Perfect pitch in every register..

Some tips, before reading this book:
1) Live in England long enough to appreciate the peculiar local flavours of race and class.
2) Get your hands on the audiobook recording. Absolutely fabulous.

Is there a name for the very specific emotional combination of relief, satisfaction, and joy that occurs when a piece of art that has been massively hyped lives up to that hype entirely? If there isn’t, I propose we call it the Zadie Smith effect. I missed White Teeth when it came out originally and have spent the last couple of years almost afraid to read it, because I thought nothing could be as good as people said White Teeth was. I needn’t have been. White Teeth is rich and sprawling and warm and painfully funny and, of course, incredibly sharp and insightful. If you are like me and you haven’t already read it, DO SO. You won’t regret it. — Maddie Rodriguez


from The Best Books We Read in April: http://bookriot.com/2015/05/01/riot-r...

“Dentes Brancos” é uma obra poderosa, carregada de significados impossíveis de decifrar numa única passagem. É uma obra imensamente rica porque pede não mera reflexão mas diálogo em busca dos significados pretendidos e dos que cada um de nós leu, interpretou e sentiu. Mas não sendo eu grande fã de simbolismos, ou melhor das ultrainterpretações a que dão azo, tenho de dizer que aquilo que primeiro me seduziu em Zadie Smith foi a sua escrita, que Quinn muito bem definiu no New York Times como: “exuberante pirotecnia verbal”.

[para ler a análise com imagens e links, aceder a https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...]

Pela sua qualidade estilística Zadie está na, minha, galeria de escritores ao lado de Jonathan Franzen e Philip Roth, embora para a maioria da imprensa esteja ao lado de Salman Rushdie. Impressionando, impacta verdadeiramente quando percebemos que “Dentes Brancos“, primeira obra, foi publicada em Janeiro de 2000, quando tinha 24 anos, e segue quando descobrimos que esta surge de um primeiro manuscrito datado de 1997, com 21 anos, que lhe valeu um contrato em redor das 250,000 libras. A idade impressiona, e houve quem qualificasse Zadie como uma daquelas crianças hiperativas que se revela cedo demais, correndo o risco de se perder no futuro, mas em 2017 sabemos que tal profecia não se concretizou, Zadie publicou desde então mais 4 romances, um dos quais, “Uma Questão de Beleza”, já aqui dei conta antes com nota máxima. Impressiona-me particularmente já que Zadie nasceu um ano depois de mim, o que me dá uma perspectiva muito próxima do que terá sido necessário para atingir este nível. Zadie é talento em bruto, mas não chega, o qualificativo de hiperatividade não é descabido, já que foi preciso investir muito do seu tempo em leitura, em introspeção e escrita. Produzir um texto desta magnitude com vinte e poucos anos não está ao alcance de muitos de nós, pode faltar talento mas falta acima de tudo o amor e a dedicação que Zadie depositou na literatura.

Em termos temáticos Zadie usa “Dentes Brancos” para ir ao fundo das complexidades familiares, raciais, colonizadoras e culturais da Inglaterra contemporânea. E se o livro terá impactado em 2000, o Brexit em 2017 veio tornar ainda mais relevante tudo o que nele se discute. Temos numa mesma narrativa, mais de 150 anos de história, três gerações e várias ex-colónias britânicas. A Jamaica, o Bangladesh e a Índia são chamados para a mesa inglesa, e o diálogo torna-se explosivo, multicolorido, dando a conhecer a essência da multiculturalidade. Zadie introduz temas como a 2ª Guerra Mundial, a eugenia, as religiões, a ciência, o livre-arbítrio, o suicídio, colocando toda uma constelação de personagens a questionar o propósito da vida. O propósito é aquilo que torna o resumo do livro tão difícil, e os personagens tão diversos e realistas podem afastar-nos mas Zadie usa uma forma inteligente de nos aproximar de tudo e todos, o "humor sério". Não sendo eu grande apreciador de comédia, tenho de dizer que ri, gargalhadas espontâneas, imensas vezes ao longo da leitura, com o modo como tratando assuntos sérios e complexos, os personagens, cada um dotado das suas lógicas e crenças culturais, questionam o mundo.

