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jennjennsan's review
4.0
I love Zadie Smith and her characters. They're relatable and live their crazy lives and as I read on, the book just got better. It's an easy read and a bit of a spiritual one for the characters; definitely shows you how life can lay its cards all over the floor. A good read for sure!
siriface's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
nichecase's review against another edition
4.0
much of the book was a genius evisceration of celebrity culture: the characters were all fully-fledged and interesting and played against a madcap and genuinely funny plot. however, at times it felt that smith did not trust the reader enough to keep track of her themes and so absolutely beat us over the head with certain motifs. ("the world is broken"/things being broken comes to mind - though i've come away from the autograph man with a deeper appreciation of kabbalah, i think that was solidified by about the second instance of "the world is broken".) conversely, some themes were underdeveloped - i was always expecting male friendship to come to a more satisfying conclusion, even if it only were to . if it weren't for this uneven pressure applied to the themes and motifs, this would definitely be a 5/5 read.
Spoiler
explore the homoeroticism of it, which was always bubbling around in the novelusnebojemesa's review against another edition
5.0
This was an absolute joy to read - little hard to start but I finished it in matter of days, and honestly I can say this is one of the best reads I've had in the last 5 if not 10 years. Love her work and I am so grateful I was introduced to her work (White Teeth) in my college studies.
renaciendome's review against another edition
4.0
I love the way Zadie Smith writes and how he shows the life of a simple man doing simple things detailing stuff of normal life making it interesting
tarrowood's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed by this novel. There’s a lot of promise in certain thematics, but a lot of the book feels unnecessary. And the parts that are necessary and strong feel like they aren’t fully reaching their potential. Zadie Smith is phenomenal, I stand by that, but The Autograph Man was my least favorite of hers by far
zosia_rose's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
DNF
I made it farther than I normally would have read strictly because I really wanted to honor Zadie Smith’s writing, but goLLY was this boring.
Maybe slice-of-life fiction just isn’t my genre, because I guarantee I would read any fantasy piece Smith were to write. Her storytelling and verbiage is beautiful and she writes characters very well, honoring their distinct personalities. Unfortunately, this life was not meant to be sliced...although interesting to a point there’s only so much mundanity I can take (no matter how prettily written) before it becomes TV static.
I’m trying my best to be respectful of culture here, but Judaism was the main theme woven into every section of the story and even the unique structure of the book and the passionate characters couldn’t keep me invested enough in the multiple arguments and nuanced philosophies about this topic to finish reading.
¡TAKE MY RATING WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!
I often push myself to finish books even if they’re not my favorite out of respect for the time put in by everyone involved in writing/publishing something. Recently I have changed my perspective: take what I can and leave the enjoyment to those it was meant for. Those are the reviews you should trust. The above is simply my personal record so I can better filter my TBR and find books I’ll like upon opening them.
I made it farther than I normally would have read strictly because I really wanted to honor Zadie Smith’s writing, but goLLY was this boring.
Maybe slice-of-life fiction just isn’t my genre, because I guarantee I would read any fantasy piece Smith were to write. Her storytelling and verbiage is beautiful and she writes characters very well, honoring their distinct personalities. Unfortunately, this life was not meant to be sliced...although interesting to a point there’s only so much mundanity I can take (no matter how prettily written) before it becomes TV static.
I’m trying my best to be respectful of culture here, but Judaism was the main theme woven into every section of the story and even the unique structure of the book and the passionate characters couldn’t keep me invested enough in the multiple arguments and nuanced philosophies about this topic to finish reading.
¡TAKE MY RATING WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!
I often push myself to finish books even if they’re not my favorite out of respect for the time put in by everyone involved in writing/publishing something. Recently I have changed my perspective: take what I can and leave the enjoyment to those it was meant for. Those are the reviews you should trust. The above is simply my personal record so I can better filter my TBR and find books I’ll like upon opening them.
anawilson05's review against another edition
Tangential story that meandered everywhere. Really slow and difficult to follow the themes and plots.
subvino's review against another edition
2.0
I love the 2 other books by Zadie Smith that I've read but this fell really, really flat for me. The protagonist Alex didn't have any redeeming qualities and frankly annoyed the hell out of me. I don't mind hating the main character as long as the rest of the characters or the plot is interesting (or the protagonist is hateable while still sympathetic in some way), but this book did nothing for me. Occasionally she (Zadie Smith) would describe something in a very well-written way and I'd think maybe things were turning a page (har har) in the book, but no. The beginning, which was narrated by Alex's father, was scores better than the 300 pages that follow it.