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“Overrated. One reviewer remarked that Zadie Smith is prodigiously clever. That is undeniably true, but it's not enough to make this the Great Novel others have worked it up to be. Great characters, spectacular writing, and interesting takes on assimilation and multiculturalism end up as no more than disparate stand alone sketches that never culminate in a believable, integrated narrative. Heightening the disjointed effect are scenes that either fall from improbable into straight up ridiculous, or the opposite extreme, where after painstaking scene-setting, others just trail off without reason or resolution. It seems like she should have edited out these pointless discursives, but put so much effort into writing them, that she couldn't bear to remove them. Smith wrote this when she was 23, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment. If her ensuing efforts feature less showing off and more maturity, then they may indeed be the Great Novel that White Teeth was hyped up to be.”
Jenny B wrote this review Thursday, November 19, 2009.
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