Ali Smith packs a lot into this short novel. It's the story of a friendship between centenarian
Daniel Gluck and 30-something Elisabeth Demand, an art history lecturer. Elisabeth has a special interest in a somewhat obscure pop artist, Pauline Boty. Smith alludes to current events in the form of the refugee crisis, and borrows language from literary giants like Dickens and Achebe (“It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. Again. That's the thing about things. They fall apart, always have, always, will, it's in their nature.”) It's a gem of a book and well deserving of its spot on this year's Booker shortlist.

This review is based on an electronic advanced readers copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Autumn is full of beautiful, measured prose full of amazing imagery. Ali Smith does a superb job building many layers into one fabulous, thrilling book.

I'm not sure I can do justice to reviewing this or explaining what it is about - I suspect each time it's read, a new layer is revealed and it becomes something quite different. Let me just say the writing and wordplay is superb! Imaginative, perceptive, unexpectedly quite funny in places, and tender in others. I'd say the resounding theme in this book is loss - summer gives way to autumn in the seasons and in our lives, but there is beauty to be found in the journey.

Don't go in to this expecting a plot, at least in not in the traditional sense. It's more like a half-remembered dream with two central characters who weave in and out of each other's lives, reliving their separate memories and experiences against the backdrop of various British touchpoints (the Profumo political scandal, the Pop Art movement, Brexit). Just go with the flow - read it once for the pleasure of the written word, then again to grasp the complexities of the plot threads and the cultural references.

I loved it - I can see why this made the Booker shortlist and is one of the favorites to win.

Thanks for NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an ARC of this lovely novel.

"April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain
May she will stay
Resting in my arms again
June she'll change her tune
In restless walks she'll prowl the night"
--“April Come She Will” lyrics by Paul Simon

"It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times."

Traveling back and forth through time, the past to the present, from Elisabeth’s childhood and meeting her new neighbor Daniel Gluck, to the brink of the political climate that began with Brexit, this story covers a lot of territory in a rather fluid way, dealing with aging, love in its many shapes and forms, friendship, art and artists, books and the telling of stories, the concept of time, music, identity, the culture of television, politics, sexual inequality, division of people, division of countries, and global warming.

When first they meet, Elisabeth pretends to be her (non-existent) twin sister, and after a bit of a chat, Daniel says:
”’Very pleased to meet you both. Finally.’
‘How do you mean, finally?’ Elisabeth said. ‘We only moved here six weeks ago.’
‘The lifelong friends, he said. We sometimes wait a lifetime for them.’”

And lifelong friends is exactly what they will become, the almost-beginning of her life until his becomes dust in the wind, and somehow beyond then. He will always be a part of her, a part of how she sees the world.

They play games; he describes a picture, a collage, to her, as she closes her eyes and listens and her imagination follows every detail of his description, occasionally asking questions. A moment, an image captured so clearly in her mind that it becomes a part of her, of how she sees art, how she sees herself, how she sees the world.

Invariably, his first question when he sees her is what is she reading.

“'Always be reading something,' he said. ‘Even when we’re not physically reading. How else will we read the world?’”

The topics of politics, Brexit and beyond, flows in and out throughout this novel, although there is much to balance that out, and it is not Smith’s sole focus. Rather, it seems to weave in and out of the other topics, lending a time and place to this story. The fleeting nature of these things that occupy of minds and hearts, that our fears take root in, the lack of comfort in knowing that they will be replaced. As shall we.

The elusive nature of time, how slow it seems to pass for children, for those awaiting something wonderful, how quickly it passes the older we get, how quickly a life passes. The seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, how quickly they pass, merge one into another. The seasons of life, how quickly they pass.

”We have to hope, Daniel was saying, that the people who love us and who know us a little bit will in the end have seen us truly. In the end, not much else matters.”

”July she will fly
And give no warning to her flight
August die she must
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold
September I remember
A love once new has now grown old”
-- “April Come She Will” lyrics by Paul Simon


Published 07 Feb 2017

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group / Pantheon

One of the four seasonal books, Autumn, focuses on a girl who befriends an older gentleman and the discussions they have over the course of their lives.

The author is like a magician with words. And this book was truly magical!

This one first caught my attention when it was towards the top of the millions most anticipated, next I noticed it was Man Booker long listed, so I decided I had to read it. I am not disappointed in this first of the projected seasonal quartet.
Autumn is the season that represents decay to me. I believe that was the overriding theme of this novel that deals with Brexit, 60's pop art, and a friendship between Elisabeth and her neighbor Mr Gluck (Daniel).
I would definitely recommend this for anyone interested in the craft of writing.

I hate giving two stars, but honestly, I just didn't get this book. Maybe that's my fault, maybe it's the book's. But I never connected with the characters (even though I wanted to) and I found the writing in places to be pretentious and artificial - like the author simply tried too hard. Parts of it were fine, where she was just trying to tell a story. Those parts I enjoyed (although I still never connected with the characters). But the sections that focused on the prose and the imagery just fell completely flat. I also found it to be choppy and disconnected. There was so much potential there, to create a beautiful story about a multigenerational relationship, to develop it from beginning to end, but it just never even got off the ground.

I really enjoyed this book. Smith's style is experimental and humanist at the same time--she is a writer with skill and a sharp and wise perspective on people's foibles. Highly recommended.

Ali Smith is a goddess with words and tone, and her latest is sensational. Concise and genius, and certainly the first to talk about a post Brexit world. The images, the swirling of nature, the relationship between Daniel and Elisabeth- human and fantastic, Here's hoping she gets that Booker Prize.

I found this to be quite moving. Looking forward to Winter, Spring and Summer

By VICKI ROCK

“Autumn” by Ali Smith, Pantheon, 272 pages, $24.95.

Elisabeth Demand, 32, is an art history lecturer. Daniel Gluck is 101. They were neighbors and friends when Elisabeth was a child.
This is set right after the Brexit vote when Britain left the European Union on June 23. It has a non-linear plot and is an exploration of 1960s pop culture.
It is too stream-of-consciousness for me. It really rambles. This is the first in a series of four.