On Beauty - review

Author: Zadie Smith
Title: On Beauty
Publisher: Penguin
Released: 2005

Zadie Smith definitely is an artist. It was funny how I came to read this book. I had never read a contemporary fiction novel in my life. Well, when I was a kid, I think I read 'The Iron Man' and 'Matilda', as well this one bad horror novel once. I loved reading novels for a time, but since twelve years old, I've loved writing even more. Since that young age, and especially since I've begun working on my own novels in the last 3 years, I haven't really read any new fiction (except for friends of mine). I read factual things, autobiographies, spiritual things, theoretical things, anything but someone else trying to tell me a story. It's almost as if my brain (or perhaps my ego) only had room for one story-teller; me. I picked this book up because I am in the final stages of editing my first book, and I thought it would be an interesting time to read. Why Zadie Smith? Many reasons. People talk about her, she seems to be an important person right now, I hear her name mentioned with regularity in the places that I want my name to one day be mentioned. In the same way that I watch the Jools Holland show to check out the music of the people I might one day be joining. I also admit that I saw her photograph on the jacket cover and thought she was attractive. The combination of a pretty face and an actual talent that I admire is always… attractive. It's the same reason I had silly crushes on Miss Dynamite, Nelly Furtado and Alicia Keys. Overall though, and most importantly, I realise that I am about to enter this literary world of which I know absolutely nothing, and it is probably better to begin reading some of this contemporary fiction, even if reading a story, especially one intended for ‘adults’, is something quite unappealing to me. Besides, I scour the world for all forms of new music both underground and popular, so that I might widen my aural vision- why should my engagement with literature be any different?

I borrowed it from the bookshop where I am currently working here in America. I had heard her name everywhere in England, now in America, it was comforting to see a familiar name on the bookshelves. It was a hardcover (I’d never buy a hardcover unless it was a classic) my manager signs it off to me for 14 days and as long as I don't damage it, it's mine to borrow. I read it in 8 days.

She is an artist I said. And it’s true. In terms of her powers of observation, her insights into people, she clearly has a gift. I recognize it in her. In terms of this story, well it’s full of twists, turns, funny characters, unlikely things happening, and intelligence. It’s all done with credibility, the university/academic/scholarly ‘culture’ is amazingly well represented, young people seem, or rather, feel young, older people seem older (although I wouldn’t know for sure). Perhaps the only slight criticism that is worth anything is that hip-hop is looked at from what seems like a bit of a middle-class idealized fascination. I don’t get the impression Smith really feels that love and connection, and yet her some of her characters supposedly do, so this aspect of the book felt a little forced. At some points as the story unfolds, it does feel like you are just reading (as opposed to watching) some cheap daytime sit-com in which all the characters go through their token ups and downs, and plenty of sordid affairs happen- only this is more explicit in all ways than a daytime soap-opera/sit-com. In fact, the only thing I really detested in this novel was that one ‘scene’ in which sex was graphically depicted. It was pornographic and it really disgusted me. I felt abused reading that crap.

Seriously.

Detest is a funny thing though isn’t it? The reason I said she was an artist before is precisely because she could evoke that disgust from within me with her writing. I don’t like reading about the details of misery in people’s lives, and normally I would put a book down if that was all it was, but this wasn't the case with 'On Beauty'. I only get disgusted and have that initial detest when the art is so accurate and real that it hurts. Truth hurts. It was the same with the film ‘Magnolia’ which is, amongst so many things, one of the best portrayals of general human decline in the western lifestyle, it’s great art, it truly is. Santana once said that Miles Davis’ trumpet didn’t sound like a trumpet, but it sounded like life, and that was why he listened to him. “It sounds like life talking to you” said that coolest of men. And this book is just that. It is such an expert rendering of life, the details, the thoughts, the moments, the multiple-meanings, the many things happening at once. It is captured so well in text. There are countless occasions when I was thinking, ‘well she’s (Zadie Smith) only looking at this aspect of the character here, in aid of the story, she could have shown more sides to this or that character.' But she didn’t. And life doesn’t. For the purposes of your own storyline, you will see and hear certain things from certain people that, individually, or collectively, give you cause to DO something. Or change you in some way. Or affect you in some way. Subtle or huge. Now or later. Therefore, this book is the life of its own story. It works for itself.

So why will I not recommend it to people then? Because I won’t you know. I’m not going to tell anyone to read this book. It’s so well-written and yet I couldn’t, in good conscience, recommend it to anyone. I just feel there are too many more important things out there to read. That’s not very nice of me is it? What’s wrong with me? Well, for me it’s one thing to mirror life perfectly, which this book does so well... But then, there’s something quite depressing about just mirroring life accurately. I left this book (this morning) not feeling much different than when I had opened it. It’s still lying on my bed where I finished it. All that I got from it was the realization that this author is an expert at watching and feeling life. And she has pointed out a lot of things. And she has written a lot. Which is beautiful (incidentally, the title ‘On Beauty’ is not very befitting for me, but then surely that only illustrates how beauty, at different times and for different people, is a very different thing). I am undecided. I am an author myself, and so I have to allow for the fact that my reactions will be different to those who do not write, (the majority of humans) especially those who do not write fiction. Am I the converted to whom preaching is unnecessary, or not as impressive? Perhaps that’s what it is. My writing style is also much more understated, and I don’t know how well I take to being narrated to at such great length and detail. My ego is also quite a beast, and there are some things which I have written which are similar to what she has written in this book.

There are clearly a few issues to take into account concerning my mixed feelings on this very good book. I suppose this is what it’s like to be an author. I think I'd prefer not to read anymore contemporary fiction, but somehow I don’t see that happening now. It’s funny because through the many connections I saw with her writing and mine, I truly, undeniably, totally realised that contemporary art, and my own art is included in this, is there to be experienced briefly, as I once said in an interview, as a rush of adrenaline to motivate you to keep on doing YOUR own thing. I used to feel sad this summer, when I realised that as much as my second album instilled a feeling of happiness in people, as much as they all loved it, there would come a time, after a few weeks, or months, that they would no longer want to listen to it. It was foolish of me to feel sad at that though, because it is the way of things. It is that same way with all of the contemporary music I listen to, which is just as much a product of someone else’s soul and love as my album was mine, and as this book was so clearly Zadie Smiths. That was the way with ‘On Beauty’. This book is a great book, I was quite hooked once I started; but I’ve finished reading it now. I’m going back to my own thing now. That was what I got from this piece of art; confirmation and motivation. To continue the circle. If anyone ever asks me about Zadie Smith and her books, based on this one reading experience, I’m going to say “She’s cool. I like her. She’d be nice to have as a friend I think.”

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 23rd Oct 2005