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Summary: The First Great Novel of Y2K
Review: think of confederacy of dunces with a british accent or charles dickens if he was contemporary; that's what you feel like when you read this modern masterpiece, the first great book of Y2K and a safe bet to make the 100 best books of the 21st century. Samad Iqbal is a failed writer, but successful one-handed waiter who is adamant about preserving the old ways and is so dertermined to keep his heritage alive that he has one of his sons kidnapped and sent to bengali. archie jones is a dim bulb because fate made him so, but accepts his lot in life and goes with the flow. there are no sacred cows in this book; everyone gets skewered: liberals, conservatives, gays, christians, extremists, pop culture and the media. one of the better scenes in the novel is when the joneses and iqbals are watching the berlin wall being destroyed, they dissaprove of the sweeping changes going on in the world politically, while, irie, archie's daughter, chastizes them for being out of the loop. millat is the main character to watch: unlike magid, his life becomes totally immersed in pop culture to the point of emulating his favorite movie stars. his involvement with KEVIN, a pseudo-muslim organization is smith's way at poking fun at extremists cliques. the only chapters i didn't care for were the ones about the chalfens and the world war 2 flashbacks. they made the story slow. ms smith is self indugent with her prose at times, but it is funny, poignant, timely and incendiary. ...i'm sorry to tell you, its not an easy book to like. its not harry potter, you gotta work at figuring out what smith is trying to say here ! but if you stick with it, you will be rewarded with a great story about multiculturalism, about people trying to survive in a society that demands that they be " more british than the british." Props to Smith for tackling this subject with verve.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost on Target...
Review: This is a superb first novel by Ms. Smith, although it is slightly disappointing. The story, characterization, and dialogue are outstanding, however, I believe that in her attempt to cover such a long span of time, and so many characters, Ms. Smith forgot to include more detail. The characters are introduced, and then glossed over and nearly forgotten, this is its only flaw, which would normally be a very dangerous one. However, since Ms. Smith writes with so much more skill than myself, it does not inflict a mortal wound. This novel focuses mainly on the lives of the Iqbal clan, most especially Samad and his sons. I wanted to read more about Clara, Archie and Irie, and less about the Chaflen's. Without a doubt, this is an outstanding first try and it has earned a spot on my crowded bookshelves, I highly recommend this novel.
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Summary: A Wower!!
Review: Only another rave review of a remarkable debut. I find it fascinating that in your review section this book received both high praise and strong complaints from readers. There is no doubt that Smith is one of the most talented authors published in many many a year. However, for me, it was at times a little difficult to wade through all the digressions to get back to the plot, and the plot was more a slice-of-life type than one with a resolution. Well, that's life! I found author a mite removed emotionally from characters although understanding them well. Her humor makes you laugh when you might rather be crying. I think your first reviewer is correct. Buy an extra copy to save because this will be a valuable book some day!!! We readers can hardly wait for your next book, Miss Smith!!
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Summary: Startingly realistic if a bit shallow
Review: As a 2nd generation member of a Bengali Muslim family from Bangladesh living in AMERICA, rather than the UK, I can only be given half-credence when I say _WHITE TEETH_ is a pretty good rendering of the Asian side of the doublet rendered by Ms. Smith. A book this lauded can only be somewhat of a letdown, so of course it get's a 4 instead of a 5. I didn't think the exploration of the characters was thick enough, at only 420-some-pages. It was definately slanted toward exploration of the Asian family in my opinion, with Irie (the half-Jamaican half-English girl) being a bit too peripheral, more an observer than a participant. Attempts at plot were abortive at best.
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Summary: Save your copy--it's going to be worth something someday
Review: Amazingly, this is Zadie Smith's first novel. Amazing because it is funny, complex, cohesive and very readable. The best book I've read this summer by far. I'm buying another 1st edition and saving it. If her career continues like this, this book will certainly be a collector's item in the future. Read it.
