- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; First Edition edition (4 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0241142938
- ISBN-13: 978-0241142936
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 124,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering Professor at Wellington College. He has been married for thirty years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was. Their three children passionately pursue their own paths, and faced with the oppressive enthusiasms of his children, Howard feels that the first two acts of his life are over and he has no clear plans for the finale. Then Jerome, Howard's oldest son, falls for Victoria, the stunning daughter of the right-wing icon Monty Kipps. Increasingly, the two families find themselves thrown together in a beautiful corner of America, enacting a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register...
About the Author
Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975 and still lives in the area. She is the author of WHITE TEETH and THE AUTOGRAPH MAN.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Seems as though those who read it find it a wonderful, accomplished and satisfying read, or just rather dull. I am in the middle. Whilst "On Beauty" said "quality" in many ways, I could have put it down at any point and not given a second thought to the fate of any charachter.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I haven't read her other two novels. I sort of avoided White Teeth because it was a 'trendy' read but I picked this up and found it satisfying intellectually and also a pretty good read. I cared about many of the characters in the book although didn't like them all - this may sound trite but to get something out of a novel you have to feel engaged with the characters in some way.
Also Zadie Smith has humour, something I wasn't expecting to get. The issues of race in the book were tackled with intelligence and insight and also from a variety of perspectives which was really refreshing. There was no 'woe is me' PCness to the book which was a huge relief, just a clear tackling of where each character stood or was trying to stand, in many cases imperfectly. It showed how people's politics personal and otherwise are fragile and constantly evolving.
I think it's flawed because sometimes the narrative thread and the perspectives of some of the characters slightly unravelled in places. Also I felt uncomfortable with the scenes directly lifted from Forster's Howards End, even though they were an honourable tribute, they didn't work for me, possibly because you could so clearly see where they came from.
This is an ambitious novel, well-written and well worth the time taken to read it and I would say that Zadie Smith's masterpiece is in the future but it is out there and on it's way.
30 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm not trying to be controversial - maybe I just don't get it. Connect? If only. Smith has inevitably posited herself for comparison with E M Forster and, in comparison, this book falls short. Although there are some snatches of exquisite prose, I found the characters one-dimensional at best and caricatures at worst. Smith seems to be riffing on elements of her life experience - academia, youth, residence in the USA - rather than competently addressing overarching themes of race, culture, love and gender which bubble around in this melting pot of a story but don't come together to make a great novel this time. I have to say, however, I wasn't a big fan of Smith's first two works so I'm not sure how this qualifies me as a reviewer. Clearly popular opinion and Booker judges have found something else in the book so hopefully other readers will too.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great read
Zadie Smith is a very talented young writer indeed. In 'On Beauty' she proves herself a good story teller with a superb command of language and style. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by Peter V. Case
Really satisfying read
I was interested in reading this book purely because of the accolades it has been afforded. I have to say I wasn't dissapointed. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2009 by Louise
Campus Comedy
This is a campus novel, with the familiar trope of intelligent academics and their less-than-clever foibles and human follies. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2007 by Mike Cormack
hmm
i read an extract of white teeth and was drawn to zadie smiths style of writing. When i started reading on beauty i couldnt put the book down, however all the excitement and the... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2006 by Farah Ahmad
fascinating read
This is my 2. Zadie Smith book. I read White Teeth, which I loved and couldn't help buying On Beauty when it came out. I was completely absorbed in this book and it's characters... Read more
Published on 19 July 2006 by freya
Excellent
I really really liked this book. I found White Teeth amazingly good, and this even better. I'm highly surprised at some of the very negative comments here, but to each his own I... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2006 by AKC
Just brilliant
I can't think of another writer like Zadie Smith. What other writer in their late 20s or early 30s is capable of writing such a large, complex novel, with so many ideas? Read more
Published on 28 April 2006 by K. Thomas
And to think some poor tree died for this.
This book was truly over rated. It rings false and hollow. I spent too much of my time trying to force myself to believe it. Read more
Published on 27 April 2006 by Bridget C. Lee
On 'On Beauty'
Having never read Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth' or 'Autograph Man' - put off by the ubiquitous trendiness of the former and ambivalent reviews for the latter - I read On Beauty... Read more
Published on 3 April 2006 by Demob Happy
Over-hyped, disappointing
I decided several times as I was reading this book that it was a waste of my time, but I kept giving it a second chance. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2006
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
