For ridding oneself of faith is like boiling seawater to retrieve the salt--something is gained but something is lost.
Life goes by, Brick Lane, Tower Hamlets, London. April 2018.
White Teeth is
one of those books I have meant to read for the past twenty years. Dickensian
in scope, the mass of the novel seems like one very long series of digressions.
Stories lead to sub-stories, which themselves sprout a seemingly infinite
series of detours that – while consistent with the overarching theme of the
perpetual motion of history and the lives lived within – occasional threatened
to spin out of control.
Despite the sprawling narratives, Smith somehow manages to hold it all
together. I feared that the entire project had run off the rails during the
final chapters, as the lengthy and complicated inventory of colourful
characters and plotlines seemed fit to burst. While I might quibble with a few
dead ends for our cast (what becomes of the lesser Chalfens? Is that it for
Hortense and Ryan?), she somehow manages to stick the landing with
satisfaction.
This is a funny book with a good heart and admirable desire to probe the roots
of the modern, multicultural condition. On balance I’d judge it a great success.
Even at its silliest – those Chalfens really do read like The Modern
Parents from the Viz comic – Smith’s optimism wins out over her ironic
detachment.
In advance of penning my review, I cast my eye over the many thousands written
since the novel was first published. It’s fair to say this is a book that has
divided its readers. I can’t help but feel that part of this is due to the
lavish praise initially heaped upon it (people prefer underdogs). For what it
is worth, I liked it despite its flaws.
I’d be interested to hear where the author might take some of her characters
(especially the KEVINs) post-9/11 and 7/7, and the further gentrification of
London as Cool Britannia morphed into the global financial crisis, austerity
Britain and the farce of Brexit. With layers upon layers upon layers, there is
no shortage of material for ten more books!
★ ★ ★ ★
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