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Summary: Creative Genius
Review: This has to be one of the most intelligent, creative books I have read all year! Although I did at times have problems with its irreverance, it was interesting to observe a group like HT being brought to the forefront of popular British culture(or should that be KEVIN - the militant Islamic group? - thinly veiled by the added confusion of their Nation-of-Islam inspired bow ties). For me, the book's attraction lies in its ability to depict contemporary London Society pretty much as it is - I have not come across any other literature that manages adequately to grapple with the vast cultural mix that is London. The book is unique because it manages to do that without giving you the impression of an outsider looking in. It's hilarious but sympathetic at the same time. Although it does seem a bit slow moving at times, and one wonders if all the themes in the book are taken to any kind of conclusion, the plot is the work of a genius. This is a very clever book. Hard to believe that it was written by a 22 year old. What an achievement! I am so jealous....
Rating: 
Summary: a severe case of the emporer's new clothes
Review: After all the praising press,I'm curious to see how the book fares in the long view. This book was one of the rare few I put down without finishing. The author is smart (and young and good-looking) but her characters are blank and her story is flat and I was bored. It seems to have come from her head. I'll wait for the one that comes from her soul.
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Summary: My New Favorite Novel
Review: Every once in a while, I come across a book that I have to tell everyone I know about, one that immediately pops into my head when someone asks "Have you read anything good lately?" White Teeth is such a novel. What an enjoyable, hilarious and exuberantly written work this is. Zadie Smith is a very talented writer and I only hope that she gives us more, quickly. The book opens with Archie Jones' failed attempt at suicide in London in 1975. This sounds serious, but Smith handles it with such wit and aplomb that the scene is hilarious. We follow Archie, his friend, Samad Iqbal as they marry, have children and watch their children grow up in a London they just don't understand. The characters are hilarious. Archie is completely clueless, but that doesn't bother him. Samad is a frustrated intellectual stuck being a waiter, trying desperately to validate an act of bravery of one of his ancestors. Their children come of age in the cultural and ethnic melting pot that is modern London. Smith's characters are all wonderfully unique and terrifically funny. I highly, highly recommend this book. It lives up to, and surpasses, any of the hype you may have heard.
Rating:
Summary: Boring.
Review: I always complete a book, ALWAYS. Not this one it's still on my table beside the sofa collecting dust. I tried to get to know the characters, I tried to get into the story...that's just it, I had to try very hard to like this book. One day I just put it down and never went back.
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Summary: Trees Without A Forest
Review: Now and then someone writes a book that overwhelms you with its words, its phrases, and its descriptions. Zadie Smith's ability to portray a person, a place, or an organization gets you so absorbed that you resent it when she grabs you by the arm, and insists that you return to the plot that meanders vaguely through the book. Where some authors might state that a character clears his throat, Ms Smith provides us with "Erhummmm, a sound..(that) began in his arched nostrils and reverberated through his slight, elongated, misshapen limbs like the final shiver of a hanged man." Mind you she can be offensive to some. She's probably alienated a whole country when she states that Bangladesh is God's attempt at black humor. Ah, but the pictures she paints. There are the two people who are swallowed whole by their commitment to Jehovah's Witnesses, their dialogue suffused with musty, dreary religious references. Then there is that lengthy description of teens furtively smoking at recess, or the history of Ibrahim ad-Din Shukrallah, founder of KEVIN, a militant Islamic youth organization. He spent five years in his aunt's garage, never leaving it until he had written his 637 often-incomprehensible rules for his new movement. Ibrahim gives a hilariously inept speech to his followers, and Ms Smith, as usual, drags me away from it. She also forcibly removes me from O'Connell's Poolroom wherein dwell, permanently it would seem, some of London's most colorful curmudgeons. Ms Smith mistreats her characters. She introduces them, gets you interested in them, and then often relegates them to the shadows. I had great hopes in getting to know Clara, the tall, beautiful, but toothless Jamaican beauty that enters to much fanfare in an early scene, and then all but vanishes. Others suffer the same fate. The Bangladeshi Asmad has a wonderful way of speaking, but somewhere around the middle of the book you wonder why he rarely makes any more appearances. The author essentially tells the tale of two generations of two families. There is nothing heroic or virtuous about these people, so Ms Smith simply makes them funny. It's a strange book that makes you marvel at the author's tremendous talent. Yet while you find yourself fascinated by individual pages you find the book as a whole somewhat disappointing.
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