Todas estas temáticas só são possíveis pelo contexto que envolve Zadie, as suas raízes. Filha de mãe negra, imigrada em 1969 da Jamaica para Inglaterra, e de pai branco britânico, em segundo casamento. Com dois meios-irmãos e dois irmãos mais novos, e uma adolescência marcada pelo divórcio dos pais, que a levou a mudar o seu nome original, de Sadie para Zadie. Este contexto parece ter servido de ebulição à criatividade que viria a demonstrar na universidade, no King's College em Cambridge, onde daria nas vistas com pequenos contos, e conseguiria então captar o interesse para um contrato de primeira obra.

Voltando ao início, o livro está carregado de símbolos. Não são necessários decifrar para se compreender a história, para se sentir prazer na leitura, mas instigam-nos a ir mais fundo, assim como separam o livro do mero historiar de aventuras familiares de raças diferentes. Elevam o sentido da leitura e explicam porque a literatura continua tão relevante enquanto arte, já que consegue não apenas fazer-nos passar bons momentos, mas ao mesmo tempo ensinar-nos, contribuindo para o edificar da nossa base civilizacional.

E assim, mesmo não sendo particularmente fã da ultrainterpretação simbólica, não quero deixar de destacar aqui o sentido do título da obra. Como disse, existe muito mais nas páginas do livro, tal como o RatoFuturo, o KEVIN, ou o Dr. Doença, que poderiam por si dar origem a páginas e páginas de reflexões, e que terão já dado múltiplas teses de mestrado. Mas porquê “Dentes Brancos”? Tenho de confessar que as ideias que passo a explorar não são originariamente minhas, surgiram de várias leituras (ligações: a, b, c, d, e), que me permitiram, como disse por via do diálogo e confrontação de ideias, chegar uma interpretação que satisfez a minha leitura e o meu mundo.

Os “Dentes Brancos” surgem ao longo do livro várias vezes, mas sem conotações concretas, do impacto visual dos seus estragos (uma personagem não tem todos os dentes da frente), contrastando-se com o excessivo cuidado na sua limpeza (um dos personagens lava os dentes 5 a 6 vezes por dia). Como se os dentes tivessem uma relevância de classe, capaz de marcar a diferença de cultura e até de raça. Contudo, o mais significativo não surge nas páginas, temos de chegar lá por analogia, pela construção discursiva que nos une. Sendo um texto defensor do multiculturalismo, o que costumamos dizer é que a cor da pele na conta porque debaixo da mesma, corre o mesmo sangue vermelho. Ora dentro das nossas bocas estão também os mesmos dentes brancos, iguais para todos mas ao mesmo tempo diferentes, tão diferentes que são usados para identificar os restos mortais de corpos muito deteriorados. Ou seja, na igualdade podemos encontrar a diferença, e juntas contribuem para definir aquilo que somos. Não somos apenas iguais nem apenas diferentes, somos singulares, e por isso é fundamental preservar e acarinhar as raízes, as mesmas que garantem o branco dos nossos dentes.


Análise publicada no VI
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...

I wanted to give this book three stars, and then two stars. If I could give this book zero stars now, I would. I fucking loathed it. I'm sorry, but Zadie Smith is easily one of the three most pretentious writers I've read in the recent past. I literally have nothing more to say to her than that she tries too hard.

Oh Zadie Smith be still my beating heart! I devoured this fabulous novel. Smith is truly a master of plot and her ability to capture the voices of each individual character is inspirational. Never before have I read a novel which such a rich and diverse dramatis personae. I fear that this review is going to become a list of superlatives so I'll quell it here by saying, I loved this and I need to read more Smith now.

If you have been (or your parent has been) an immigrant, White Teeth will probably speak to you. My father was the first member of his family born in Canada. He desperately felt the need to fit in, to be Canadian. As a result, when his parents spoke in Danish at home, he always answered them in English. In later life, he could understand Danish, but not speak it, a situation which was sometimes frustrating when dealing with relatives who only spoke Danish. My grandfather came to Canada first, alone, and started out working in the lumber camps of Northern Alberta. He was a religious man and was mortified when he learned that the first English words that he acquired were cuss words. My grandmother is my hero—she came by boat to Quebec and then boarded a train to come to Western Canada. She spoke no English and no French, had 3 small children, a bag of apples, and no money. And yet they all made it to Athabasca to meet Grandpa.

Now, you may think that Danish immigrants would have felt a warm welcome in Canada in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Still, they didn’t fit in because they didn’t yet speak English and they had some different customs. Also, the Danes and the Ukrainians settled in the same area and there was some kind of weird rivalry between the two ethnic groups. Several generations later, and both groups of immigrants fit into Canada like they have always been here. It’s hardest for the first two generations.

