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Dec 16, 2009

Ben rated it:

White Teeth is an expansive, detailed, and beautifully written attempt to encapsulate the social chaos that blossoms at the bridging of generational, national and sexual mindsets. It reminds me very much of the freeflowing histories written by Marquez and Allende, as well as Salman Rushdie's strange little one-off treatise on cultural alienation, Fury. (Samad, in particular, reminds me quite a bit of Fury's Malik Solanka.)

The book does many things well. Smith has a serious ear for di More...

6 comments like (35 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2011

RandomAnthony rated it:

I'm about a decade late to Zadie Smith's White Teeth, one of those books friends recommended or I picked up at the library then put back and moved on to a different title. My reticence to read the novel revolved around the plethora of book-clubby texts that could best be classified as “somewhat patronizing novels about other cultures featuring triumph in the face of great poverty and hardship.” I hate these books. But White Teeth turns out be an example of where those novels fail and a sun More...

29 comments like (29 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Leslie rated it:

As many other reviewers have commented, I wanted to like this book more than I did. It approached greatness in many ways---the clever and often hilarious dialogue, the quirky characters, the creative family histories, the rich and convincing place descriptions, and so on. Despite the strengths of each of these parts, as a whole the book fell far short of greatness. It took me until the final pages to figure out what was missing for me: I did not genuinely care about most of the characters. I did More...

2 comments like (27 people liked it)

Sep 17, 2011

Paul rated it:

One star? Of course this is not a one-star wretched ignominous failure, this is a mighty Dickensian epic about modern Britain. But not for me. It's a question of tone. I have now tried to read this one twice and each time I find I'm groaning quietly and grinding my teeth. Zadie Smith's omniscient narrator, alas for me, has an air of horrible smirkiness, like a friend who just can't help pointing out all the less than pleasant attributes of everyone else, all in the name of life-affirming humour, More...

5 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2007

Dan rated it:

This book started bad for me and just got worse. I found the characters to be boring and two-dimensional. Actually, even worse, the author tried to build up the characters in most cases (though doing a poor job, I'd say), but then later reduced their roles to caricatures. So even those I was inclined to like wound up irritating me every time they opened their mouths.

Further, Smith's style is all over the place. At times I found it indulgent and pretentious, others fawningly resem More...

5 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2011

Elisa rated it:

"Voleva l'Uno, ma il mondo è Molti".

Il modo in cui Zadie Smith racconta la multiculturalità mi fa venire in mente un enorme Cubo di Rubik. Il colore della pelle è solo una delle tante discriminanti dei piccoli tasselli di plastica. Orientamento sessuale, sesso biologico, religione e patriottismo tempestano le facce del cubo di orde di colori differenti, tante piccole identità che cercano affannosamente di formare una facciata intera per poi tingere l'intero cubo del propri More...

5 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2008

C. rated it:

The story of the families of two WW2 veteran buddies living in North London. Archie is a white man who marries a younger black woman from a religious West Indian household. Samad is from Bengal and had an arranged marriage to a fiery younger woman, conveniently the same age as Archie's younger wife, and they had twin sons. One of the twin sons was sent back to Bengal, the other stayed in London. Both reacted to the culture of their homeland and the culture in England in strange ways. So did ever More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Katherine M rated it:

White Teeth was a clear testament to Smith's skills as a writer, powerfully intertwining the stories of families from different ethnic communities. Smith's colorful descriptions make every character come alive in the story. As she did in On Beauty, she uses as social and political issues as the backdrop for her thoughtful family portraits. The most impressive aspect of Smith's writing is her ability to tackle difficult social issues while capturing the subtlety of complex interpersonal relati More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2009

Lizzie rated it:

Man, I've got to read something really good really soon. Not my favorite streak I'm having. I bought this paperback (it is a green one, I wish my cover was on GoodReads!) when it was brand new, and I've moved it with me a dozen times unread. So hopeful! Oh well.

