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A review by elyse33
The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
'So,' said Adam, as they started down the high street,'what was the occassion anyway?'
'Fear, and...' said Alex, and then thought for a while.
'Loathing?' offered Joseph.
'Yes. Definitely that. Definitely loathing, yeah.'
about religion and spirituality and personal gods (made or otherwise) and fame and community. zadie smith's writing style is so engaging to me - her novels have all the wit of someone like e.m. forster but with such a complex understanding of life in 20th/21st century london (i've only read white teeth + this one which were both in london - not sure about her other works yet :)).
'It's the opposite of resentment,' said Joseph, in a low, breaking voice. 'It's wonder. You don't see it. You have the power with things. I document acts of God. I give out insurance when things mess up. But you're in the world, with things. You sell them, you exchange them, you deal with them, you identify them, name them, categorise them,' - Alex freed his hand and slapped the dashboard in protest, amazed, like most people, by another man's laudatory description of the accident we call our lives - 'you write a bloody book about them. I'm sort of horrified by it, actually - you're so determined to shape what to me is fundamentally without any shape - and the joke is, you don't even realise it.'
because the story was very tangential and meandering it did sometimes feel a little slow or hard follow certain themes/threads of the story. and if it was any writer other than smith it could have very easily become tedious but to be honest i think i would be entertained by her shopping list so... i found - with this book especially - her novels are more like discursive essays told through the characters.
(...) this was an analogy that had not satisfied Adam, who thought the call to the rabbinate should be entirely pure, a discussion a man has with God. But God had never spoken to Rubinfine, really. Rubinfine was simply, and honestly, a fan of the people he had come from. He loved and admired them. The books they wrote, the films they made, the songs they had sung, the things they had discovered, they jokes they told. This was the only way he had ever found to show it, that affection.
very fun to read such a loser of a protagonist also... alex is so incredibly self-absorbed and self-pitying; reading his inner dialogue was verrrrry fun <3 also the group of childhood friends assembled were all pretty interesting in their own right + the dynamics were very fun; especially having read the prologue with them as children. and honey! and esther! zadie smith is so great at making her characters feel like real people- giving them all these little tics and quirks even if they're only in one or two scenes. definitely want to keep making my way through smith's body of work - even though i didn't love this one as much as white teeth i just find her writing so refreshingly funny + thought-provoking.
He threw her the keys. He told her something he hadn't told her in a while.
'I know. It's going to kill me,' she replied.
They came, they came. Somewhere, beneath the drink, he understood what it meant, them coming. That they would always come. This was godly.
'Fear, and...' said Alex, and then thought for a while.
'Loathing?' offered Joseph.
'Yes. Definitely that. Definitely loathing, yeah.'
about religion and spirituality and personal gods (made or otherwise) and fame and community. zadie smith's writing style is so engaging to me - her novels have all the wit of someone like e.m. forster but with such a complex understanding of life in 20th/21st century london (i've only read white teeth + this one which were both in london - not sure about her other works yet :)).
'It's the opposite of resentment,' said Joseph, in a low, breaking voice. 'It's wonder. You don't see it. You have the power with things. I document acts of God. I give out insurance when things mess up. But you're in the world, with things. You sell them, you exchange them, you deal with them, you identify them, name them, categorise them,' - Alex freed his hand and slapped the dashboard in protest, amazed, like most people, by another man's laudatory description of the accident we call our lives - 'you write a bloody book about them. I'm sort of horrified by it, actually - you're so determined to shape what to me is fundamentally without any shape - and the joke is, you don't even realise it.'
because the story was very tangential and meandering it did sometimes feel a little slow or hard follow certain themes/threads of the story. and if it was any writer other than smith it could have very easily become tedious but to be honest i think i would be entertained by her shopping list so... i found - with this book especially - her novels are more like discursive essays told through the characters.
(...) this was an analogy that had not satisfied Adam, who thought the call to the rabbinate should be entirely pure, a discussion a man has with God. But God had never spoken to Rubinfine, really. Rubinfine was simply, and honestly, a fan of the people he had come from. He loved and admired them. The books they wrote, the films they made, the songs they had sung, the things they had discovered, they jokes they told. This was the only way he had ever found to show it, that affection.
very fun to read such a loser of a protagonist also... alex is so incredibly self-absorbed and self-pitying; reading his inner dialogue was verrrrry fun <3 also the group of childhood friends assembled were all pretty interesting in their own right + the dynamics were very fun; especially having read the prologue with them as children. and honey! and esther! zadie smith is so great at making her characters feel like real people- giving them all these little tics and quirks even if they're only in one or two scenes. definitely want to keep making my way through smith's body of work - even though i didn't love this one as much as white teeth i just find her writing so refreshingly funny + thought-provoking.
He threw her the keys. He told her something he hadn't told her in a while.
'I know. It's going to kill me,' she replied.
They came, they came. Somewhere, beneath the drink, he understood what it meant, them coming. That they would always come. This was godly.