So I could identify in a small way with the situation in White Teeth where people trace their heritage back to Jamaica and Bangladesh and are trying to fit into an overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon society.

n  But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts compared to what the immigrant fears—dissolution, disappearance.n

When your culture is very different from the new country (like Samad and Alsana’s Islamic life), you dread your children acclimatizing to their new surroundings—the religion that you cherish has potential to be lost (Magid) or changed until its unrecognizable (Millat). Contrast that with ever-so-Anglo-Saxon Archie, who ends up with a black daughter. Irie will always be considered foreign, even though she has just as many English ancestors as many Caucasian English, and she really feels her foreign-ness despite being born in North London. Hence her romantic notions of “the homeland” of Jamaica.

It’s amusing to watch Archie—unworthy recipient of white male privilege—seemingly unaware of all the ramifications of racial and class politics that swirl around him. Samad is the intellectual of the two and his intelligence is rarely recognized, while stolid, thick Archie wanders through life seemingly without impediment. Samad is torn between wanting the pleasurable things of life and being a devout Muslim. He literally tears his twin sons apart, sending Magid back to Bangladesh to become a “good boy” and leaving Millat in London, taking on the bad-boy half of the equation (and in many ways, living out some of his father’s desires).

There are lots of good things and many shrewd observations in WT, but to my way of thinking there were too many ideas being bandied about. It seemed to try to tackle everything: colonization, migration, class, race, prejudice, history, genetics—all intertwined, but maybe a bite that is just a little too big to chew. No wonder the book is over 400 pages.

Two weeks ago, I went to our university’s distinguished lecturer series to hear the author, Zadie Smith, speak. As a result, I having been hearing her lovely voice in my mind’s ear as I read, as if she is reading the novel to me. If you ever get a chance to hear her in person, go, do it. She is every bit as direct and funny as her prose would lead you to believe. I think she would be a lot of fun to have lunch with!

Superb. Smith is capable of writing dialogue for anyone; regardless of background, she brings them to life. This is mastery, no question. She creates these group scenes: multiple characters all talking at once, or seeming to, yet the narrative thread is pulled neatly through. To think she published this 450-pager when she was 24! It's clear she's learned much from Martin Amis — particularly from The Information. That's not a criticism; every novelist has his or her models. Anyway, and this is hardly breaking news, but a dazzling first novel. Halfway through it hit me, there's not a single male character here who isn't a loony. Henri de Montherlant famously said happiness writes white. Zadie Smith surprisingly refutes that claim in several passages of this wonderful book. I'm on to On Beauty next. It's rare to find someone who makes you eager to read their entire oeuvre.

Whoosh!!! What a story! Started off well but sagged a bit in the middle, but 500-0dd pages later....wonderful! So pleased I persevered.

The novel that shot Zadie (née Sadie) into the literary stratosphere in 2001. A decade down the line and this is still a dazzling performance. A mordant look at first-generation Bengali immigrants and the next generation's confused Anglicization and alienation. A scalpel-sharp realist novel with teeth sharper than a puma. Plus (near the end) a witty debate on religion v. science. And so much more besides.

Not head-over-heels in love with that ending. Reads more like an intellectual copout than a tightly sewn climax to me. Still, this is a clearly sublime must-read.

Such a hard slog to get through but you know me, I hate not finishing something. Like a certain Paul Bryant I was grinding my teeth throughout - although quite often for different reasons....It had a few quotes I found worthwhile underlining, but nothing that sticks in my mind right now that I could tell you. kind of ho hum and reminds me of some whacky 70's books where anything and everything is thrown in to make it exciting. Didn't work for me, found so much of it tedious and I jumped whole pages that just didn't interest me one jot. Some touching moments at times ~ relating race discrimination, but also so sterotypical I thought it insulting in parts. A mish mash in my opinion.. I might add i nearly threw it across the room several times was so bored with it, but then I've had pneumonia for several weeks and didn't feel like getting up to find another book.

Don't let my review of this put you off reading The Autograph Man - which I loved.




$3 today!. Bought on the strength of a friend's say so.

Phew, I was exhausted after finishing this book.
Faith, race, gender, history, and culture in three North London families are turned upside down, questioned, dissected and turned into a tragic comedy by Zadie Smith.

