Rating: 
Summary: Too Cute for Too Long
Review: Sharp and funny at the beginning, White Teeth loses steam about halfway through and I found myself grinding through the last 200 pages. I blame Zadie Smith's editors; after all, it's difficult (and unnecessary) to maintain carefully calibrated satire for so long unless you're Salman Rushdie (echoes of whom appear in White Teeth). What became particularly annoying was the souped up, hyper-hip and "smart" rhetoric that came out of the mouths of ALL the main characters. This lack of differentiation among characters that are supposedly more complex was tiresome. I'm hoping her next book will be a tight 300 pages of fun or a sprawling drama with better fleshed-out characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: Zadie Smith's eloquent prose and rich language makes this one of the best novels since Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues. Rock on.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like it I really did!
Review: When I picked up this book, I had high hopes for it. I love starting a new book and becoming absorbed in the world of it's characters. Finally at page 266, the only excitement I feel is that soon I'll be through with this incredibly boring novel. I feel nothing for any of the main characters. I think this book would have been far more interesting if Samad was the one sent away. Less ranting and raving from Samad and more room for all the other potentially great characters in this book.
Rating:
Summary: truly is the first great novel of the new century
Review: zadie smith has written a truly wonderful book. it is very witty and original, burgeoning on true literary genius. this novel addresses many age-old issues surrounding our present-day society, as well as problems facing our society's future. it is a philosophically inclined novel with an irresisitibly humorous voice. it is a must-read for anyone interested in a great story, philosophically involved matters, and a mastered writing technique. do yourself a favor and treat yourself to this deeply satisfying book!
Rating:
Summary: Fine Debut Novel
Review: I started out enjoying this novel very much. The writing is vivid, the dialogue apt, and the North London community fascinating. But at about the half way mark I began thinking of the Stephen Leacock character who jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions: I began to lost track of the many characters and the book seemed to lose focus for me. There were too many characters for me to keep in mind, and worse, many were introduced, developed, and then dropped. Likewise sub-plots were initiated and abandoned. Others have commented on the weak ending, and noted that many plot threads peter out, and are left unresolved. It seems to me there are at least two novels in this material, and probably more, alternatively a couple dozen short stories; as presently constituted the book is less than the sum of its parts. Ms. Smith has enormous gifts, but she should seek out a vigorous editor to help her manage those gifts.
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to like it
Review: As wtih many of the other reviewers, I wanted very much to like this book. A few good friends had told me how much they enjoyed it, but about half way into the book, I had to wonder if I was reading the same book they had. The characters were interesting and well developed, but I found parts of the plot to be unrealistic. The ending was particularly poorly conceived - abrupt and nonsensical. Overall, I was glad to be finished it. I am hopeful that the author's next effort is better crafted.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful characters, but choppy plot and time frame.
Review: I've read quite a few of the other reviews of White Teeth and I found merit with each one, however, these reviews often contain spoilers. This book should be read for enjoyment, and you will find its overall structure shies away from traditional novels.Let me say that my observations of Zadie Smiths book should not be taken as criticism, but as my own observations. 1) The characters are phenomenal. The myriad of cultural backgrounds divided amongst genders equally makes for some very humorous and real situations. While many of these characters 'quirks' can be outlandish, at the same time you believe them to be true, and you know you have crossed these peoples paths in your own life. 2) Cultural commentary. With such a diverse cast the reader is exposed to various cultural ways and ideologies that were prominent during the late 70's through the 90's. While White Teeth's setting is England we are reminded much of Jamaican, East Indian (Bengali), English lifestyles while mixing in various religious and educational beliefs. This make the characters even more dynamic, as each is much different from all the others, even the twins Millat and Magid. 3) Time frame. As mentioned above this story, or should I say vignettes of characters lives take place predominately over the last 25 years of the 20th century. However, there a few flashbacks to 1945, the 60's and else time. But the story does jump around a bit, bouncing between years and decades, back and forth. While this doesn't detract from the overall story, it can throw off the pace of the reader. 4) Plot. Imagine a book that is roughly 450 pages long, and you only become aware of the plot, or the climax within the last 100 pages. It seems that while the characters are very rich, and their individual stories are entertaining, there is no apparent plot for the majority of the book. Surely by the time we get to the climax where all the characters are present (for their own selfish motivations) can the reader thread together the loose connections. Don't get me wrong, it does all make sense at the end, but the 1st 300 pages will have the reader wondering what the overall story is and if they are just reading very long character sketches. Despite my three star rating, I do highly recommend this book. I was laughing hard at times, and could identify with the characters as real people.
Rating: 
Summary: Dazzling First Novel, But Not Without Flaws
Review: On the first page of the book, Archie Jones is parked on an anonymous London street with exhaust filling his car. “He was prepared for it. He had flipped a coin and stood staunchly by the results. This was a decided-upon suicide.” It’s important that Archie survives this attempt, given that he’s the book’s leading actor. But of equal importance, the scene introduces Zadie Smith’s talent for efficiently crafting the characters that inhabit “White Teeth.” The story follows Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, neighbors in a multicultural working class London neighborhood, making their way through the second half of the 20th century. Old friends from the War, where they shared the cramped quarters of an army tank, Archie and Samad pass into middle age together perched in their regular booth at O’Connell’s Poolroom. It’s in middle age, too, that both finally start families. Samad has been waiting for his pre-arranged bride to reach marrying age; Archie, as usual trusting the haphazard forces of coincidence, meets his second wife at a Jehovah’s Witness End of the World party on the morning of his failed suicide effort. Soon the book’s attention shifts to their offspring – Irie Jones, Millat and Magid Iqbal – and their teenage adventures with identity, politics, and dreams of middle-class conformity. At it’s best, “White Teeth” reads like Kureishi’s “Buddha of Suburbia”: vigorous, funny, hip and racy. Elsewhere (increasingly as the book goes on) it seems that Smith has worked up an engaging cast of characters but doesn’t know what to do with them. Or rather, she’s made brilliant sketches of her characters, then loses interest before she colors them in. In a lukewarm climax, Smith brings them all together in happy, resolved closure. You feel like you’re reading a talented, literary novelist who’s scripted the final scene of a Scooby Doo episode.
Rating:
Summary: Really Wanted to Love It
Review: When I bought this book I really wanted to love it, particularly because it was written by such a young author (which gives me hope as an aspiring writer four years Zadie's junior). It was admirable for her to be published at such ayoung age, take on a substantial project, and have such a vivid writing style. But there's just too much wrong with this book for me to praise it. The characters were cartoonish (with the possible exception of Irie), the plot was choppy and sparse, and the ending was abrupt, impatient and dissapointing. Smith indulgently rambled through the story with a lack of focus and discipline, and as soon as I began to care about a character, she ripped him from the spotlight and exiled him to the background, sentenced to live out the rest of the novel as a one-dimensional cariature. When I finished, I felt like I had wasted my time. Zadie Smith has a lot of potential and will probably write a masterpiece eventually, but White Teeth just isn't it. She bit off more than she could chew this time.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best this year......
Review: I had to keep turning back to the author photo to convince myself that this book was written by a twenty-five year old woman. The story is captivating; it revolves around the friendship of two unlikely WWII veterans raising families in 1970s London: Iqbal, a devout Muslim with a young shrewish wife and twin boys that are trouble, and Archie, a doddering, meek white man with a beautiful, young jamacian wife and daughter, Irie. Their lives and families intertwine, and no matter what character she's focusing on, Smith writes with truth, honesty and heartfelt emotion. Don't miss this book.
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