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A review by andrewspink
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
4.75
This was a book that was very pleasant to read, I was through the 400 plus pages in no time, and yet full of interesting insights and thought-provoking perspectives. She makes great fun of Literature (Dickens doesn't come off lightly), which also means that she is poking fun at herself. That is one of the great strengths of the book, it is lightly written and humorous. I heard that she did this to get people to read about the serious topics which the book addresses (colonialism and slavery).
Like books written in the 19th century, the chapters were short and have proper titles, which I appreciate. The dialogue is in modern English (perhaps just a touch old-fashioned?), containing anachronisms like 'boycott' (which was not invented until 1880, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott) and (irritatingly) modern swearing. However, that does make the book more readable, without having to wade through Dickensian language.
She does use quite a lot of authentic terminology, which meant I had to look up a few things (just a click away seeing I was reading this as an e-book) like dolly-shop. The references are not all to that time, when she writes 'some fools say the world rests on the back of a turtle', that can only be about the late great Terry Pratchett. Was the 'philosophic German' Einstein?
I enjoyed that large parts of the book are set in Manchester, also with references to Manchester's history (Peterloo) seeing books like this are often very London-centred (and I've lived in Manchester, not London).
A nice aspect is that the issue of being a fraud is addressed from so many angles. Literature is portrayed as potentially fraudulent. The trial is, of course, all about fraud (and apparently a conscious references to Trump). Interestingly, slavery is also presented as a fraud, and a criminal fraud at that. 'It is the gaoler's fraud in claiming to hold a man prisoner in the first place'.
It is a remarkable achievement that she succeeds in addressing such a heavy subject in such a readable way.
Like books written in the 19th century, the chapters were short and have proper titles, which I appreciate. The dialogue is in modern English (perhaps just a touch old-fashioned?), containing anachronisms like 'boycott' (which was not invented until 1880, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott) and (irritatingly) modern swearing. However, that does make the book more readable, without having to wade through Dickensian language.
She does use quite a lot of authentic terminology, which meant I had to look up a few things (just a click away seeing I was reading this as an e-book) like dolly-shop. The references are not all to that time, when she writes 'some fools say the world rests on the back of a turtle', that can only be about the late great Terry Pratchett. Was the 'philosophic German' Einstein?
I enjoyed that large parts of the book are set in Manchester, also with references to Manchester's history (Peterloo) seeing books like this are often very London-centred (and I've lived in Manchester, not London).
A nice aspect is that the issue of being a fraud is addressed from so many angles. Literature is portrayed as potentially fraudulent. The trial is, of course, all about fraud (and apparently a conscious references to Trump). Interestingly, slavery is also presented as a fraud, and a criminal fraud at that. 'It is the gaoler's fraud in claiming to hold a man prisoner in the first place'.
It is a remarkable achievement that she succeeds in addressing such a heavy subject in such a readable way.