Product Description

Set in New England mainly and London partly, "On Beauty" concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7327 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Synopsis
Set in New England mainly and London partly, "On Beauty" concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family.

About the Author
Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975, and still lives in the area. She is the author of White Teeth, The Autograph Man and On Beauty.

Customer Reviews

Soap opera material
I was disappointed with this book because it fell well short of my expectations, which were originally raised because of the reputation of the author. The plot revolves around two families, where the fathers are academics at loggerheads with each other, and it describes how the lives of all the family members become increasingly entwined. One problem was that in pursuing the plot the events became incredibly contrived, with almost desperate attempts made to interweave the stories of the two families. Ultimately it was simply unbelievable. I also found the characters in general to be surprisingly shallow and undeveloped; for Zora I just kept seeing Lisa from the Simpsons. However, the one bright spot was the relationship between Howard and Kiki, where some definite semblance of reality and passion emerged from the writing. Overall though I felt the book would be well suited to adaptation to a soap series, with half-hour scenes parodying real-life rather than reflecting it. I read the book on a beach holiday and it is good company if you want some easy reading, but for more depth look elsewhere.

Overhyped beyond belief!
although zadie smith is a very fine technical and intellectual writer, this really was a poor end result. unsympathetic characters, a jumbled plot, and hiding behind EM Forster, really add up to an un-enjoyable book.

I loved it
I thought this was a great book. I read it a year or two ago, and it remains one of my favourites. Amongst other things, I loved the devastating demolition of postmodernist aesthetic Theory. I guess that is an easy target, but even so, it was beautifully done. An even easier target, should she want one for her next book, would be customer reviews on Amazon.