There just wasn't any meaning for me. No one was moving, no development felt impactful, several were distasteful. Nothing I thought had a through-line did. I thought I saw the ending coming and it turned out to just be More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2011

Leo rated it:

So it's not perfect. I understand that.
But I can't remember the last time a book this long has thoroughly captivated me, entertained me and struck a subtle chord in me all at the same time.
A lot of other reviews have valid points: all the characters do diminish into caricatures at certain points (but don't we as well?), the last hundred pages or so were a bit tiring, and the ending felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed.
My favorite aspect of this novel was Smith's keen eye for tur More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2008

Krys rated it:

My trusted source of recommendations most decidedly did NOT recommend this book, but I admit that I liked it far better than her.

That being said, despite the wonderfully poignant moments that expose the complications interracial relations in London, the book felt very scattered. Divided into sections, each portion of the novel primarily focuses on one individual in a small circle of relevant characters. The sections also (more or less) progress in chronological order over fifty years More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 26, 2007

Ellen rated it:

I enjoyed this book, despite being mildly repulsed by the first couple chapters. Generally, I don't like books where I don't like any of the characters, and this book was full of unlikable characters. Somehow, though, Zadie Smith still managed to make them sympathetic. The overall tone of the book was mocking, so at least I felt in league with the narrator in finding the characters' thoughts and actions ridiculous. But at the same time, I could identify with characters who make stupid decisi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2007

yana rated it:

so disappointing.
i started out with very high hopes, had been reading a lot of old and manly novels and was very much in the mood to read something by a contemporary female author. i was living in san francisco and kept seeing this book in the hands of strangers everywhere i went - on the BART, on the light rail, in the park, etc.. although initially turned off by the glowing reviews (i tend to be suspicious of books raving about the next new young protege who writes better than your mama More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2007

Jennifer rated it:

This one was hard to judge. I enjoyed the book...mostly. Smith seemed to be just dripping in ideas, and it appears that she tried to fit most of them in her first novel. There are parallels drawn between cross-pollination of plants and genetic engineering, parallels between the lives of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters (though each offspring believes the parents are revolting and each parent thinks their children as rebellious), of history and past and future. Smith jerks back More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2010

thos. rated it:

i picked this up when i was living in manhattan, trying to keep up a trendy appearance on the subway. though it is one of a multitude of those cultural-fish-out-of-water stories that have grown so popular since about 2001, this one is supposed to have extra sass, because it is written by a british woman who is attractive (from what i've heard about her other book on beauty; i have never seen her).

anyway, this book became particularly annoying when she started talking about tank co More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2007

Nicole rated it:

I read this a few years ago after reading about how good it is, and to this day I'm the only person I know that didn't really enjoy it at all. I read the whole thing on a plane ride to California, and I think it contributed to my jet lag because it was such a disappointment. Maybe I'll give it another try sometime, because people still tell me how good it is, but the whole thing left such a bitter taste in my mouth. For me, every sentence seemed to scream "I am important! You are suppos More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 07, 2008

Jasmine Star rated it:

I loved this book, at times i was laughing out loud. There are just so many layers to her wriing...she writes plainly, but intelligently, and it is full of humor and spunk, Her cultural isights are amazing...i swore she was talking about me at one point...and it was nice the way she included smidgens of dialect and superstition from 3 different cultures, with such depth! I would totally reccommend this book. Josh you were so right!

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2008

Angelique rated it:

I finally finished this book...it felt like it took forever. For the life of me, I just couldn't force myself to care about the characters or their stories. It had a few moments and the way the author brought the lives of characters full circle was interesting, although definitely had that "planned out" feel.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2009

David rated it:

A lot of people seem to start reading this book wanting to like it, but then find they don't. I didn't start off with any intentions but I did like it when I started reading. However as with those people I found I couldn't like it in the end. It starts off being quite a funny description of stereotypical lives of people from different cultures thrown together in London. Then it seems to lose its way in little sub-stories which one assumes are meant to give some kind of depth to the characters bu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 11, 2009

Mel rated it:

Since this debut work, Zadie Smith has become a British darling of the literary scene. Frankly, I don't know why. This is a post-war attempt of the intersecting-storylines-concept of "Crash," with the nonsensical scientific jargon of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Granted, there are two notably funny scenes, where someone dies after slipping on hair rollers at the salon, and banging their head on the shampoo bowl. There's also the humorous Dad of the twins, who protests most More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 04, 2011

Karen rated it:

TL;DR.

