Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Zadie Smith On Beauty
After what feels like a really long time I came across a book where it flows effortlessly from page to page and chapter to chapter. I had only heard about it in Booker lists and read reviews on hugely famous lit blogs. Needless to say I approached it with skepticism.
But it started off unexpected well. A book that starts with little tracks and incidents that take a while to get under the skin off but the story starts flowing much before that.
The best part about the book was the whole concept of beauty that it throws around. Without getting into too much personal information, the book helped me come face to face with the fact that despite whatever your personal image you may have of yourself, not everyone thinks like you. That may be the best thing for you. Beauty truly lies in the eye of the beholder and I have come around to understanding what this can mean in real life parallely while reading this book.
I have never believed platitudes and still do not believe it when anyone does say that looks do not matter. They may not matter in the long run but that is one of the main criteria for attraction. But what I am beginning to discover that it that it is this criteria that is subjective. Its this degree that I am discovering and learning to adjust to. A revelation of sorts for me. Like I said this was parallely happening while reading the book and therefore will probably one of those books which will be remembered forever in my reading life. Like Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree when I truly realised that I like reading about food (all those superb scones, buns, pies, tarts, biscuits and toffees). This one is a similar land mark book.
Of course, unlike the course in real life, the book meanders half way down the story and though is fluid, it does not stay true to itself. A story about a marriage and the required precarious balance, watching other relationships teether and at the same time, having to pass one correct values to your children, despite the fact that those values may not have helped you to rescue your own.
The story progresses in a predictable fashion so no point talking about it here. Kiki, Howard, Zora, Jerome, Victoria, the Kipps, the Belseys, Claire, Choo.. and other myriad characters make it an interesting read. But one point I have to mention. I started the book and about twenty pages into the book (when it gets mentioned that one of the main characters is black), at that point I realised that how by default without even registering it, I assumed the protagonists will be white. I mean, to my mind, it was not something to even think about. Some conditioning...I guess.
Worth reading, its not a tedious read and in hardback with a large font, makes life easier. Here is an interesting review.
# posted by Janaki @ 12:30 pm 
