On Beauty in What's the Name of That Book???

Apr 08, 2007 karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

i read this too long ago to write a proper review of it, but this is a little heads-up if anyone wants to check out a "summer reruns" list i made over here:

https://www.rifflebooks.com/list/237495

i do so love making lists. ...more

58 likes · Like · see review

Dec 26, 2007 Hannah rated it liked it

Shelves: grownups-fiction

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think this book has mixed feelings about itself.

Craft-wise, it's pretty excellent. I haven't read her other books yet, but Smith seems to have a knack for good, subtle characterization and is obviously good at inserting race and cultural issues into a book that isn't categorized as "Black fiction" or other such crap. I think non-white writers of "literary fiction" find themselves in the difficult position of appealing to the "average" reader, which of cou I have mixed feelings about this book. I think this book has mixed feelings about itself.

Craft-wise, it's pretty excellent. I haven't read her other books yet, but Smith seems to have a knack for good, subtle characterization and is obviously good at inserting race and cultural issues into a book that isn't categorized as "Black fiction" or other such crap. I think non-white writers of "literary fiction" find themselves in the difficult position of appealing to the "average" reader, which of course is white, and being "true to their culture." (Please excuse all of the horrible quotations in my review, but it's hard to do sarcasm on the Internet.) As a black girl who was raised in a culturally mixed (but not at all black) family, I see the difficulty. I commend Smith for her achievement there.

That said, the most annoying thing about the book, which permeated all of its 400+ pages, was her that she clearly does not have an ear for language, or at least linguistics. I've yet to read a Brit who can write convincing American dialogue. What's interesting is that in the book's narration, Smith does mention something about the Belsey children and their being brought up in a trans-Atlantic household, and her characterization and speech of the two older children, who are more British, was pretty good. I've known American children of Brits, and they do mix both "languages." However, in her entirely American speakers, Kiki, Carl, to a certain extent Levi, and other minor characters, she misses the mark completely and continually gives them Britishisms, British grammar, and a British lexicon. This may not be noticeable to a less picky reader, but I found it jarring in my reading.

Although I'm a university student, I go to a horrible state school that I'm too smart and snobby for, and I have no idea of the inner workings of academia when you work at a university. I'm also not having a mid-life crisis, nor am I married with children. But you can write what you aren't, and certainly you can read what you're not as well. Still, On Beauty is confusing, and it alternates between being really well done to having too much going on. Smith may have insight on interracial relationships, politics, or academia, but she clearly does not understand the US quite enough to write a convincing book about it. Some things really do require that you stick to what you know. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2011 ashwini rated it really liked it

This book reminded me a lot of "Freedom," which I loved--the culture wars, the deep insights into the inner life of a number of different characters, themes of betrayal and childrearing. But upon reflection I think this book is the worse of the two. The storytelling was uneven, and some of the most interesting characters were given the least amount of pages. Still, it was a great read. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 22, 2015 Sophia rated it liked it

Shelves: own, mainstreamfiction, 2015

(3.5 stars) It's rare these days that I want a book to be longer than it is, and in this case it's not because the book was so completely spectacular (though I enjoyed it), but because if you're going to use some elements of Victorian literature in your book, you need to write a "loose, baggy monster" of a novel to live up to them. Smith sets up a lot of conflicts, both interpersonal and societal, sprinkles in some Victorian elements like a father racing to prevent an unsuitable marriage and a f ...more

Like · see review

Jan 26, 2008 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, 1001_before_i_die

Having failed to make it through White Teeth (three times!), I wasn't going to bother with this but since it's on the 1001 list, I picked it up simply to check it off. It's not fantastic, but it stuck with me throughout the three weeks it took to listen to the entire thing (save the last few pages, which I read to get it done). Basically, it's about pretensions: academic, intellectual, cultural and otherwise. I had trouble figuring out who was white and who was black, and I wonder if that was so ...more

Like · see review

Dec 03, 2009 Selma rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, gave-up-on-this

Not worth the effort.

Like · see review

Feb 08, 2008 Sarah Funke Donovan rated it it was ok

Shelves: boston, novel-novel

If you live in Boston, or near it, read this book. If you have ever dealt with life as an academics, interracial relationships or class identity, read this book.

On second thought, I never finished it. It kind of lost steam after a while...

Like · see review