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White Teeth

A Novel

By Zadie Smith

(235)

| Paperback | 9780375703867

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Book Description

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 centerContinue

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.

Critics

  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith

    Some books sneak up on you. Others are thrown at you from every corner of the media to the extent that you almost make a conscious decision NOT to read them, or at least, not yet. Let the furore die down. If they're still around in a few years, your ... (read full critics)

    thebookbag published on Sun, 4 Sep 2011

  • In a strange land

    White Teeth Zadie Smith Hamish Hamilton, £12.99, 480pp A debut with the zest and ambition of White Teeth is customarily hailed as the arrival of a new "voice" in fiction. Yet the ear is as gratifying as the voice in this poised and relentlessly funny ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

12 Reviews

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  • 3 people find this helpful

    Reading "white teeth" and "the opposite house" at the same time was a great idea. Both are set in London, England and both feature the lives of immigrant families trying to find meaning, cultural and personal identity, and happiness in a foreign city. However, they are very different stories. "Wh ... (continue)

    Reading "white teeth" and "the opposite house" at the same time was a great idea. Both are set in London, England and both feature the lives of immigrant families trying to find meaning, cultural and personal identity, and happiness in a foreign city. However, they are very different stories. "White teeth" is more of a funny, irreverent, "William Kotzwinkle-esk" family saga, starting in 1974 and going to 1999. "The opposite house" has more magic realism/spirit world references, is very serious, and somewhat more challenging, and yet equally enjoyable. I highly recommend both.

    Is this helpful?

    Leah said on Sep 11, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    If you want to read a book about how ethnic minorities live in the UK these days, this is just the book you´ve been looking for! It´s a masterpiece.

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    gabriel2009 said on Feb 2, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Liked the structure of the book. Just when the plot and cast was in danger of becoming claustrophobic, an additional set entered which re-energised the book.

    I never saw the final twist coming, but then I never do.

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    Mearso said on Nov 5, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Increíble

    Que este sea el primer libro publicado de alguien. Durante toda la lectura no puedes dejar de maravillarte ante la narración, los diálogos, los personajes... Aunque el final para mí es un poco peor que el resto, en conjunto este libro ofrece una visión única de los inmigrantes y las diferentes cultu ... (continue)

    Que este sea el primer libro publicado de alguien. Durante toda la lectura no puedes dejar de maravillarte ante la narración, los diálogos, los personajes... Aunque el final para mí es un poco peor que el resto, en conjunto este libro ofrece una visión única de los inmigrantes y las diferentes culturas en Londres. Me encantan los guiños al título que suceden a lo largo de la historia, y las continuas alusiones a sitios reales, líneas de autobús, barrios, calles...

    Zadie Smith es sin duda una de mis escritoras británicas favoritas, absolutamente recomendable.

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    Yukino said on Aug 1, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • Zadie Smith can do no wrong

    With her 3 novels Zadie Smith has set future expectations extremely high. The language in White Teeth is both beautiful and accessible, her characters are all flawed in extremely realistic ways, and they come together in manners ordinary and amazing.
    The story is tight, well developed and a full 36 ... (continue)

    With her 3 novels Zadie Smith has set future expectations extremely high. The language in White Teeth is both beautiful and accessible, her characters are all flawed in extremely realistic ways, and they come together in manners ordinary and amazing.
    The story is tight, well developed and a full 360 degrees.

    Is this helpful?

    Rebecca Gebhardt Brizi said on Nov 30, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780375703867 Paperback $14.95 $10.76 bn.com
-- $11.99 ebooks.com
$15.95 $10.49 The Book Depository
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