Рецензия на книгу

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  latekelem22 мая 2012 г.

  With a certain satisfaction I have finished reading the White Teeth by Zadie Smith. 846 pages on my e-reader, 464 pages in print. The book has turned out to be somewhat different than I expected it to be. I expected it to be funnier, while it turned out to be rather an intimate look into lives of two old-time friends and their families.

  
  

  Synopsis from Amazon:
  At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith. Set against London’s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.

  
  

  First of all, it has to be noted, that I've been meaning to read this book for a long time now, as I've read all other books by her, namely: The Autograph Man, On Beauty. And I liked them.

  White Teeth is the debut book of the writer. Zadie Smith was born in 1975 and published this book in 2000.

  It was interesting for me to read the White Teeth, as I've started from her later books, I could clearly see how it all started, and in what ways her writing evolved.

  Now, to the book itself. In short: It is somewhat too long. I think the book would probably be more enjoyable if it were somewhat shorter. I like the language and the way she weaves the fates of people together. Having read her later books first, I feel the debut is somewhat weaker, than I expected it to be after all the hype. Naturally, the hype arose for a reason, despite any cons this is an extremely spectacular debut, very well written, very insightful and witty. More than that, considering the age of Zadie Smith at the time of writing of this book, the level of understanding and wisdom is quite amazing, to say the least.. The author is also very humane, she describes follies and errors of her characters, with compassion.

  Again, I feel that it was quite deservigly included in the 20 best books of the 21 century list.

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