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kayleigh214's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
thechanelmuse's review against another edition
3.0
“A truth was being revealed to me: that I had always tried to attach myself to the light of other people, that I had never had any light of my own. I experienced myself as a kind of shadow.”
In Swing Time, readers travel through the perspective of a passive, unnamed narrator, swinging back and forth from her childhood friendship with Tracey, a fellow biracial dancer at a church in a working-class section of London, to their divergent yet tumultuous adulthoods. The narrator is fixed in the way she navigates through her life, trying to get a grip on her identity while being sucked into the lives of everyone else. The complexities of identity, race, class, cultures, friendships, family dynamics, and mother-daughter relationships are brought up throughout.
Zadie Smith has an exquisite writing style, but it can become too descriptive at times. This is the first book I’ve read by her, but it won't be the last.
In Swing Time, readers travel through the perspective of a passive, unnamed narrator, swinging back and forth from her childhood friendship with Tracey, a fellow biracial dancer at a church in a working-class section of London, to their divergent yet tumultuous adulthoods. The narrator is fixed in the way she navigates through her life, trying to get a grip on her identity while being sucked into the lives of everyone else. The complexities of identity, race, class, cultures, friendships, family dynamics, and mother-daughter relationships are brought up throughout.
Zadie Smith has an exquisite writing style, but it can become too descriptive at times. This is the first book I’ve read by her, but it won't be the last.
shareuhlin's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
twj483's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
zerofactorial's review against another edition
4.0
Zadie Smith, once again, delights. She has never let me down since I first read NW and knew she had mastered the novel. These characters, resolutely whole and uncompromisingly messy, will stay with me for a long time.
The things I'm most thinking about (writing this almost exactly a month after finishing it) are: -- okay I just realized the main character is unnamed now as I attempted to look it up, thinking I had forgotten it, I really did read it with due attention-- the narrator's choice which gets her fired and why she chose it and the subtle complication of that, the awe the narrator feels for Tracey as kids, the mess of the relationship with the father and the way that small things can turn beautiful things ugly so quickly.
The things I'm most thinking about (writing this almost exactly a month after finishing it) are: -- okay I just realized the main character is unnamed now as I attempted to look it up, thinking I had forgotten it, I really did read it with due attention-- the narrator's choice which gets her fired and why she chose it and the subtle complication of that, the awe the narrator feels for Tracey as kids, the mess of the relationship with the father and the way that small things can turn beautiful things ugly so quickly.
laura_corsi's review against another edition
2.0
Swing Time is told in the first person from a character whose name is never revealed. She is the consummate observer of life who does not seem to belong anywhere. She spends her life in thrall to those who make a performance of their life. She is fascinated by them but seems to have little life of her own. We get small glimpses into moments where the narrator could have created a rich life for herself where her name almost, almost trembles onto the page. But, ever and always she retreats.
coralena's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
amyingomar's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75