ruhh's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, and Addiction
ombudsman's review against another edition
4.0
much of the book was a genius evisceration of celebrity culture: the characters were all fully-fledged and interesting and played against a madcap and genuinely funny plot. however, at times it felt that smith did not trust the reader enough to keep track of her themes and so absolutely beat us over the head with certain motifs. ("the world is broken"/things being broken comes to mind - though i've come away from the autograph man with a deeper appreciation of kabbalah, i think that was solidified by about the second instance of "the world is broken".) conversely, some themes were underdeveloped - i was always expecting male friendship to come to a more satisfying conclusion, even if it only were to . if it weren't for this uneven pressure applied to the themes and motifs, this would definitely be a 5/5 read.
Spoiler
explore the homoeroticism of it, which was always bubbling around in the novelneil_denham's review against another edition
4.0
I love the way Zadie Smith writes, you can really feel the humanity of the characters, the emotions come across as authentic and there are no good/bad characters, all are a mixture. The first part of the book was the best part for me, the plot takes a rather unlikely direction, but even within that the emotions and responses of the characters are believable.
lilaklara's review against another edition
3.0
An intriguing novel by Zadie Smith which for me ultimately didn’t reach its full potential. She is funny and nuanced as ever but the plot felt confused and I wanted more emotional catharsis. Despite this I have to applaud Smith’s ability to write characters that are never wholly likeable, yet we somehow remain attached to them. Also this leaves me with one book to go and I will have read all of her novels!!
theladydoor's review against another edition
4.0
She hopes for nothing except fine weather and a resolution. She wants to end properly, like a good sentence.
Zadie Smith has been on my list of authors to read for several years, but I'd only heard of her more well-known novels, White Teeth and On Beauty. I found The Autograph Man on a bookshelf in the teacher's lounge at my school and immediately picked it up.
The story was difficult to get into at first, as the main character, Alex Li-Tandem, didn't start off being too sympathetic or relatable. Alex is half-Chinese and half-Jewish, but it's the half-Jewish part that gets the most attention in the book. Alex has Jewish friends who smoke pot and spend their days pondering Jewish mysticism, and he has a black Jewish girlfriend. All in all, this book is incredibly diverse without overtly advertising that fact.
Alex is an autograph man, he collects signatures from celebrities (a habit he picks up from a childhood friend) and sells them on to fans and other collectors. He has collected autographs from hundreds of celebrities, but he's missing the pièce de résistance of his collection, the signature of Kitty Alexander. After a drunken night out, he inexplicably finds a copy that she has sent to him, and that discovery sets him on a journey, to find the elusive 40's star.
There's not too much to be said about the plot here, nothing particularly of note happens. However, what I loved about the novel was Smith's use of language and power of description. I found myself thinking of sentences and phrases hours after reading them. Though much of Smith's discussion of Jewish mysticism passed over my head, I was nonetheless intrigued and eager to read.
Zadie Smith has been on my list of authors to read for several years, but I'd only heard of her more well-known novels, White Teeth and On Beauty. I found The Autograph Man on a bookshelf in the teacher's lounge at my school and immediately picked it up.
The story was difficult to get into at first, as the main character, Alex Li-Tandem, didn't start off being too sympathetic or relatable. Alex is half-Chinese and half-Jewish, but it's the half-Jewish part that gets the most attention in the book. Alex has Jewish friends who smoke pot and spend their days pondering Jewish mysticism, and he has a black Jewish girlfriend. All in all, this book is incredibly diverse without overtly advertising that fact.
Alex is an autograph man, he collects signatures from celebrities (a habit he picks up from a childhood friend) and sells them on to fans and other collectors. He has collected autographs from hundreds of celebrities, but he's missing the pièce de résistance of his collection, the signature of Kitty Alexander. After a drunken night out, he inexplicably finds a copy that she has sent to him, and that discovery sets him on a journey, to find the elusive 40's star.
