How to Be Both by Ali Smith

It has been years since I picked up postmodernism. This marks the first time that I have willingly picked up postmodernism. I am sure there is a professor out there (not that I would even pretend to claim that they would be able to spot me in a line up) that is feeling satisfied.

The title of this book is 'How to be Both' and the theme of duality runs throughout. Let's just take the layout of the book. There are two parts: one set in the present day and the other set in the 14th century. It depends on which copy you buy as to which part comes first. This alone affects how you read the story. Mine had the older story first, and as a result, I think my focus was based more on the art and the artist's history. My reading experience was complete and I did not feel that anything was lacking. On the other hand, there are many reviewers out there on booktube where their copies were presented the other way around, the modern story first, and they claim that their experience was complete and satisfying too. I must admit that I would like to try and reread this again is a couple of years, the other way around. I am sure that I will still have enough memory of the initial read to still taint the reread.

I do not really want to discuss the plot in this book; as I said, my reading experience was affected the sequence in which I read the book. Should you read the book the other way around, my experience might take away from yours. Plus, it is more fun not knowing what to expect. All I will say is that the old story is about an artist, and the modern one is about a girl who has seen the work of the artist. The stories are connected - and yet they are not.

I really enjoyed the character of the artist. The history and the memories made the person come to lief in my mind. Although the girl in the modern story was also an interesting character to read about, I think I was a bit too distracted with her mourning - because I could really relate to that. There were parts that I initially questioned while reading (the video she would play each day), but after the reading, they have made sense (in a fragmented way). Ahhh!!!! I wish I knew someone who has read this book so I could just talk about it and not worry about spoilers!

The writing in the older section starts off rather fragmented. It is more like a fragmented stream of consciousness. Don't let it put you off. It gets easier within a couple of pages.  The modern part is much easier to read, although I will say that the whole book is written with the barest of punctuation. Ali Smith is clearly more skilled at pulling that off as it made a lot more sense than the stuff the kids give me at school to mark.

Should you be interested in this one (and I will acknowledge here that this book is NOT for everyone) try and read it when you have quite a bit of time to dedicate to the experience. It makes the experience much simpler to follow. But once again, I will reiterate, this is not necessarily a book for you.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads, although I might be tempted to bump it up one, because I have been thinking about it a lot since completing it, and I am coming to the conclusion that it was really a well-constructed and thought out piece of work.

This is the 47th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.