I don’t remember if I said I finished Ali Smith’s The Accidental. Well, I did.

I bought the damned thing right when it came out. I even had it imported from the UK so I could read it as soon as possible. I read the first couple of chapters, and then life got in the way, and I barely read anything for months and months.

I finished it, though. Actually, I started over and then finished it.

I love Ali Smith. She could shit on some paper, have it neatly bound, and I’d eat it up. Not the shit. The book. You know what I mean.

Her writing style is somehow all over the place, and perfectly structured at the same time. Hotel World and the Whole Story and Other Stories have a much more subtle narrative. They read more like a collection of short stories, though they are linked, and provide an overall sense of connection. The Accidental appears straight away as one whole story, though the perspective changes throughout the novel. For all their flaws, each character is sympathetic. And this is going to sound really corny and lame, but here goes: They are so lovingly crafted that you can’t hate them, even when they’re doing horrible things. As cheesy as it sounds Smith’s books are full of love, even if it might be a bit hidden.

All of the characters are fleshy and real. Even Amber (who comes into the Smart family’s life to build them up and tear them apart) with her semi-metaphorical presence is real. Smith’s style is said to be experimental. I don’t really like that word in this case, because it seems like Smith is trying out different (non-standard) formulas to build stories. The stories don’t seem to have any formula. They’re structured, sure, but the characters are so well built, the lives unfold in their place and time, and the structure becomes invisible. I suppose the experimental qualities the critics are talking about is the way she gets the characters to speak and the way the story unfolds. The shifting perspectives, the distilled language. All of that, maybe, is experimental.

I just like to say that it’s good.