White Teeth: A Novel
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List Price: $14.95
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Manufacturer: Vintage
Written By: Zadie Smith
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780375703867
ISBN: 0375703861
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: 2001-06-12
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 2001-06-12
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Reviews for White Teeth: A Novel
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Zadie Smith’s dazzling debut caught critics grasping for comparisons and deciding on everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie to John Irving and Martin Amis. But the truth is that Zadie Smith’s voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.
At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith. Set against London’s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.
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Consumer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Many generations
Comment: I started this book not thinking I would like it. Not sure why, but maybe because friends didn't seem thrilled. Maybe because reviews were mixed. But in the end I enjoyed it quite a bit. At points it had a rather Salman Rushdie feel, but there was less fantasy and more realism involved. I found the dilemmas characters faced to be quite pertinent in today's world of melting pots and mixed identities. This story follows numerous generations of three families through their formative experiences, focusing on the youngest generation. Through it all Zadie Smith examines how our personas are affected by the past we conceive, the future we envisage, and the present we inhabit. I enjoyed the use of vernacular speech, which I often heard out loud in my head (probably terribly cliched).
A quote I liked: "Mad Mary was looking at him with recognition. Mad Mary had spotted a fellow traveler. She had spotted the madman in him (which is to say, the prophet)..."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific and More Terrific on Second Reading
Comment: I struggled with "White Teeth" when I first opened the book shortly after its publication several years back. I liked parts, didn't like others. The book seemed too loose for me, it roamed around, bouncing from scene to scene, character to character. I laughed at some of the scenes, but struggled to keep turning the pages. Now when I go back to the book, I'm simply amazed to find that it's incredibly coherent, the story woven artfully together, cohesive, tasty in its comic flare, just plain delightful. It's not the England I really know, yet I'm sure it's the England that really is. As a writer, Smith is great to read, and "White Teeth" must stand as the very best of her work. In looking at her subsequent novels, I don't find the same kind of exhilaration, the same energy as in "White Teeth," but that's OK. She's done it so well here that all is forgiven. "White Teeth" is one for the ages.
-Tom Maremaa, Author of the Forthcoming Metal Heads: A Novel from Kunati Books in Spring 2009
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much better once you're done reading it.
Comment: White Teeth can hardly be called anything but epic - not only in length, but in the sheer volume of events that occur as the story unfolds. This a double-edged sword - while there are long sections of brilliant characterization and interesting plot-lines, there are extended sections of excruciatingly boring text which feel unnecessary as you're reading them. However, the greatest thing this novel accomplishes is to tie together all its strands, which continually wind tighter as the story leads to its conclusion. Most of the characters are at least entertaining, and two or three are outstanding. There are also a few annoying, boring characters which seem to add nothing to the novel at all - Clara's father comes to mind here.
This novel is certainly worth reading, even if some of the longer, less interesting sections of the narrative need to be skimmed through or skipped altogether. Truth be told, the reader would only be cheating himself to pass these sections by, as they do seem to pay off in the end. However, it reads like something of an endurance test at times, and a feeling arises that the author was being overindulgent in writing such a massive book. Despite its flaws, White Teeth showcases some excellent storytelling, and I would recommend seeing it out to the end, though I promise you, at times, it will be difficult.
8/10
Customer Rating:
Summary: Over-hyped
Comment: I agree with other reviewers who mention Smith's lack of focus in writing the story and lack of compassion for the characters. It reads like the work of a twenty-something with limited life experience who is overly proud of herself and just can't be bothered to get anything right. Flip judgments of characters don't make for an entertaining or compelling read. This is one to avoid, despite the opinions of reviewers obsessed with the writer's youth and good looks. It's a look, not a book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A tough slog
Comment: Smith's book starts out alright but quickly deteriorates. I was not impressed with Smith's ability to tell a story or develop characters. There are so many good writers to read-- old classics as well as new young ones. I would not waste my time with another one of her books.
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More Information on White Teeth: A Novel
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... When I Was Puerto Rican; The Lonely Londoners (Longman Caribbean Writers Series) White Teeth: A Novel ... CREATIVE NONFICTION: This article appears in the July 2002 issue of Writer's Digest
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