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books_with_mana's Reviews (414)
Although it took a hundred pages to get into this novel, this has to be my favorite read this year. I love the connections weaved throughout this book, creating a small academic community where everyone (everyone important that is) knows each other.
I lived for the academic politics in this novel, which make sense because I'm playing with the idea of entering the academic world after my studies. The fights themselves are so trite, but reality is very much like this. It's a lot of adults yelling at each other, claiming the other is wrong and dumb is fluffed up language. If you strip away the polished academic rhetoric, you can see how childish Monty and Howard are.
A lot of the character driven plot is, as Zora put it, "SO OBVIOUS" but I enjoyed that. The characters were so different and authentic that even though I expected them to behave a certain way, they did no matter how cliché or obvious. If they would have done anything different I would not have believed the character development.
The writing style itself was flawless. Zadie Smith's exposition was beautiful and I ended up reading several paragraphs over so the words and phrases could sink in and blossom. Smith wrote smartly--she was academic, political, overzealous, brutally honest, and true in her narration when she needed to be.
My only critique is that I wish we got to know Carlene better. She seemed like a strong force in her youth, but we only caught glimpses of her fire (as with Kiki) and I wanted to see that strong, well-seasoned woman figure.
I lived for the academic politics in this novel, which make sense because I'm playing with the idea of entering the academic world after my studies. The fights themselves are so trite, but reality is very much like this. It's a lot of adults yelling at each other, claiming the other is wrong and dumb is fluffed up language. If you strip away the polished academic rhetoric, you can see how childish Monty and Howard are.
A lot of the character driven plot is, as Zora put it, "SO OBVIOUS" but I enjoyed that. The characters were so different and authentic that even though I expected them to behave a certain way, they did no matter how cliché or obvious. If they would have done anything different I would not have believed the character development.
The writing style itself was flawless. Zadie Smith's exposition was beautiful and I ended up reading several paragraphs over so the words and phrases could sink in and blossom. Smith wrote smartly--she was academic, political, overzealous, brutally honest, and true in her narration when she needed to be.
My only critique is that I wish we got to know Carlene better. She seemed like a strong force in her youth, but we only caught glimpses of her fire (as with Kiki) and I wanted to see that strong, well-seasoned woman figure.