katebull's review against another edition
4.0
What a lush introduction to Lady Zadie. Excited to dive deeper in!
monicamjw's review against another edition
3.0
While not every subject intrigued me, the writing was gorgeous throughout.
jenn_stark's review against another edition
4.0
a bit of a slog for me in the middle, didn’t love every single essay but the ones i did will stick with me. very much drawn to her more personal essays.
fpess's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
urgalro's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
readereaterr's review against another edition
4.0
I read “joy”. I think I prefer pleasure over joy too hmm. Need to rewatch inside out.
findyourgoldenhour's review against another edition
3.0
Some of these essays are 5 stars, some are only 2. I really liked the ones that felt universal, about motherhood or politics or Facebook. The ones about particular obscure works of art were kind of a slog. Overall a good collection.
cwalsh's review against another edition
5.0
Zadie Smith's Feel Free covers such a variety of topics (she covers everyone from Kierkegaard to Justin Beiber) that it's so hard to pick a favorite, however as a librarian and a lover of Joni Mitchell, I have to say that The North West London Blues and Some Notes on Attunement are huge stand outs for me. I've always found Zadie Smith's writing beautiful, but hearing her thoughts and criticisms on film, art, music, social interactions, and general cultural commentaries really just made me look at her in another dimension. It's amazing how she can sound extremely academic in tone but so accessible at the same time. In each and every work, regardless of the topic at hand, her intellect shines through.
PS: Zadie, you're never too old to discover More Songs About People and Food.
PS: Zadie, you're never too old to discover More Songs About People and Food.
jiyoung's review against another edition
3.0
Smith's biggest talent lies in her astute observations of humans and human interaction. I've always marveled at her ability to write inner monologues and the unspoken exchanges that occur between her characters. I nonetheless find her fiction quite hit or miss because she doesn't always manage to get the threads of a story to cohere together over the length of a novel. Conversely, her perceptiveness shines through quite well in non-fiction, as self-indulgent random musings about the nature of people are expected in the shorter essay format.
This book is structured into three loosely themed collections -- In the World (political and social commentary), In the Audience/In the Gallery/On the Bookshelf (film/art/literary criticism), and Feel Free (the self, human nature). Smith waxes poetic about anything that interests her (e.g., being biracial, creating art, motherhood, Justin Bieber, Brexit). Her prose is almost conversational, like having a smart friend talk to you about whatever has struck her fancy at a given moment. However, I found the classic British self-deprecation about her writing a little annoying because it struck me as pretty disingenuous (sorry, you can't be permanently surprised at your own success and come off as genuine, and no one feels bad that J.G. Ballard was bored by you as a 23 year old lol). Film/art/literary criticism was a huge chunk of this book, so some of the essays might not be as compelling unless you have also watched, seen, or read what Smith writes about.
This book is structured into three loosely themed collections -- In the World (political and social commentary), In the Audience/In the Gallery/On the Bookshelf (film/art/literary criticism), and Feel Free (the self, human nature). Smith waxes poetic about anything that interests her (e.g., being biracial, creating art, motherhood, Justin Bieber, Brexit). Her prose is almost conversational, like having a smart friend talk to you about whatever has struck her fancy at a given moment. However, I found the classic British self-deprecation about her writing a little annoying because it struck me as pretty disingenuous (sorry, you can't be permanently surprised at your own success and come off as genuine, and no one feels bad that J.G. Ballard was bored by you as a 23 year old lol). Film/art/literary criticism was a huge chunk of this book, so some of the essays might not be as compelling unless you have also watched, seen, or read what Smith writes about.