Winter

Name: Winter
ISBN: 9787533970000

阿莉·史密斯 / 文泽尔Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJan 2023

4.2

Word count: 157K words
Chapters: 6
ISBN: 9787533970000

Report an error Find this book

Summary

Winter. Bleak. Frosty wind, earth as iron, water as stone, so the old song goes. The shortest days, the longest nights. Winter makes things visible.

When four people, strangers and family, gather in a fifteen-bedroom house in Cornwall for Christmas, will there be enough room for everyone?

Ali Smith turns her warm, wise, joyful and uncompromising gaze on a post-truth era, in a story rooted in history and memory, in evergreens, art and love.

Editor's review

Winter is the second installment in Ali Smith's Seasonal Quartet and a pivotal link between what came before and after. It continues Smith's signature stream-of-consciousness narration and poetic language, but compared with the private recollection of Autumn, its scope is broader, exploring how family rifts, political divisions and historical memory might seek reconciliation in the coldest season. Set at Christmas, the novel uses the gathering of a makeshift family thrown together by circumstance to weave the collective anxiety of Brexit, the humanitarian predicament of the refugee crisis, and the value of art into the characters' mundane yet charged daily conversations and inner monologues. Smith's prose is full of leapfrogging imagery and puns; it seems fragmented but precisely captures the fragmented state of contemporary emotion and cognition. The recurring references to art, nature (especially holly and ivy) and classical literature are not mere decoration but keys to understanding the characters' psychology and the novel's deeper themes of repair, seeing and rebirth. Reading Winter requires patience: it is not a cozy fireside story that offers warm consolation but rather a prism refracting the complex spectrum of human nature and the spiritual dilemmas of the age beneath the surface of cold. Its literary value lies in the way it transforms public issues into profound personal experience with great formal beauty and intellectual sharpness.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Deep readers who love experimental literature, stream-of-consciousness narration and poetic language
Readers interested in the connection between contemporary social issues (such as political division and immigration) and individual inner life
Followers of Ali Smith or the Seasonal Quartet who want to understand her creative trajectory and core themes
Readers with some grounding in literary appreciation who do not mind nonlinear narrative and enjoy interpreting texts

Not a good fit for

Readers of traditional fiction seeking tightly plotted, linear storytelling
Readers looking for a light, brisk reading experience

Reading tips

Consider starting with Autumn to get a sense of Smith's basic style in this series and some of its continuing themes
Do not worry too much about plot coherence while reading; pay more attention to the rhythm of the language, the layering of images and the momentary psychological truth of the characters
Watch for references to art (such as Barbara Hepworth's sculptures), plants and Shakespeare's Cymbeline; they are important clues to the text's deeper meanings

About the publisher

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.

版权信息
Ⅰ（上）
Ⅰ（下）
Ⅱ
Ⅲ
致谢

FAQ

Can I read Winter without having read Autumn?

Yes. The two books are loosely connected through some core characters and themes, but each is a complete story in its own right. Winter stands on its own, and reading it directly will not create fundamental obstacles, though having read Autumn may give you a deeper appreciation of the author's overall design.

Is this book difficult?

It is challenging to some degree. The difficulty lies not in vocabulary or background knowledge but in the narrative approach. It breaks with conventional chronology and plot logic, advancing through association, memory fragments and dialogue, and requires readers to take an active part in constructing meaning. Once you settle into its rhythm, however, it offers a distinctive aesthetic and intellectual experience.

In what order is it best to read the Seasonal Quartet?

In theory, reading in publication order—Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer—lets you most clearly feel the evolution of the author's thinking and style. But each book is highly independent, so starting with any one and moving on to the others as interest takes you is also a viable path.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

阿莉·史密斯 Author

Ali Smith is an author of foreign literature with a relatively large number of works in this database; eight titles are currently included, with representative works such as Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—known as the "Seasonal Quartet"—as well as How to Be Both and The Accidental. Judging from the titles and the common categories, her writing often revolves around individual circumstances and emotional shifts amid the changing seasons, and appeals to readers of both youth literature and foreign literature. In the database her works are classified under foreign literature and youth literature, suggesting that her narratives are both literary and close to ordinary readers' emotional experience. It should be noted that the database does not provide information on her nationality, dates of birth and death, or English name, and public information is limited; this introduction therefore avoids biographical details and focuses on the themes and reading position of her works, so that readers may gain an overall picture of the author.

文泽尔 Author

Wen Ze'er is a relatively active translator and author in Chinese publishing circles; public information about him is limited, and no systematic account of his life has been disclosed. Judging from the eighteen works held in the library, his work centers on the translation of foreign literature, with some writing in biography and history, and German-language literature in particular. His representative translations include Kafka's complete short stories in Metamorphosis, Hesse's Steppenwolf, The Glass Bead Game and Beneath the Wheel, Zweig's The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European and Decisive Moments in History, as well as works related to Rilke and the biography Marie Antoinette. His translations are known for staying close to the original while remaining readable, balancing accessibility and scholarship, and offering Chinese readers a fairly complete introduction to modern German literature.