3.5
On Beauty
ByPublisher Description
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Winner of the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction, another bestselling masterwork from the celebrated author of Swing Time and White Teeth
"Thoroughly original . . . A novel that is as affecting as it is entertaining, as provocative as it is humane." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
This wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, Massachusetts, whose misadventures in the culture wars—on both sides of the Atlantic—serve to skewer everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. Full of dead-on wit and relentlessly funny, this tour de force confirms Zadie Smith's reputation as a major literary talent.
Winner of the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction, another bestselling masterwork from the celebrated author of Swing Time and White Teeth
"Thoroughly original . . . A novel that is as affecting as it is entertaining, as provocative as it is humane." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
This wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, Massachusetts, whose misadventures in the culture wars—on both sides of the Atlantic—serve to skewer everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. Full of dead-on wit and relentlessly funny, this tour de force confirms Zadie Smith's reputation as a major literary talent.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesOn Beauty Reviews
3.5
“slow burn but really enjoyed.”“This book is Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch meets Ann Patchett's Commonwealth. There are so many things to love about this one:
On Beauty raises questions about art, beauty, culture, academics, politics, and family while creating realistic characters and relationships. I felt like this book was based on a real family and real people. No character in this book is a perfect person and Smith makes that abundantly clear, just as beauty itself is not a black-and-white concept. Smith often uses beauty, or the lack thereof, as a way to turn the characters against one another, especially those of the same race. There is brief discussion of and allusion to the injustices of the white man, yet it is the Black characters who most frequently fight with each other. I feel this is powerful commentary on Smith's part that our focuses do not always lie on the utmost priority. Humans are easily led astray and attack the most convenient person to blame, even those who should be your allies. This is not an issue exclusive to the Black community, however Smith references it because, I believe, it is what is familiar to her, which would totally make sense.
Smith also uses colloquialism to represent the difference in the social perceptions of her characters. Levi's dialogue often featured colloquialism and his character was not always viewed in the best way by others. On the other hand, Monty is a respected academic, professor, and scholar, hence why his dialogue rarely—if at all—featured colloquialism. This was such an interesting detail to keep track of in the writing. A reread would probably reveal even more I glanced over.
I felt I could relate to the family dynamics of the Belseys very much. The parents are still married, yet resent one another for different reasons. The children are not always connected, but bond at random times over unexpected things. The children push their parents away in response to their ongoing disagreements. Kiki as a mother and wife lacks much-needed recognition from her husband and children. The list goes on. It was both comforting and painful to view my family through theirs, both the ups and downs. This just reinforces how realistic Smith's characters are. I find it hard to relate to books, so given that I was able to relate to these characters, I think, speaks volumes.
Kiki was hands-down my favorite character here. *spoiler* When Smith reveals that her brief friend, Carlene, left her expensive painting to Kiki after her death and that Carlene's family destroyed the evidence of the inheritance, I was terrified that Kiki would never know of such a great gift. But Smith lines up the perfect way for Kiki to find out about the painting and it brought me to tears. Of course it was another woman in the book that had such a deep impact on Kiki. Her husband failed her. Her sons rarely want anything to do with her. She needed that woman companionship and delivered.
And, I knew while reading that Kiki was a smart woman, but I underestimated how much so. She comments at one point that she wants to see what Monty, Carlene's husband, looks like after her death considering how much he worshipped her. So she sets up a way to do the same with her own husband, Howard, just without the death part. She has sex with him once more, leaves him, then attends his tenure speech and flirts with him from the audience. After cheating on her, if he really wants to stay married to her, then he'd show her right then and there during his speech. And I think he did. Just such a clever ending on Smith's part. I'm in awe of how that unfolded.
This book was also unexpectedly very funny! I highlighted so many hilarious quotes and was constantly giggling over some of the dialogue. Smith masterfully combines intellectual topics, contemporary tropes, and comedic relief into one book that is On Beauty. Easily a five star read.”
About Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, Swing Time, and The Fraud; as well as a novella, The Embassy of Cambodia; four collections of essays, Changing My Mind, Feel Free, Intimations, and Dead and Alive; a collection of short stories, Grand Union; and a play, The Wife of Willesden, adapted from Chaucer. She is also the editor of The Book of Other People. Zadie Smith was born in north-west London, where she still lives.
Other books by Zadie Smith
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