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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Smith is an outstanding writer that can turn a phrase and has written an entertaining story that covers heavy themes of fairness and the limits of societal change.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was so excellent.
my first zadie smith, but absolutely not my last. this was hard to read in the very best and beautiful of ways. yes, it's slow at times but it only allows you to savor what you're reading, and in the end, i found myself being unable to put down the book. at some point i was reminded of bojack horseman -- unlikeable characters that do awful things yet you find yourself still rooting for them -- that, as well as the deeply compelling discussions on politics, art, race, identity inside (and outside) of academia, were ultimately what made me give this book 5/5
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a moment to get into the meat of this book; I’m wondering if that was because I’ve never read Zadie Smith before and was unfamiliar with her particular style of prose. The characters are real, almost too real, making each of them somewhat unlikable in their own way. Overall though, a moving and original story.
really good, makes me hate smith college a little bit. glad i read this now!
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
urgh zadie smith is so cool. i think i loved this nearly as much as i loved ‘white teeth’ and at some point i will definitely get around to reading everything this woman has written. her characters are just so unbelievably real i’ve never known anything like it, everything that khaled housseini can do with setting, zadie smith can do with characters. it feels like you know them, like you’re being granted some inside view on the personal lives of people that begin as strangers but become a strange sort of family, not necessarily loved or even liked, but *known* on a deep level.
i nearly started listing the characters and all of my favourite strengths and weaknesses, flaws and virtues but i would be here literally all day and you should really just read the book yourself.
if you have had any experience of academia, especially a university, going to one yourself and/or coming into contact with lecturers and university politics: so much of this strikes a particularly funny and candid chord. if you have had any experience of the drama of young adulthood love affairs (or lack thereof) or of adultery, or of dysfunctional family dynamics the same applies.
honestly i could talk about this book all day - please someone i know read some zadie smith and talk about it with me - i’m in love with this woman.
i nearly started listing the characters and all of my favourite strengths and weaknesses, flaws and virtues but i would be here literally all day and you should really just read the book yourself.
if you have had any experience of academia, especially a university, going to one yourself and/or coming into contact with lecturers and university politics: so much of this strikes a particularly funny and candid chord. if you have had any experience of the drama of young adulthood love affairs (or lack thereof) or of adultery, or of dysfunctional family dynamics the same applies.
honestly i could talk about this book all day - please someone i know read some zadie smith and talk about it with me - i’m in love with this woman.