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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant, November 22, 2011
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'There but for the' isn't an easy book for me to write about, because it is one of those rare books that one doesn't just read but actually experiences, participates in. It's not a book to be breezed through for the plot. You have to work at it, often backing up and rereading to make connections between events, characters, and words. But often that work surprises you by becoming infinite play, even as it leaves you with some startling observations about human nature, language, memory, and the world we live in. Taken separately, each of the words in the title seem nondescript; together, they seem empty without the expected conclusion--without, in other words, God or grace. And maybe that's exactly what Smith intended: to make us ponder the place ("there") of God and the location of grace in a society that is technologically advanced "but" individually isolating. (Think about the person with 5000 'friends' on Facebook.) It may be hard to find, but, ultimately, Smith concludes, grace is still there, within and between us. The novel consists of four chapters, one for each word in the title, each focused on a different narrator. As many of the reviews below note, the basic premise is that a man attends a dinner party, walks upstairs between the main course and dessert, and locks himself into the spare bedroom, refusing to come out. But the real stories are inside the heads of the narrators. Anna ("There"), a fortyish single woman bored with her job, is surprised to learn that her email address has been found in the interloper's (Miles's) cell phone, pushing forth long-forgotten memories of the continental tour she won as a teenager. Mark ("but"), a gay man in his 60s still grieving the loss of his partner more than 20 years earlier, is haunted by the lyric-singing, rhyme-spouting, often-obscene ghost of his mother, a brilliant artist who committed suicide. May ("for") is a terminally ill 80-year old falling into dementia and memories of the daughter she lost, yet still sharp enough to observe and regret the changing world around her. Finally, the delightful Brooke Bayoude ("the"), who is either the CLEVEREST or the CLEVERIST, a girl who delights in the sounds and multiple meanings of words and wants to pin down the 'facts' of history, even as she comes to realize that facts, too, are mutable. Along the way, Smith deftly and subtly weaves in unexpected connections among these characters and even the novel's secondary characters. I'm not one who generally likes fiction that philosophizes. Here, it takes you unawares, most often playfully, but sometimes melancholically. It's a rare book that can make you think, think about your own life, while you're being so well entertained. And as a wordsmith/word lover, I found Smith's puns, rhymes, jokes, allusions, double entendres, etc. thoroughly delightful. (Having vivid memories of riding in the backseat of the family car at about age nine, pondering the sounds of the word "jello," drawing it out in the voice in my head, I could really relate to Brooke.) I haven't always been a fan of Smith's type of literary experimentation; in fact, the last of her works that I read, a short story collection, was off-putting simpy because it seemed to exist only for the purpose of experimentation, and while I liked 'The Accidental'--another novel using multiple narrators--, I was somewhat disappointed in the ending. But for me, 'There but for the' is about as close to perfection as it gets. Put aside your usual expections, open your mind, and jump in. You won't regret it.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An uneven exploration of personal connections, October 19, 2011
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I'm not entirely sure what I expected from this book, but it certainly wasn't this. While the book is built around the framework created by odd behavior of Miles Garth, who locks himself in a spare room in a house where he is a dinner guest, this book isn't a single coherent story. Instead, it is really a set of reflections by people who are impacted by this action, even if it isn't immediately obvious how or why. While we never really get any deep insight into Miles or his action, we do learn a great deal about the people he has interacted with. But none of these people know Miles well, and while his actions cause them to reflect on their own lives, they do not have any answers to the questions raised by Miles's decision to barricade himself in a stranger's home. Written in an almost "stream of consciousness" style, the pacing of this book was a bit uneven, with parts very readable and other portions dragging. There was a point in the middle where I wasn't sure if it was worth the effort to finish. The pacing did improve, though, and the final section proved to be the most entertaining, so it seems to have been worth plowing through. This book is probably not for everyone, and I suspect that the response to this will be fairly polarized, with people either loving or really hating it. If you enjoy books that are full of character self-reflection, and don't mind the lack of any real plot, then this might appeal to you. However, if you need action in you books, then give this a pass.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Literary brilliance beyond anything for the past fity years, January 20, 2012
