930\u2019s in Europe, communicates to Elisabeth through art. They talk about paintings, Bob Dylan and Sylvia Plath. In fact when she grows up, Elisabeth decides to do her dissertation on Pauline Boty, a lesser known feminist painter whom Daniel had introduced to her. The story moves back and forth in time taking the reader on a wonderful journey through their friendship.<\/p>\n

MEDITATIVE AND FUNNY<\/h3>\n

This book packs a punch of themes in a slightly philosophical tone. I loved the quiet, pensive prose with intermittent sarcasm in passages. There is so much to reflect upon, so much to argue about and so much to both remember and forget. The book touches upon several subjects such as xenophobia, nationalism, mortality, effect of memories on life and unconventional love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Autumn
Autumn by Ali Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elisabeth and Daniel express their ideas through art and imagination. Daniel triggers Elisabeth about conversations on creativity and society. He is both a \u2018father figure\u2019 and a friend. Elisabeth admits that none of her boyfriends matched up to him because \u201cNobody spoke like Daniel; Nobody did not speak like Daniel.\u201d<\/em> When Elisabeth is back home, the British neighbourhood is slowly changing. Fences that say \u2018Go Home\u2019 are cropping up. There is sarcasm (loud and clear) when someone writes \u2018We are already home, Thank you\u2019 below that. The book makes you think about what \u2018home\u2019 is and why people who have lived in a place all their lives are made to feel like outcasts. Another interesting turn was how Elisabeth\u2019s understanding of her mother changes as she comes back to live with her as an adult.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nA meditation on identity in a post-Brexit world <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

 <\/p>\n

FINAL VERDICT<\/h3>\n

As Elisabeth says about Daniel,\u201dif he is\u2026then he\u2019s not just gay. He\u2019s not just one thing or another, Nobody is. Not even you.\u201d We all are part of a bigger world, a bigger humanity; but we are so bent on grouping human beings into categories. Autumn is a quiet meditation on a post-Brexit, post-Trump world about identity. I loved this read and I look forward to reading more of Ali\u2019s books.
\nTitle : Autumn
\nAuthor : Ali Smith
\nPublisher : Pantheon Books
\nPublished : 2017 (Originally in 2016)
\nLanguage : English
\nPages : 263
\nRating : 4\/5<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Disclaimer : Much thanks to Pantheon Books for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A story about growing old, time, love and memories set in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6307,16],"tags":[1046,462,6369,87],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nAutumn by Ali Smith - A Meditation on Identity and Memories | The Book Satchel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Autumn by Ali Smith is the story about growing old, time, love and memories set in a post-Brexit world\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Autumn by Ali Smith - A Meditation on Identity and Memories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Autumn by Ali Smith is the story about growing old, time, love and memories set in a post-Brexit world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Book Satchel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/thebooksatchel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/thebooksatchel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-27T11:53:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-04T14:18:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/autumn2.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Resh Susan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@www.twitter.com\/thebooksatchel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thebooksatchel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Resh Susan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Resh Susan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c066f414ca95bff496a832cc43b1e634\"},\"headline\":\"Autumn by Ali Smith – A Meditation on Identity and Memories\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-27T11:53:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-04T14:18:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\"},\"wordCount\":843,\"commentCount\":25,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c066f414ca95bff496a832cc43b1e634\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/autumn2.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"ali smith\",\"book review\",\"books by women\",\"literary fiction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/autumn-ali-smith\/\",\"name\":\"Autumn by Ali Smith - 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