This is the first book by Zadie Smith I have read – I was originally looking for White Teeth as I have heard so many good things about that, but had to settle for this. With the description on the inside flap saying it was about an English academic living with his family in a college town in the US and the consequences of a short-lived romance between young couple, I was hoping for something a bit like David Lodge. Especially when it was supposed to be 'very funny indeed' as well. It didn't turn out to live up to that kind of level of fun unfortunately - and as well as being a bit serious, it lacked coherence. What was it about? The problems associated with marriage in middle age, race issues, academic politics... who knows really. But none of it was very funny. The other issue I had with it was that there was no central protagonist – instead, Smith seemed to have about 15 characters who she alternated between, presenting parts of the narrative from their various perspectives. As a result, I didn't care about any of them, or really understand what they were about. It felt as though she got halfway down the path of illustrating what drove some of the actions and then went somewhere else... leaving a very unfinished feeling. Disappointing.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
#18. On Beauty – Zadie Smith
This is the first book by Zadie Smith I have read – I was originally looking for White Teeth as I have heard so many good things about that, but had to settle for this. With the description on the inside flap saying it was about an English academic living with his family in a college town in the US and the consequences of a short-lived romance between young couple, I was hoping for something a bit like David Lodge. Especially when it was supposed to be 'very funny indeed' as well. It didn't turn out to live up to that kind of level of fun unfortunately - and as well as being a bit serious, it lacked coherence. What was it about? The problems associated with marriage in middle age, race issues, academic politics... who knows really. But none of it was very funny. The other issue I had with it was that there was no central protagonist – instead, Smith seemed to have about 15 characters who she alternated between, presenting parts of the narrative from their various perspectives. As a result, I didn't care about any of them, or really understand what they were about. It felt as though she got halfway down the path of illustrating what drove some of the actions and then went somewhere else... leaving a very unfinished feeling. Disappointing.
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