Okay, so I did finish this one, but it was not easy. The problem with audio books is that there isn't a satisfying way to skim when you lose interest in a section. So you can skip a few tracks and hope you chose well, or you can zone out and come back when you've decided what to make for dinner.

Anyway, this book has a lot to offer: interesting characters, sharp dialogue, and some hilarious scenes. Two that come to mind: a woman who refuses to speak directly to her More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Carol rated it:

It is an ambitious book spanning generations and a variety of immigrant cultures that populate London. We found the book to be laugh out loud funny at points and thought the writing was very clever. The close friendship of Archie and Samad, which started in World War II, when they were both fighting for the Allies, was heart of the story. Archie was a typical British working class man and Samad was a Muslim Bengali from Pakistan. Archie married a daughter of a Jehovah's Witness from Jamaica More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2008

Amy rated it:

I am torn between giving this book a rating of "it was okay"/"I liked it". I wanted to like this book more than I actually did; I definitely enjoyed "On Beauty" more. I found the style inconsistent and the way she jumped her focus from character to character resulted in my not sympathizing with any of them. My favorite section (and probably the reason that I chose three stars instead of two) was the one which focused on Irie, the young, mixed daughter of one of More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Tara rated it:

Smith strikes me as a writer who is probably better in the short story format. Her chapters are rich, lush vignettes that are so close to being stand-alone stories that one gets the feeling, eventually, that it is only by virtue of wrestling them all into the framework of the same story that they even tenuously hang together. Her characters are broadly and well-developed, but their lives and interactions are so diverse that there's no room for the reader to project a desire or viewpoint onto t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2008

Michele rated it:

First off, wow! I'm pretty impressed by the writing in this novel. While there may be a few rough edges as far as plotting and characterization go, the actual writing is very well done. Wish I could write like that.

Zadie Smith's novel begins with an attempted suicide, and although the sensation wanes shortly thereafter and doesn't rise again until the very end, the story is so well told that the characters take over and the plot becomes less important in the middle of the story.

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 29, 2009

Duncan rated it:

Dear Multi-generational immigrant fiction--
I have difficulty with you. I can understand the need for continuity, a sense of connection with the past, but all I can see with you is a target audience of middle aged white, (or any variation therein-twinkie, hoho, what have you) liberal women. Same goes for Middlesex, and Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes (not sorry I didn't finish you). Again, flash to mom killing these sorts of movies on the television. Flash again to mom laying generat More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2011

Sunil rated it:

It can't get any more post-modern than this; a pinnacle of post-modern literature, White Teeth, written in the winter of 20th century is an Hegelian synthesis of sorts. It has come to be the symbol of the contemporary fragmented world - an offspring of the marriage between the inescapable past ( an empire there was, a distant cold war and drifting faintness of World Wars) and the promise of future ( the dynamics of economic politics, pro-labour climate, a recently forged EU, growing environme More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2007

Mark rated it:

Embrace your Inner Outcast!

Ever feel like something about you just doesn't quite fit in to the bigger picture of life that surrounds you? If so, pick up Zadie Smith's wonderful novel "White Teeth". Every single main character in the book is a well developed study of an inward focused outcast. The way the author strings these warped pearls of dysfunction into a funny, absorbing tale of life is laudable.

The outrageous beginnings of each character's plot line make More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 03, 2007

Kim rated it:

This book is highly entertaining. It is the intergenerational story of finding identity in a hostile environment. What makes this book unique however, is that it is a sort of dissection of the ways in which we construct our identities, and the tools that we use to do so. It is less important almost, the identity constructed in the end or along the way; the journey is what matters, and the weight of history during the journey. This book contains some of the greatest charcter development I've read More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2007

Andrew rated it:

I actually don't remember a whole lot of this book, except that it's coming back to me now. Actually it's a lot like a Stephen Frears movie, the title of which doesn't come immediately to mind. He does a lot of movies about class and race relations in Britain, mostly pretty fascinating stuff. But as I recall, Zadie Smith's book is different in that it really seeks to develop characters as characters, not just as the product of their surroundings bound to act the way they do based on their circum More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)