A review by anharchive
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is very close to my heart. As an Asian living and studying in Britain, but having lived half of my adolescent life in Italy and never stepping foot in a Vietnamese school, the frustration and grieviances, the constant negotiations of cultures that I share were expressed so well in this book. This book had so much personality and spunk, its characters well-fleshed out in my opinion, enough for me to keep turning the page. Character motivations, internal logics and dynamics were well plotted for me to fall in love and understand most characters. Its long spiraling paragraph seem to be a turn off for some reviewers, but for me I was completely immersed, and appreciated how close to life the uncouth and messy deliberations were, a bit like our daily unorganised and free-associating trains of thoughts. The metaphors and similes Zadie uses were also really vivid for me, as I enjoy this kind of abstract writing at times. It is not however without criticism, especially some of its long-winded paragraphs, and the ending felt slightly anti-climatic. However I felt that was appropriate and true to life...rarely do our lives follow a well-planned out and methodical narrative arc. Since it is her debut novel, I am excited to see how she will refine this writing style. In the meantime, I cherish this work that encompasses my experience as a child of the diaspora, keeping this quote very close to my heart: "And underneath it all, there remained an ever present and hurt, the feeling of belonging nowhere that comes to people who belong everywhere."(pg. 269)