I read Zadie Smith’s White Teeth on my trip to Italy this past spring (I sound like quite the world traveler, but really it was just me spending my spring break visiting friends studying in Florence). There were lots of plane rides, train rides, and bus rides in which to read it. And even though I read it months ago, I still want to review it because I enjoyed it so much.
Maybe I sound pretentious by reading all of the books that one is “supposed” to read (according to Boxall). Yes, the last six or so books I’ve read have come from that list, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to other books. However, I’ve found that most of what I’ve read on the list so far has been really enjoyable, so until I hit a couple of clunkers in a row, I’ll keep chipping away at it.
Smith’s novel follows three families across several generations. Each of the characters had a distinct personality that oftentimes had qualities I would dislike in actual people, but they fit the person so well that I just went along with it. The way she was able to intertwine the lives of all three was ingenious, and as cliche as it is, I really found myself having a hard time putting it down (despite the end of the plane/train/bus ride).
I’m a sucker for a good romance in a story (not trashy romance novels, more along the lines of Heathcliff and Catherine), and this story had lots of angst and drama, but not to the point it was overdone. Each couple comes together in their own way, and they all have such unique dynamics. Arranged marriages, unconventional ones, unrequited love, elicit affairs. If there was a checklist for every sort of way for two characters to romantically interact, Smith hit them all. And yet, the story is so involved in other things that you’re not bowled over or smothered by all of the romantic tension.
The story goes from the victory and defeat of combat war to teenage rebellion to the dilemma between religion and science. It transitions from one theme to another beautifully, and it helps that each section of the book focuses primarily on one family over another, to keep things organized. I’m not a literary critic by any means, but Zadie Smith’s first novel is certainly one to beat in subsequent efforts. I haven’t read any of her other books yet but after reading White Teeth she’s definitely made the list of “authors I’d like to read more from”.
