Title: White Teeth
Author: Zadie Smith
Date Of Version Reviewed: 2001
Publisher: Penguin Books
RRP: £6.99 ISBN: 0-140-27633-5
What the book is about…
‘White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle. It is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book.’ (Credit: Penguin)
Thoughts…
Have you ever resisted liking a book just because the critics and readers love it? I don’t think I am the only one who will be a tad harsher on ‘great’ authors than the average purely because of the reputation of a novel or the author themselves. Just because a work is deemed to be a classic or revolutionary in literature should not give it privilege against criticism and I for one feel extra attention should be made to these types of works. So it was with this firm stance I entered into the world of the Iqbals, Joneses and Chalfens.
Smith cuts through the political correctness in this sharp, witty novel – producing a vivid array of characters and a plot-line that, whilst simple, raises questions about race, religion and the human condition. In the opening chapters one would be forgiven for accusing Smith of using weird, quirky personality traits to build her characters. The average ‘new’ author can easily fall into the trap of giving each character traits that border on cartoonish in a desperate attempt to make them memorable. As the story unfolds we get different cultures converging in one English town in North London. Interestingly, Smith mixes religious beliefs WITHIN families – shunning the belief that each family follow their own singular religion i.e. the ‘Muslim family’, ‘Christian family’ etc. There are some wonderfully written exchanges between Mr and Mrs Iqbal – she following one religion and her husband following another. I deeply appreciate the independent, powerful way in which women are portrayed in the novel – Mrs Iqbal is not someone to be messed with whilst Clara rules the roost over the Joneses.
A reader with a fascination with the internal workings of individuals is in for a treat with this tale as Millat Iqbal, Irie Jones and Josh Chalfen are pulled every which way in their bid to find their way in the world. This is not limited to the teenagers as Mr Iqbal has a deep fascination with a female teacher, guilt for his masturbatory shenanigans and a melt down over a bacon sandwich. Smith captures the moral/religious quandaries to be navigated in a western society in the 1980s and 90s. It is curious that this novel was first published in 2000, one year before the World Trade Centre attacks that have since seen a rise in Islamic terrorism and a war between west and the middle east. The group KEVIN have a flavour of the world in 2017 and Smith balances this out with the far-left animal rights campaigners. In this way Smith avoids pointing fingers at religion, the right/left wing in favour of acknowledging all areas of society can – if taken to the extreme – can be deeply damaging for communities.
One of the key themes of this novel is immigration and the challenges of immigrants assimilating into a western culture – a culture that often conflicts with the moral teachings of their country of origin. There are issues with multiple characters in identifying themselves with British culture – Mr Iqbal clinging to an ancestor whilst maintaining pride of being in the British Army. In one of the most powerful chapters, Irie Jones makes a bid of ridding herself of her kinky, afro only to be reminded that it is her afro – and all other aspects of her being – that make her who she is. It is only after desperately trying to conform to the British ideals of physical beauty that she realises her own uniqueness.
The only aspect of the book that was jarring was the often forced comedy. Some of the comedic moments needed less rather than too much.
Final Thoughts: Smith produces a dazzling debut as she negotiates difficult themes of religion, philosophy and cultural identity and blends them charmingly with laugh out loud comedy. Many an author has failed to achieve a great piece of work as Smith and it is a testament to her talents that she has landed herself a place on the ‘greatest novels’ list of the 21st century – especially on her debut. I recommend this book to everyone… white, black, Asian it simply doesn’t matter. Pick this up and jump into the quirky world of Great Grandfather Pande and Sammy Iqbal!
What the reviewers said…
“This kind of precocity in so young a writer has one half of the audience standing to applaud and the other half wishing, as with child performers of the past (Shirley Temple, Bonnie Langford et al), she would just stay still and shut up. White Teeth is the literary equivalent of a hyperactive, ginger-haired tap-dancing 10-year-old.” Butterfly Magazine (allegedly written by Smith herself!)
“White Teeth is full of jokes about odd couplings of cultures. Thus its cameos of what we might call “post-colonial cuisine”. John Mullen, Guardian
“There are reasons, so late in the day, to be cheerful, and this eloquent, wit-struck book is not least among them.” Anthony Quinn, New York Times
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‘ A remarkable examination of the immigrant’s experience in a postcolonial world, Smith’s novel recalls the hyper-contemporary yet history-infused work of Rushdie, sharp-edged, fluorescent and many-faceted. ‘ Georgia Garrett, Publishers Weekly
‘I have read thousands of books but this is one of only 2 books that i just could not finish as it irritated and bored me in equal measures. I asked all of my friends and colleagues and they have all told me that they did not finish it either!! Please help – what is the summary of the book? Please don’t make me read it !’ Sydney Salter, Goodreads
‘Smith writes off worldview after worldview, but is of course unable to articulate her own because her own is simply the absence of adherence to any such worldview.’ Ben, Goodreads 3/5
‘Of course this is not a one-star wretched ignominous failure, this is a mighty Dickensian epic about modern Britain. But not for me. It’s a question of tone. I have now tried to read this one twice and each time I find I’m groaning quietly and grinding my teeth. Zadie Smith’s omniscient narrator, alas for me, has an air of horrible smirkiness, like a friend who just can’t help pointing out all the less than pleasant attributes of everyone else, all in the name of life-affirming humour, allegedly, but gradually wearing you down.’ Paul Bryant, Goodreads 1/5
‘It took me until the final pages to figure out what was missing for me: I did not genuinely care about most of the characters. I did not feel sympathy for them, or root for them, or have my own ideas of how I hoped things would turn out.’ Leslie, Goodreads 3/5
‘This is a sprawling, well-structured novel. White Teeth is a near-masterwork, the best book I’ve ever read about different cultures’ slow, tectonic plate-like creep past, toward, and into each other.’ Random Anthony, Goodreads 4/5
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