White Teeth: A Novel

it's the 3rd time I'm reading this book (for the book club this time), and for some reason, it appears weaker than before. I'm leaving 4 stars but in fact it's 3.5 for me this time

Really enjoyed Zadie Smith's fresh style, wit, and cultural ruminations on race, family, and religion as seen through the eyes of three very different families. I found myself laughing out loud on the train more than once, though I wouldn't characterize this book as a comedy by any means.

The first few chapters made me think this would be one of my favorite books ever, but then it just kept going and going and going and I got tired of it tbh

I like the main characters and I like the *idea* of the interactions between the main characters: Hortense, Archie Jones, Clara Jones (especially Clara), Irie Jones, Samad Iqbal, Alsana, Magid Iqbal, and Millat Iqbal. The first family is part native English and part Jamaican immigrant, the second family is Bangladeshi-English. And Smith writes really well. So right at the beginning, it seems like this will be an amazing book.

But then the story st...read more

I wanted to like this book more than I did. High expectations are always setting a book up to fail. The difficult thing is there is sooooo much to love about this book. Full, real, flawed, annoying characters. Narratives within narratives. Social commentary, intelligent themes around immigrant identity and scientific ethics. So much to love. But I found it hard to get through. Probably one of those books that if I read again I would enjoy more.