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Liked this more than I thought I would, despite being a Zadie Smith apologist already. Again, I love her sensibility and perception. However, On Beauty read differently than other Smith novels. It was more a "straight shot" in terms of style and structure, which sharpened up her characterization and placed more onus on her plot to carry everything.
I got invested in the novel's characters, even if Smith seemingly always leaves us with identity possibilities that simply suck. (Are her novels the literary analogue to Charles Taylor's study of authenticity? i.e. we profess it, but live out a totally bankrupt and co-opted version of it? Perhaps.)
However, I wanted more, especially from Howard (Howard's End!) and especially the denouement. But I'll take that final image of the Rembrandt at the novel's conclusion. It works in a Zadie way.
I got invested in the novel's characters, even if Smith seemingly always leaves us with identity possibilities that simply suck. (Are her novels the literary analogue to Charles Taylor's study of authenticity? i.e. we profess it, but live out a totally bankrupt and co-opted version of it? Perhaps.)
However, I wanted more, especially from Howard (Howard's End!) and especially the denouement. But I'll take that final image of the Rembrandt at the novel's conclusion. It works in a Zadie way.