Samad Iqbal and his wife Alsana, the original Benghali immigrants, who often sort their differences out in some feisty backyard wrestling matches while their two twin sons, Magid and Millat, the second generation immigrants, run haywire in their confusion about being British as their mom wish them to be, and being Muslim as their father demands them to be. Millat ends up smoking pot, turning punk, test-driving all women he comes in contact with, admiring the Bruce Willis kind of action heroes and joining a militant Muslim group called KEVIN. Magid becomes an eccentric well-mannered nerdy scientist who wants to be a lawyer, after his dad abducted him and send him back to the old country to become accustomed with the old traditions and religion. But Magid ends up coming back an atheist and more British than the Brits themselves. Both sons become something Samad never wanted them to be.

Archie Jones, the only 'real Brit' in the situation, is the beginning and ending of the narrative - the last man standing in any situation. He married the toothless Clara, an immigré from Jamaica. Her grandmother, Hortense, is a staunch Jahova's Witness who stuck to her believes through thick and thin. Clara is much younger than Archie. Their union produces Irie - an agnostic seeker of love and peace. An intelligent young lady who never loses her sense of balance.

Archie and Samat come a very long way and became the best of friends since the second World War. Their two different versions of Samat's great great Grandfather, Mangal Pande's history, keep them in debate ever since they became friends.

Samat says to Archie in one of their many discussions of the matter in O'Connolls:

"Of course I see your point of view, Achie, I do. But my point is, and has always been, from the very first time we discussed the subject; my point is that this is not the full story.

And yes, I realize that we have several times thoroughly investigated the matter, but the fact remains: full stories are as rare as honesty, precious as diamonds. If you are lucky enough to uncover one, a full story will sit in your brain like lead. They are difficult. They are long-winded. They are epic. They are like the stories God tells: full of impossibly particular information. You don't find them in the dictionary."

This is what the book is all about. The full, long-winded, difficult, epic around the particular information(history) of three families, their cultures, religions and all the issues of modern life in the western world of London.

The third family, with the agnostic Jewish scientist prof. Marcus Chalfen with his wife, Joyce and their brilliant sons living out their Chalfenism, get the time bomb ticking for the final scene when he releases his research on genetic manipulation on a mouse which he plans to patent, copyright and bar code!

The FutureMouse© would ultimately portray and repeat the legend of Samat's great-great grandfather, Mangal Pande which began

" in the spring of 1857 in a factory in Dum-Dum a new kind of bullet went into production. Designed to be used in English guns by Indian soldiers, like most bullets at the time, they had casing that must be bitten in order to fit the barrel. There seemed nothing exceptional about them, until it was discovered by some canny factory worker that they were covered in a grease - a grease made from the fat of pigs, monstrous to Muslims, and the fat of cows, sacred to Hindus. It was an innocent mistake - as far as anything is innocent on stolen land - an infamous British blunder.....

....Under the specious pretext of new weaponry, the English were intending to destroy their caste, their honour, their standing in the eyes of God and men - everything, in short, that made life worth living....."

The launch of FutureMouse© guarantees a surprising ending to a tragicomedy, very well told and very well presented by Zadie Smith. There are no lose ends left behind.

It is, in fact, a book I would love to read again! There are so many layers of humanity and cultures exposed in the book, and relentlessly made fun of in many aspects, that it can really be enjoyed a second time. It will be worth it !

I really LIKED IT!

Zadie Smith's prose style here is notably different from her later books. It's like she read all Martin Amis' early novels and to a large extent replicated his distinctive rhythms into her prose. So too is the emphasis on comedy much heavier here than in later books. She's making more effort to charm - which, I suppose, is only natural for a young unpublished author.

White Teeth is full of fabulous insight into the immigrant's experience of England. Zadie Smith has her finger on cultural pulses like few other writers. You always want to hear what she has to say about everyday cultural life. And especially she provides insights into the germs of terrorism. I loved her rendition of Jamaican speech patterns. She's fantastic at evoking the inventive vitality of improvisations of the English language.

At times it can be a novel that revels in its own silliness. As if Zadie gets carried away with her own youthful zest. And the ending is a bit of a damp squid. She orchestrates all her characters to gather in the same room at the end of the novel, all bursting with their conflicting imperatives and somehow manages to create a denouement that is both a bit daft and highly unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, lots to love here.