This is a very ambitious, funny and thought-provoking novel that won Zadie Smith a much-deserved Whitbread First Novel prize in 2000. I had read some mixed reviews some time ago but approached this with an open mind and was really quite delighted with this humorous approach to race, religion, mixed marriage and the problems of first and second-generation immigrants to Britain. I would not have thought a writer could get such an eclectic mix of weird characters into a story and yet still manage to get through a few quite topical issues whilst remaining light and funny. Centring on Inner city London yet taking in Bangladesh and Jamaica too, the novel spans over a 100yrs and more yet keeps at its core the core characters that make up the main story.
There is so much in the narrative I’ve thought of it as a over stuffed suitcase – it’s all there, all over the place but there, nevertheless. It reminded me of Kate Atkinson mixed with Hanif Kurieshi and Salman Rushdie, the comic sweep of it and the farcical situations the characters are involved with keep the comedy flowing yet still covering those issues which in any other context would be deadly serious. Race and racial issues, not the funniest items are treated with a great gusto and it is genuinely hilarious at times. Religious fundamentalism, Christian as well as Islamic are covered too and very funny they are as well, the author getting right in there with the ironic humour. Just in case any bases went uncovered there is also genetic manipulation and animal rights!
Its very ambition as a novel is almost its undoing as there is just so much bursting from the pages that if the pace slows a little you can’t tell where its going next but it never drags, it twists and turns with humorous asides being thrown in right up to the end. Stereotypes abound but its so funny and the characters so well drawn and believable – up to a point! – that I found I was really engrossed as to what the various players were doing, it’s a good length too, over 500pages in paperback so you never feel short changed with the main characters. The ending is a little contrived but the whole contrived air about the various lives portrayed means that this isn’t a disappointment more of inevitability. Brilliantly descriptive passages about the different times – the 70’s for instance mean this is a delight to read and given that a few years have passed since it first appeared some of the hype has died down and we can appreciate this superb novel for what it is – a great first novel by an exciting new young author. I laughed a lot whilst enjoying this – try it you’ll like it too!
There is so much in the narrative I’ve thought of it as a over stuffed suitcase – it’s all there, all over the place but there, nevertheless. It reminded me of Kate Atkinson mixed with Hanif Kurieshi and Salman Rushdie, the comic sweep of it and the farcical situations the characters are involved with keep the comedy flowing yet still covering those issues which in any other context would be deadly serious. Race and racial issues, not the funniest items are treated with a great gusto and it is genuinely hilarious at times. Religious fundamentalism, Christian as well as Islamic are covered too and very funny they are as well, the author getting right in there with the ironic humour. Just in case any bases went uncovered there is also genetic manipulation and animal rights!
Its very ambition as a novel is almost its undoing as there is just so much bursting from the pages that if the pace slows a little you can’t tell where its going next but it never drags, it twists and turns with humorous asides being thrown in right up to the end. Stereotypes abound but its so funny and the characters so well drawn and believable – up to a point! – that I found I was really engrossed as to what the various players were doing, it’s a good length too, over 500pages in paperback so you never feel short changed with the main characters. The ending is a little contrived but the whole contrived air about the various lives portrayed means that this isn’t a disappointment more of inevitability. Brilliantly descriptive passages about the different times – the 70’s for instance mean this is a delight to read and given that a few years have passed since it first appeared some of the hype has died down and we can appreciate this superb novel for what it is – a great first novel by an exciting new young author. I laughed a lot whilst enjoying this – try it you’ll like it too!
