Swing Time: A Novel

I struggled to relate to the characters. I struggled to get into a groove or stay interested in the storyline.

I've only ever read one other Zadie Smith book, On Beauty, and I loved it. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details because I read it while my dad was in the end stages of Parkinson's but I know I would recommend On Beauty to anyone starting out with Zadie.

Swing Time took me a bit more by surprise. I got the book from Audible.com and LOVED the narrator. LOVED HER. Pippa Bennett-Warner was so damn stellar at the accents and nationalities in this book that I could hug her. She got me completely lost in the story. (I see she narrates White Teeth - sold! Downloading White Teeth now).

Once again, I think Smith did a fantastic job weaving together a story that shifts through time, bringing together Tracey and the unnamed narrator, and tearing them apart. We never find out the narrator's name, which leaves her as a bystander in all events, including in her own life. She's only ever an attachment to someone else, who is named, but never stands out on her own. And she seems acutely aware of this fact.

I did have a bit of trouble in the beginning because I just wasn't sure where we were going. We ended up traveling to London, NYC and West Africa, all the while watching No-Name lose herself and destroy friendships and relationships. She deliberately does terrible things, without thinking of consequences, takes the wrong path on so many occasions and still doesn't quite seem to understand how she got to where she is. She's terribly young and her immaturity shines through most of her interactions.

I hope, by the ending, she is free to be herself and figure out who she is. Her attachments are whittled down to nothing, which means, she needs to stand on her own.

Good book and I highly recommend the audio version (about 13+ hours).

I struggled to relate to the characters. I struggled to get into a groove or stay interested in the storyline.

This book is very layered. I feel like I could read it again and still get so much out of it. It's very political but it's also open-ended. The characters all have different perspectives and are constantly calling each other out for what they perceive are the wrong views or actions. So, a lot like real life. Wonderful writing.

I had similar feelings for white teeth by Zadie Smith. The characters are interesting: three dimensional, complex and challenging. I enjoyed the themes particularly about friendship riddled with competition and judgement. As well as exploring family relationships - love, expectations and disappointments. There is a lot to talk about in here so it was good to have as a book club book. But ultimately I just didn’t enjoy it. It was meandering and ultimately a bit flimsy.