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Ali Smith is already an award winning writer, having earned the respect of scholars, critics and the public in the UK. "There But For The" is her newest novel, set in both the region and vernacular of suburban London, but marketing for this novel and her work is, at last, here in the Unitred State, where the subject, the gripping read and the brilliance of this work can finally be shared with the American public. "There But For The" is an unique and ingenious piece of literature and should be read by as many people as possible. "The Grace Of God" is missing from the title; we all see that. In fact, as a title, it reaches out and slaps us in the face, stuns us for a moment as we realize that by filling in the rest of the famous phrase, we still have no answer. It isnt until the constant thinking that this book makes us ponder that "the Grace of God" may not be missing just from the title. God Is In The Details. An upper middle class family gives a dinner party at their home; a party with place cards, full table setting, Limoges, Waterford, Laura Ashley linens. each guest has a water glass a light chilled glas of white wine and an empty wine glass, waiting (like virgins) for the burgandy that is breathing in the kitchen. One of the guests, Miles, has been brought by another guest- an aquaintence of a friend - because his style, history and interests were suggested to help create table conversation of class and interest. Miles is a vegetarian and like the exceptionally bright little girl at the far end of the table, is supplied with a plate of Romaine Lettuce and crumbled Bleu Cheese while the other giests eat their veal. The story- which is bizarre to the point that Joseph Heller reads like George Will - almost becomes secondary and parts of it read like a script by John Guarre. After a fascinating, modern and often uncomfortable dinner conversation, Miles excuses himself from the table and locks himself in the hosts guest room, where he remains for many weeks. In a tradition that would inpress Feydeau, the farce begins. The story is far less about him then the multitude of people who try to help our hosts in ejecting him from the homes and, with a subtle and brilliant subtext, from their concious. The bizarre brings laughter, of which there isplenty. It also brings about deep thought and reflection, which can cause tears of sadness or emotional growth: this is the surprise. Some will call Ms Smith's newest work a mystery. The catagory brings to the surface the names of Patricia Cornwall, Martha Grimes, Agatha Christie, even Tom Harris. Almost no one would think, "My God, this woman is as brilliant as Shirley Jackson." But she is. So this book- as far as the above named- is not a mystery, certainly no more so than any other piece of literature (Brecht aside)ever written. Shirley Jackson is still underappreciated and misunderstood, given that the public's primary knowledge of her work is the 1948 short story, "The Lottery." This is, arguably, the most importanty, famous and disturbing short story ever written. Jackson's style of writing and her interests were far more psychological and subtle than the reputation she got as a writter of "Horror and Supernatural." (Even her book, "the Haunting of Hill house" is misunderstood today as a book about a personfied haunted house and not seen as a venture into the mind of a very ill young woman.) Shirley Jackson was one of the most gifted writers to have ever lived. Ali Smith is at her side. Congratulations,Ms Smith. Not until I read the first third of "There But For The" have I found a writer who caused me to pause and say, "She's as gifted as Jackson!" (Ali Smith's writing causes the reader to pause a great deal.)I found myself thinking of the books in thirds, interesstingly enough; there are many literary importances to the number three. It would be silly to assign you all Jackson's "We Have Always Lived In The Castle" and Henry James' "The Turn Of The Screw" prior to assigning "There But For The"- just to make the brilliance of Ali Smith shine through more obviously, without the readers slow realization; the subtle moments when one's eyes rise fom the page and we realize that the bizarre conversations we're reading are reminiscent of conversations to which we've been privy all too recently. Instead, skip the Jackson and the James. Certainly Edgar Allan Poe, whom Ami Smith could out-write in the same room with the Pulitzer committee. No. This book feeds the soul and entertains the mind while tugguing at the heart. It is best when served by itself. The title a mild curiosity as we flip to the first page and note the atypical style: "No quotation marks, short paragraphs, description of thought rather than terain - this should be easy, light