White Teeth in Around the Year in 52 Books

Jul 21, 2009 martha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: year-2009, 5-star-favs, bipoc-author

SO good. Can't believe it took me this long to read. Reminded me of a much more readable Salman Rushdie crossed over with Jonathan Safran Foer. I thought the ending felt a little rushed, but overall it was a really enjoyable read. Heartily recommended. ...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction, era-mid-20th-c, 1001-books

Uh-oh, another beloved tome that everyone loves but me. I can approach this one of two ways: I can soldier on, hoping that it gets better or just magically "clicks" for me, or I can DNF.

So, I negotiated a minimum page count with myself, (10% of the book), skimmed a bit more, skipped to the end, and then .. DNFed. There are so many other books I want to read!

I don't even feel guilty. This book gets lauded so much, my little one star won't have any effect. It's guilt-free DNFing.

“Find out what

Uh-oh, another beloved tome that everyone loves but me. I can approach this one of two ways: I can soldier on, hoping that it gets better or just magically "clicks" for me, or I can DNF.

So, I negotiated a minimum page count with myself, (10% of the book), skimmed a bit more, skipped to the end, and then .. DNFed. There are so many other books I want to read!

I don't even feel guilty. This book gets lauded so much, my little one star won't have any effect. It's guilt-free DNFing.

“Find out what it’s doing there and get rid of it.”

Mo disappeared from the window. A minute later Arshad returned with the explanation. “Abba.”

Mo’s head sprang back through the window like a malicious cuckoo from a Swiss clock.

“He’s gassing himself, Abba.”

“What?”

Arshad shrugged. “I shouted through the car window and told the guy to move on and he says, ‘I am gassing myself, leave me alone.’ Like that.”

“No one gasses himself on my property,” Mo snapped as he marched downstairs. “We are not licensed.”

Once in the street, Mo advanced upon Archie’s car, pulled out the towels that were sealing the gap in the driver’s window, and pushed it down five inches with brute, bullish force.

“Do you hear that, mister? We’re not licensed for suicides around here. This place halal. Kosher, understand? If you’re going to die round here, my friend, I’m afraid you’ve got to be thoroughly bled first.”

I'm not saying I didn't laugh, I did, sometimes. But the overall effect was more "embattled" than "entertained" or "enriched."

I just don't like this type of humor. Its heavy handed, intentionally over-the-top wink-wink-get-it type of semi-sophistication that doesn't work for me. Instead of laughing along while I nod my head in agreement, I'm edging away from the book and curling my lip in disgust.

I think this is what authors, especially young authors, think life is like for regular people, non-creative types who have lived a life doing regular things. But Smith's vision is so depressing. I feel like she's sneering at these regular-boring-life folks when she creates these parodies of people doing outsized and ridiculous things. My regular-boring-life has been a lot more vibrant and meaningful to me than Smith seems to think it might be.

Look, I know. It's not the book, it's me. It's my failing. I just don't like this. ...more

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