Book Review: The Autograph Man (2002) and On Beauty (2005) by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith does characters. Her three novels -White Teeth, The Autograph Man, and On Beauty- are dedicated to the lives of her protagonists, who usually happen to be also the antagonists. The obvious conclusion I always draw from her work is that I am my own worst enemy. Or, to be objective, one is one's own worst enemy. Either way you slice or dice it, the books are almost Flannery O'Connoresque in their common theme, a search for Redemption and Grace and overcoming the Self. It leaves the reader to wonder, is it humanity or is it just me projecting my own fears and hopes on this book?

It's been awhile since I read White Teeth (and I would have re-read and included it in this review, since having recently read the other two I now see them as part of a trilogy on Transatlantichood. Blame it on the library), but I have come to recognize the shared motifs in Smith's work: the common threads and insurmountable differences between England and New England; the common threads and insurmountable differences between family members; ditto about gender, the Generation Gap, alcoholism and social drinking, and so on. This list may seem as tedious to read as it was to type, but this is the stuff that composes our lives and it is as real to these characters as it is to us. Smith weaves deftly in and out of contradictions, depicting painfully human actors with tragicomic personalities and the equally funny/sad events that they create. Her stories illustrate the seriousness with which we take ourselves, then make us laugh and cringe at the wakes we leave.

This is not to say that sometimes the writing is sophomoric, not to be unkind. I doubt I could do better, but uneven dialogue and heavy-handed descriptions can leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. Smith is also a Londoner from a mixed-race family, and all three books depict the same. It leaves me wondering how much she is writing about herself versus her characters, which can be both good and bad. I am the kind of person who can't sit still through an entire movie, who will discard them as garbage if there is a hint of phoniness, but I embrace literature because a) I can put the book down and pick it back up with nary a thought, and b) the author is quick to redeem her/his self, and I can forgive their weaknesses so much easier if they can speak to me in such a way that I am sad to finish reading. Zadie Smith is such an author who I hope will grow into her craft and become a grande dame of literature who produces modern classics. For now, her two most recent books will more than suffice.