--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [Property] is a brilliant, chillingly…" description: "\"[Property] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, cruc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg" --- # \[Property\] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of… ![“[Property] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels illuminating a history we think we know and understand so that after we've read it we'll never forget its truths.” quote by Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg) > “\[Property\] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels illuminating a history we think we know and understand so that after we've read it we'll never forget its truths.” [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The novel offers stark, economical storytelling that reveals forgotten historical truths. **In simple terms:** A concise novel uncovers hidden history. Key Takeaway Read for insight into overlooked pasts. Themes history novel observation Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical literary When to use this quote - education - reading groups - historical research Key Concepts memory social critique literary craft Questions to Reflect On - What histories have been overlooked? - How does brevity affect impact? A Different Perspective Its focus may be too niche for general audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Brilliant Chillingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant-chillingly-2240869/) [Chillingly Revelatory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chillingly-revelatory-2240870/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Crucial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crucial/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Forget it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-it/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Illuminating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illuminating/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Never forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never-forget/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels Illuminating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-illuminating-2240872/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Property Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property-brilliant-2240871/) [Revelatory Piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelatory-piece-2240868/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [“Blessed are all simple emotions, be they dark or bright! It is the lurid intermixture of the two that produces the illuminating blaze of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/blessed-are-all-simple-emotions-be-they-dark-or-bright-it-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Awareness must be like the rays of the sun: extending everywhere, illuminating all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/awareness-must-be-like-the-rays-of-the-sun-extending-everywhere/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [When "everyone knows" that something is so, it is always more interesting and often illuminating to assumeexactly the opposite, and to see where that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/when-everyone-knows-that-something-is-so-it-is-always-more/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [There are few greater treasures to be acquired in youth than great poetry-and prose-stored in the memory. At the time one may resent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-livingstone/there-are-few-greater-treasures-to-be-acquired-in-youth-than-great/) [Richard Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-livingstone/) > [Go forth in every direction- for the happiness, the harmony, the welfare of the many. Offer your heart, the seeds of understanding, like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/go-forth-in-every-direction-for-the-happiness-the-harmony-the-welfare/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Imagination is not to be divorced from the facts. It is a way of illuminating the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/imagination-is-not-to-be-divorced-from-the-facts-it-is-a-way-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Finding Mecca in America weaves social theory and concrete ethnography into a significant contribution on Muslims in the United States, illuminating broader questions about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eboo-patel/finding-mecca-in-america-weaves-social-theory-and-concrete/) [Eboo Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eboo-patel/) > [We don't know why we are here and . . . our role in the universe, and the thought of an infinite universe. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/we-don-t-know-why-we-are-here-and-our-role-in-the-universe-and-the/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [You just can't tell or calibrate motive or intelligence or sense. So I don't read anything unless someone tells me that it's really smart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/you-just-can-t-tell-or-calibrate-motive-or-intelligence-or-sense-so-i/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I think the first song I ever wrote ... was called "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's an illuminating little piece, isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-think-the-first-song-i-ever-wrote-was-called-can-t-help-thinking/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [The investigation of making is illuminating towards that moment rather than the other way around, a reversal of the way that I would approach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-mehretu/the-investigation-of-making-is-illuminating-towards-that-moment/) [Julie Mehretu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-mehretu/) > [Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent; but these are all poor and worthless compared with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/science-and-art-may-invent-splendid-modes-of-illuminating-the/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [We need some great failures. Especially we ever-successful Americans - conscious, intelligent, illuminating failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-steffens/we-need-some-great-failures-especially-we-ever-successful-americans/) [Lincoln Steffens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lincoln-steffens/) ## More by Ali Smith > [As for Aliki - if you were to stand in the middle of Rome and say the name Sophia Loren, or Paris and say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/as-for-aliki-if-you-were-to-stand-in-the-middle-of-rome-and-say-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Elisabeth had been listening to the programme in the bath. She'd switched the radio off after it and wondered if she'd be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/elisabeth-had-been-listening-to-the-programme-in-the-bath-she-d/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [There is a kind of poetry, bad and good, in evrything, everywhere we look.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/there-is-a-kind-of-poetry-bad-and-good-in-evrything-everywhere-we-look/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“human beings can’t be legends, being mortal,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/human-beings-can-t-be-legends-being-mortal/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I could lick it off with my tongue, if I had a tongue again, if my tongue was wet, and I could taste it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-could-lick-it-off-with-my-tongue-if-i-had-a-tongue-again-if-my/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“How very disappointing truth is sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/how-very-disappointing-truth-is-sometimes/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“...he had simply typed the words something beautiful into the Google images box. Up came a picture of some leaves against the sun. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/he-had-simply-typed-the-words-something-beautiful-into-the-google/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Is there any escaping the junkshop of the self?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/is-there-any-escaping-the-junkshop-of-the-self/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [What shop did this book come from? she asked. Her father was looking worried at the cooker. He always got rice wrong. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-shop-did-this-book-come-from-she-asked-her-father-was-looking/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [What's the point of art, of any art, if it doesn't let us see with a little bit of objectivity where we are?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-s-the-point-of-art-of-any-art-if-it-doesn-t-let-us-see-with-a/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [If you can read the world as a construct, you can ask questions of the construct, and you can suggest ways to change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/if-you-can-read-the-world-as-a-construct-you-can-ask-questions-of-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I’m tired of the news. I’m tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren’t, and deals so simplistically with what’s truly appalling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-m-tired-of-the-news-i-m-tired-of-the-way-it-makes-things/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“(this is before we're living together, before we do the most faithful act of all, mix our separate books into one library)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/this-is-before-we-re-living-together-before-we-do-the-most-faithful/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Believe me. Everything is meant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/believe-me-everything-is-meant/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“It’s on my head, Elisabeth says. That’s where it grows. And my face is also attached to my head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/it-s-on-my-head-elisabeth-says-that-s-where-it-grows-and-my-face-is/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) [Explore all 199 Ali Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[Property] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels illuminating a history we think we know and understand so that after we've read it we'll never forget its truths.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ali Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ali-smith-1801_books_property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revel_218754.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[Property] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good…” — Ali Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ali Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[Property] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```