Spring by Ali Smith (Seasonal #3)

Spring by Ali Smith (Seasonal Quartet #3)

The arrival of March meant it was time for the second instalment of my seasonal reading.  I am really enjoying this wee project! It is so lovely to read books so deeply concerned with nature and feel like the scenes on the pages are spreading out around me. Spring was one I absolutely raced through. It casts light on many things that often remain in the shadows. There is something about Ali Smith’s writing that moves me and gets into my brain and being that few other writers have.

I have been interested for some time in the idea of liminality; an idea that features heavily in Scottish storytelling. It is a word that catches that which cannot be caught. The spaces between. The gaps in which something is not quite one thing and not quite another. Liminality can manifest itself in many things. Places, such as beaches, which are not quite land and not quite sea. Times, such as dawn or dusk, which are not quite night and not quite day. Or - it might be a feeling. For example, when travelling from one place to another by train I often find myself thinking - I could get off anywhere, go anywhere, my destination is not quite set because I am not yet there. I think the feeling of liminality is truly well explored in Spring. So many characters are in a liminal space, physically, emotionally, politically, artistically, in every way really! They are untethered. We meet Richard standing at a train station platform somewhere far north. (I was reading this while on the train which further amplified the vivid tangibility of Smith’s writing!) He has left things behind and is certainly seeking something new but we’re not quite sure what. And neither is he. He seems to be on the cusp. Of everything. His meeting with Brit, Florence and Alda, along with his memories of his friend Paddy will change the course of his life. So begins Spring, a beautiful novel about change and about cycles. About belonging and otherness. Action and passivity.

Spring is also a scorching criticism of the virtual world. Ali Smith perfectly encapsulates my own negative feelings about the lightening fast, maukit spaces we spend so much of our time in.

“We need to say old stuff like it’s new. We need news to be what we say it is. We need words to mean what we say they mean. We need to deny what we’re saying while we’re saying it. We need it not to matter what words mean.”

Spring compels you to face reality. Not what you are fed on your phone but the actual world around you. The people, places and spaces that surround you. I truly feel Spring is one of the most pressing novels of our time which powerfully encapsulates the poisonous roots that are threatening to take hold. The strange compulsion to be immersed in the virtual is one that doesn’t sit easily with me. And yet, even that idea of rejection is limited as I type this, and share it with you, virtually.

I found myself thinking a lot about acceptance and rejection while reading Spring. I really enjoyed the relationship between Brit and Florence - the young girl she meets. The way they perceive the world is so at odds. Brit rejects everything Florence believes in and views her as naive or ignorant. Perhaps you might think of Brit as a realist, that what she’s seen of the world has taken away her ability to believe there could be something better. And yet, as Spring goes on it seems that Brit is the ignorant one. She is resigned to accept the cruelty around her. To tolerate, perpetuate and facilitate it. Perhaps the most real view of the world is the belief that you have power, however small, over your own actions. Smith asks us to consider, how much power do we have? How responsible are we for the things that happen around us? Do we turn to action to create change, or passivity to let history pass us by. Repeating the same patterns. The idea of repeating patterns is exemplified in Paddy’s character. Her wisdom and insights. It made me think about how much power there is in knowing things. In not being reliant on anything but your own mind. I found her character so beautiful and strong.

One thing that has been a constant throughout the Seasonal Quartet is how much of a presence art has. Visual art can be so hard to describe to someone who is not looking at it but Smith truly manages to capture the feeling and essence of a piece. Every time I read one of these books I find myself doing further research. The pieces of art that feature play on my mind and I am always excited to see them for myself. In Spring the work of Tacita Dean plays a big role and I can confirm I was not disappointed upon seeing it. I would love to witness one of the pieces in person to fully appreciate their scale. If you haven’t seen Dean’s work before I would highly recommend reading Spring BEFORE you look it up. There is something truly fascinating in seeing how the piece might take shape in your own imagination first then comparing with the real thing.

There is so much asked of you while you read this. What will you accept and what feels just that little bit too far? What is the toe over the line that pushes you to action? What aspects of the world are so at odds with you that you must reject them? Where is the line between those things? Does it shift like the tides? And how long will you stand and do nothing until you are deep in the water you pretended not to see coming.

“You’d think we’d learn from it. But no, instead we play it on repeat, let it play away in the corner of the room while we go on with our lives. Terrible times, easily resurrected.”

Don’t think however, that Spring is a book that leaves you feeling down or helpless. For always, it reminds you that there will be Spring again. And that is all it takes.

“What’s sending the thinnest green shoots through that rock so the rock starts to split?”

I am already looking forward to starting Summer in May and continuing this enlightening journey. Thank you for reading this. I find books one of the most comforting and grounding things in my life and truly treasure this wee space to share my thoughts on them.

See you soon,

Grace xx