There's not too much to be said about the plot here, nothing particularly of note happens. However, what I loved about the novel was Smith's use of language and power of description. I found myself thinking of sentences and phrases hours after reading them. Though much of Smith's discussion of Jewish mysticism passed over my head, I was nonetheless intrigued and eager to read.
ashkane's review against another edition
2.0
Of all of Zadie Smith’s fiction, this is the one I like least. I has a good beginning hook, but then I struggled through most of the rest. It’s the Judaism that pulled me out of the story - I’m goy (I learned), and the second biggest character in the book is Jewish faith and customs, so I was having to look everything up, re-read conversations, and still wasn’t really grasping the main themes because they were buried in religious jargon. There were interesting characters for sure, but not the protagonist himself. In the end (after a hurried wrapping up), I’m left feeling I got nothing out of the experience of reading this, which I’ve never had happen with Smith (a favorite).
mattyyreadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
riainoc's review against another edition
4.0
Zadie Smith is one of those writers who has a great reputation for me, but I don’t compulsively read her. This is my third of hers since 2017, but I ended up liking it quite a bit.
It’s one of that old chestnut of a genre, The World’s Shittiest Boy goes on an adventure and things happen that may or may not change him for the better, and it took until the last few pages for me to figure out if it was a good one of those, or a really good one of those.
In my reading of her, Zadie Smith is always interested in community, especially multicultural community in England. This book is no different, with a diverse cast of characters united by Jewish faith or lack thereof. I found it compelling how the Shitty Boy had so many chances to embrace his wider community, difficult and messy that these people were, our Alex seemed to find new depths in terms of alienating people who only wanted to help him find his way.
It’s clear that Alex is cynical, existentially terrified by the random harshness of illness and death, and this was the biggest thing for me to latch onto. My own worst moments have been when these anxieties have overwhelmed me, not as something merely knocking in the back of my mind, but as something front and centre, something that destroyed my ability to function for weeks. As someone who threw myself into renewing old friendships as a way to build my defences back up and feel closer to people I cared for, reading about this character’s unwillingness to do that and simply take the olive branch was an interesting friction, and I felt like the book was ultimately about exploring another path - the burn bright and fast path. Even until the very end, Alex resists it, finally stating aloud when confronted with the idea of community in faith, even if you don’t believe in it, there is still the GESTURE of unity, a small block on which to stand with others, that he just can’t get there. To me, he’s too frightened to let himself ease up, and it’s ultimately a hollow ending, a sad ending, the catharsis put off once again.
It is a little nihilistic, but it’s resonant. I wouldn’t want to hang the health of my soul on it, but it’s a sticky idea. Ultimately, a really good book, and believe it or not, incredibly funny in terms of narrator’s voice, dialogue, and scenarios. Worth the price of admission for the humour alone, if you can stand the Shitty Boy at the centre of it all.
It’s one of that old chestnut of a genre, The World’s Shittiest Boy goes on an adventure and things happen that may or may not change him for the better, and it took until the last few pages for me to figure out if it was a good one of those, or a really good one of those.
In my reading of her, Zadie Smith is always interested in community, especially multicultural community in England. This book is no different, with a diverse cast of characters united by Jewish faith or lack thereof. I found it compelling how the Shitty Boy had so many chances to embrace his wider community, difficult and messy that these people were, our Alex seemed to find new depths in terms of alienating people who only wanted to help him find his way.
It’s clear that Alex is cynical, existentially terrified by the random harshness of illness and death, and this was the biggest thing for me to latch onto. My own worst moments have been when these anxieties have overwhelmed me, not as something merely knocking in the back of my mind, but as something front and centre, something that destroyed my ability to function for weeks. As someone who threw myself into renewing old friendships as a way to build my defences back up and feel closer to people I cared for, reading about this character’s unwillingness to do that and simply take the olive branch was an interesting friction, and I felt like the book was ultimately about exploring another path - the burn bright and fast path. Even until the very end, Alex resists it, finally stating aloud when confronted with the idea of community in faith, even if you don’t believe in it, there is still the GESTURE of unity, a small block on which to stand with others, that he just can’t get there. To me, he’s too frightened to let himself ease up, and it’s ultimately a hollow ending, a sad ending, the catharsis put off once again.
It is a little nihilistic, but it’s resonant. I wouldn’t want to hang the health of my soul on it, but it’s a sticky idea. Ultimately, a really good book, and believe it or not, incredibly funny in terms of narrator’s voice, dialogue, and scenarios. Worth the price of admission for the humour alone, if you can stand the Shitty Boy at the centre of it all.
thoive's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0