reading." The characters, the motives, the attitudes of each of these characters are served up just like the dining table in the story. Beautgiful on the surfaces with speed bumps and surprises, stains on the table clothg, just beneth. Ms. Smith uses punctuation like stage directions, adding to how even the way a page looks shocks us as did the title. The table becomes a greater ,etaphor: The things left uneaten, the preferences for food and why; the seperate glasses, the unconsumed glasses of water and wine, thecomment that nbrings the table to a tense moment of silence. Water is a commodity as important and marketable as is wine - for some, more so. We recognize it, though naever gave it much thought; just as is the indifference of a teeneager, inconveninced by having to remove the ear buds from her walkman. Everyone's mobile comes up frequently (for us Yanks, we'll remember to call them cell phones, though mobile is a better term given what we now use them for- the last thing these things are is a telephone. Mine is an answering service.) Yet it's a rare phone call that is made and the ring tones are more important then whomever is calling. The last twenty years of invention have been based on communications. The Internet, wireless phones and compuiters, e-mail, facebook, answering machines, text messaging, cellular devices that make films, photographs, edit, can give us driving directions when we're lost, connect us to Nationa Public Radio and allow us to answer our phones with a personlaized greeting: "Hello, Danniel." Yet these inventions have driven us further apart.They haven't improved our communcation. Don;t believ me? Just pick up your phone and try to call Verizon. A computer5 andwers the phone, kees you buy a while (like an airline feeding you and howing movies) and then finally tells you how imnportant your call is. You;'re approximate wait time is... Our new generatikon doesn't know how to engage in face to face negotiations or conversations, but they have thouands of "friends" on facebook and "lol" is as common as "FineThanksHowAreYou" used to be. These inventions make us move faster because now that we can multi-task we can do more; we can do far more. We can now be...mobile. While reading "There But For The" (the first time. I promise you several readings, each one changing you and exciting you more)one should pay close attention to the "Child" whose name first appears during the second third of the novel, when we finally sit down at the famous dinner that did or didn't inspire Miles to dissapear upstairs. Names are of interest. Child is a suitable name.
Is the host Jan or Jen? How a question from one man can mean something else to another given how two peoples minds work differently. "Are You coming?" he said, referring to the dinner party? Where the hell was HIS mind? And how often did this particular subtlty occur to us or one we're with. (A friend of mine still speaks of someone who said, "Are you THROUGH yhet??"- the last thing he believed to be on either one's mind) There is a Harper Lee sense to this child in her dialogue while she colides with Shirley Jackson. The Child could be a metaphor. The dishes and even Miles himself could be a metaphor, but in reading this book it's clear to me that they are ALL metaphors, but specific in a different way depending upon the lives, the past and the philosophy of each individual reader. It would be a crime to impose more speculation upon a book of this calibre and a public as brilliant and carimng as is ours. Perhaps I am a metaphor. Instead, Ali Smith should feel satisfied regarding "There But For The," since it is, arguably, one of the most importabnt books to be written since... well, "We Have Always Lived In the Castle." Yes, we've had authors who delve into the increasingly complicated minds of individuals- many of them with great skill: Wally Lamb, "The Hour I First Believed; Richard Russo, "The Bridge of Sighs"; "Barbara Kingsolver, "The Posonwood Bible"; Tom Harris, "The Silence of The Lambss"; John Irving, "A Prayer For Owen Meany" - after reading Ali Smith, however, the element of motive rises to the surface. As greatful as I am for "The Silence of the Lambs", and more so "Hannibal Rising" which is a brilliant examination of a mans mind and "why", but none of these works hold up a metaphoric mirror, making us look at our culture- our entire society. And though Ms Smith made no modifications for the trans-alantic journey (Thank you. Americans are capable of reading the word "sacked" and translating it to "Fired"- Many of us laugh at "Mind The Gap" so it's re-freshing not to be pandered to as the Broadway community does with it's UK imports; No amount of re-writing was goling to make "Sunset Boulevard" work on stage. Not even a seven million dollar set and Glenn Close) Ami Smith has written the most exciting book I have read in decades. I will keep this copy, always wish that I had gotten her to sign it, and re-read it many times, God willing, because like Orwell's "1984" this books is a classic commentary on the human condition at an important time in history...
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