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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Modern classic of impressionistic storytelling and character work
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My first Zadie Smith novel, and it's one that took me some time to figure out. I hated the ending and most of the characters, and yet I appreciated their struggles, their malaise. The writing wasn't bad, it's just that I wasn't drawn in necessarily.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Xenophobia
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Truly couldn’t get into the style of writing
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not as great as White Teeth, but still really damn good. Man, I've come to love Zadie's work. Probably because I really relate to some of her writerly sensibilities. I mean, I get it. I cheer her on. NW contains some absolute gem passages: the dinner party (pitch perfect!), the contemporary urban pastoral (as I call it) prose poem, the "god" chapter, the cathedral chapter, the casting of Keisha/Natalie, etc. However, while NW shines in its parts, it's not a whole (like White Teeth). It almost feels unfinished, as if it's a narrative stuck on itself. Nonetheless, I will reread it, which is my fiction litmus test.
In vignettes and sections, NW tells the stories of Leah, Keisha (who changes her name to Natalie), Felix, and Nathan, four people born into the same northwest London housing projects. Leah secretly takes the pill to avoid having children with her beautiful, perfect husband. Natalie is a successful lawyer with a husband and young kids who self-sabotages by finding random people to have sex with online. Felix is a well-meaning former junkie gone clean who still manages to wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nathan never pulled himself out of the projects and, we realize by the end of the book, never will.
This was a disappointing effort from a writer who is generally considered a literary prodigy. The four protagonists' lives were meant to be woven together, meandering through their 20s and ending up at the same place in their 30s, but it didn't feel cohesive as a novel, and I found myself wondering why Smith hadn't just written a collection of stories.
This was a disappointing effort from a writer who is generally considered a literary prodigy. The four protagonists' lives were meant to be woven together, meandering through their 20s and ending up at the same place in their 30s, but it didn't feel cohesive as a novel, and I found myself wondering why Smith hadn't just written a collection of stories.