A review by riainoc
The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith
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.