|
Brilliant: Zadie Smith and White Teeth, alike, yet differently.One of the most hypnotizing narratives I have read in a long time. The writing is perfect, the story-telling simply brilliant. A definite must read.
This book is by far the best example of modern fiction out there. I avoid 99.9% of books written after 1980, but this is a rare gem.I have read all of her other books and enjoyed them as well.
The novel is too long and I really found it a hard slog to wade through for very little return. For example, Clara, who figured largely in the early part of the novel, drops out completely one third of the way through, and only makes a minor reappearance later: the author spends a long time describing the animal liberation group FATE, only to have them suddenly disappear into the ether.
It won two prestigious literary awards, plus has had any number of luminaries gushing over it. I've just finished this novel and I must say, I just don't get it.
It meandered all over the place, with characters dropping in and out of the narrative willy nilly. Huh.
I honestly don't even get what the novel was supposed to be about. The characters were, without exception, objectionable, nasty pieces of work and not one of them engaged me emotionally.
I do not recommend this novel - please,spend your money on something else, don't waste your time with this.
Death, to this reader, is not a topic of humor. His peers include 3/8th's Jamaican black and 5/8th-not, Irie Jones, whose mother leaves the JW teachings in her teens to fall into the arms of Archie Jones, a simple man who is decades her senior, and someone much less tall. My prejudice welcomes such attempts as heartily as a comedy about the holocaust. Archie's WW II buddy Samad Iqbal marries someone of his color and nation and age, and fathers a child (actually twins) almost simultaneously with best friend Archie.We then fast forward to the children being teenagers, and how they conflict with their parents who are anything but Ozzie and Harriet - or the British equivalent of the same. Touching upon God's work infuriates many: Clara's JW mother Hortense, the Muslims of Millar (Keepers of the Eternal and Victorious Islamic Nation (or KEVIN)), the Muslim Samad, and hippies Joely and Crispin (Eco-terrorist-like radicals). But, resounding above the great characteratures of these people is the dialogue. And, no one is more Indian and the British."It is another experiment which is the focus of the last half of the book.
Rich and diverse. Each person's life ends up more twisted and F%$#ed (an often used term in the book) up than anyone could or did envision. Jamaican patois of Hortense Bowden (grandmother to Irie) and her daughter Clara contrast beautifully to Archie's middle class simplicity and the Bengali wit of Samad and Samad's wife, Alana. These "extras" made the novel much more than a story told by a narrator.
Blending numerous unique and eclectic characters into British late-20th century society, the author creates a whirlwind finale where the different people with different perspectives appear to all agree or disagree for reasons to which none of the others can condone.Half Jewish/half-not-Jewish Joshua Chalfen seems an oddity - but he is actually the most normal of the most normal British. Joshua, whose parents would make any teenager cringe, have a father making the super mouse called "Future mouse" - something perhaps greater than Mickey Mouse. Plugged with scientific engineering, the mouse has a life span of ten years, unheard of for rodents. Their respective reactions are not as funny as one may desire.The beginning and end of the book deliver a mixture of humor not dissimilar to the characters - instead of mixing black with white, the beginning and end mix macabre with humor. Samad kidnaps Maid as a preteen and sends him to Bengal to prohibit him from being polluted by western weaknesses (as well as his pimping brother) and bestow upon him the fundamental and righteous Muslim ways, Samad's experiment fails. With witticisms that even Archie's and Samad's bartender could not bestow, she describes many of the characters' actions in a hip-but-insightful manner. In turn, everything basically does not come out as planned. But, at times it can work.
Mixing the Bengali dialect of Samad and his often stilted use of the English language with the British bred good-for-nothing son, Millar, and Bengal-raised Magi. He learns, "No one is more British than the Indians. "Springtime for Hitler" and the "Producers, The" succeeded, and so does this novel.In between the bizarre story lies great introspective observation by the author. These additions made the book a novel of merit - something which many other reviewers have agreed exists.If you can leap past personal prejudices - something I had to do - and allow the book to proceed, you will be pleased to have made the effort.
I started this book not thinking I would like it. This story follows numerous generations of three families through their formative experiences, focusing on the youngest generation. I enjoyed the use of vernacular speech, which I often heard out loud in my head (probably terribly cliched). Maybe because reviews were mixed. Mad Mary had spotted a fellow traveler. But in the end I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not sure why, but maybe because friends didn't seem thrilled. Through it all Zadie Smith examines how our personas are affected by the past we conceive, the future we envisage, and the present we inhabit.
At points it had a rather Salman Rushdie feel, but there was less fantasy and more realism involved. I found the dilemmas characters faced to be quite pertinent in today's world of melting pots and mixed identities. A quote I liked: "Mad Mary was looking at him with recognition. She had spotted the madman in him (which is to say, the prophet)."
|
