The Accidental by Ali Smith

Discussion thread for The Accidental by Ali Smith

My review


The Accidental
Ali Smith
2006 SL
also Whitbread/Costa Winner 2005; Man Booker Prize shortlist 2005; 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Two words: Bizarre. Brilliant.

A family - 12 year old Astrid, 17 year old Magnus, their mother Eve, and their step-father Michael - is spending the summer in a rented house. A woman - Amber - shows up at the house, and because everyone in the family assumes she is there in relation to someone else, she stays for several weeks and insinuates herself into their lives.

What is truly stellar about this book is how it is constructed. It is divided into three parts - The Beginning, The Middle, and The End - and each part is then further divided into four parts, each told from the viewpoint of one of the family members. And it is all told in a delightful stream-of-consciousness style (or, more accurately, free indirect style). I was amazed and amused at the author's ability to convey these "brain ramblings" and to capture each character's unique voice and personality. And each chapter begins in the middle of a sentence, as though you've caught the narrator in the middle of a thought. There is even one part, told from Michael's viewpoint, that is written in sonnet form.

Amber is "the accidental" of the book's title. In music, an accidental, indicated by a sharp or flat notation added to a note, raises or lowers the tone from it's normal pitch. Amber, through her interaction with each of the family members, takes them out of their "normal" ways of thinking and interacting, and alters them in a way which could be seen as "better" (raising the tone) or "worse" (lowering the tone).

Ultimately, the book is about brokenness, which Amber, in her own special way, reveals to each of them. As Magnus thinks to himself one night when the family is having dinner, "Everybody at this table is in broken pieces which won’t go together, pieces which are nothing to do with each other, like they all come from different jigsaws, all muddled together into the one box by some assistant who couldn’t care less in a charity shop or wherever the place is that old jigsaws go to die."

The question the book asks is whether a broken family can be repaired, or if they must accept that they are simply individual pieces that each belong to a different whole.

"The Accidental" is cerebral and not an easy read, but it is certainly unique and worthwhile. Ali Smith is a remarkably talented author who deserves the many accolades this book received.

I read The Accidental in 2009. This is what I wrote on my LT page at the time. (My bookclub also read it later that year, and everyone liked it to some degree)

Rating: 4.5 /5 stars

Comments: I picked up this audiobook on sale for $2, and I really didn't have a clue what I was getting, other than that it had been on the Booker shortlist. I actually had some vague idea that it was about Indian immigrants in London. Wrong! I guess I confused Ali Smith with Monica Ali, another writer who I've heard of but know nothing about. Anyway, knowing nothing about this book, I had no expectations, and so it was a very pleasant surprise.

In case you're like me and don't know the story, The Accidental is about an English family (mom, step-dad, teenage son, preteen daughter) on holiday in Norfolk, where a mysterious stranger comes into their holiday home and their lives. It is told by multiple narrators, each self-absorbed and distant from the other members of their family. The mysterious stranger is a catalyst for change with each family member.

I loved the free flowing narration, and the tangents each character went off on; I loved the multiple points of view of the same event; I just all round found this a pleasure to listen to. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to this book if I'd read it--this audio presentation was superb, with an ensemble cast reading the different narrators (I know someone will ask, so here are the names: Heather O'Neill, Stina Nielsen, Jeff Woodman, Simon Prebble, Ruth Moore). Some day I'd like to read this book. I listened to the last big chunk of this on my iPod in my garden while doing a marathon weeding session, and I had no idea that I was near the end (it's not like a book where you can tell you're running out of pages!). I was so disappointed that it was finished--I could have continued listening to this family and their odd experiences for hours more.

I'm really surprised at all the negative comments and reviews here at LT--are we talkin' about the same book? Many people dissed the ending, but it really made me laugh. Out loud, out there weeding my herb patch. I'm sure my neighbours thought I was daft!

Recommended for: Well, I would have thought this book had broad appeal, but based on the negative comments on the review page, maybe not so much!

Well, it's not the usual linear kind of novel. I love Smith's way of reconstructing things. Hotel World blew me away, more so than The Accidental, because I hadn't read her before.

Nickelini: I think The Accidental on audio would be a very different experience, because so much of what I appreciated about it was the writing style. Glad you loved it though!

RidgewayGirl: I definitely look forward to reading more by this author - Hotel World and her newest, There But For The. It seems that, in general, readers like Hotel World more than The Accidental.

The focus of Hotel World is also on a young woman, but she's a much more sympathetic character.

It's Smith's use of language that sets her apart. I'm hoping to get a copy of There But For The soon.