Rating: 
Summary: Abdul-Trevor??!!
Review: I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't buy into some of the characters. Smith is quite ambitious to write about the thoughts and dreams of middle-aged men and women when she herself is under 30, but sometimes the depictions are convincing.Little errors bothered me repeatedly. I don't swallow that any Muslim who considers himself or herself even remotely observant would adopt a sacreligious name like "Abdul Trevor" (which would imply that the person by this name is a worshipper of Trevor). Still, at least the Muslims in this novel were presented with some sense of dignity, as opposed to the Jewish characters, who are ruthlessly lampooned (I suppose Smith tries to make up for this in her second novel, about Kabbalist autograph hounds, which I have not read). On the other hand, the plot does flow and I found "White Teeth" to be light reading and not at all difficult to finish. Not a great book, but neither is it the misery that some of the other readers on this website would portray it as.
Rating:
Summary: Good but overrated first effort
Review: I actually finished the whole book but I would have trimmed at
least 200 pages of flab out of it. It is an ambitious project and
I think Zadie Smith would do greatly writing for TV but the novel
lacks enough tension, it is repetitive and a tad pedantic when it
"explores" its characters little quirks.
While insighful in certain small details, it lacks psychological depth even when it really delves into the
characters motivations.It mixes badly what could be plausible
portrayals of real people with the caricatures of their friends
and neighbours. I won't read another book by her but I would
definitely enjoy a TV series based on her scripts.
I particularly enjoyed Samad, the father trying to convey true
islamism to his sons. Millat (the son) is an attractive character
whose source of anger is never explained coherently. His brother
Magit is a caricature and shows that Zadie Smith has no idea what
the work of a lawyer is all about. Clue:It has nothing to do with
accuracy and precision as understood by science. Irie is clearly
a portrait of the author and therefore sounds more real than the
rest. Her father vanishes halfway through the book after a
dramatic first act.Alsana and her lesbian niece drift from
realism to sheer histrionics with annoying recurrence.
The book looses steam very soon as if the author doesn't quite
know where it is going, more is better she seems to think. Not so.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn.
Review: Not a single person in our book group could get through this book. I kept trudging through hoping something would happen, then just gave up.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Achievement
Review: Serious themes, seriously meant and you just can't stop laughing. That is, when you have a teeny weeny bit of insight into how it is for the first and second generation immigrants. If you have no idea what it's like, or take things too seriously then I can't say for sure if you're going to get all of the perspectives right in this one, which undoubtedly leads to missing all of the best jokes. It's like being the fly on the wall as the wonderfully developed characters shuffle through the confusion of who they really are.
Rating:
Summary: Flashes of Brilliance; Likely Not a Flash in the Pan
Review: White Teeth is more a literary romp than a structured novel. It's easy to see why people are dazzled by her prose, but make no mistake, this is a first novel...with a vengeance. Zadie Smith writes engaging dialogue for characters from an impressively diverse set of ages, interests and ethnicities. She can write an interesting riff on just about anything that strikes her fancy and make it fun. Unfortunately, random riffs do not add up to an accomplished novel, although I certainly wouldn't bet against her achieving that in the future. One major problem is that, Smith's writerly voice is so seductive, we get into the habit of accepting her characters' rampant inconsistency. Time and again the reader is lulled into accepting incongruent behavior...only to be baffled later. Particularly unfortunate is Irie's seduction of Magid and Millat the twins who are (well, should be) so pivotal in pounding home the theme of the book. Believe me, I'm not revealing anything here. The average Creative Writing 101 course would label this crucial scene: "unprepared for," at best. Due to their inconstancy, (Alsana seems to physically morph from a mouse to a mountain without any explanation,) Smith's characters (and eventually the novel itself,) fail to develop in a satisfying way. As the romping begins to resolve itself into some semblance of a traditional structure and Smith needs to start pulling the strands of her novel together, (~last 80 pages) White Teeth loses all momentum. At the end when the author most needs to put weight on her characters observations and beliefs, they are not there for her. The book crumbles to dust in the last chapter...a great pity for she almost pulled off her high wire act despite all the prior analysis. The reader is pulling for Smith all the way to the end which -- I think -- explains all the 5 star reviews. As a first novel it is charming and ambitious but the truth is that it doesn't deliver on the promises made in the first chapter. Smith, famously, sold this novel on the strength of that opening volley. She then had to sit down and live up to its promise. The end of the book betrays a writer who is either rushed or exhausted or both. The economics of publishing doubtless demanded the book's publication before it was really ready. As I write this Zadie Smith's 2nd novel has been published to painful reviews and she is reported to be attending Harvard. Nonetheless, she is likely to return to the fray and live up to all the glowing (if premature) tributes in good time. Just reduce expectations when you embark on this book or you will be disappointed by the lack of a payoff in the end.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph
Review: Hard to understand how some of the reviewers think this book is pointless. If one does not agree with the authors observations and hypotheses that is one thing. But, Zadie makes so many points throughout the novel that a careful reading is mandatory.
I found it extremely insightful at many levels. It is a satire,
( in the "Catch 22 " style ), with continuing references to the core problems that we all face in today's complex society. Hurrah for Zadie.
Rating: 
Summary: Overdone and endlessly awful
Review: I bought this book at an airport kiosk and was excited to get into it...The first couple of chapters I actually liked mainly because her writing is so flowing and descriptive, but towards the middle somewhere, I realized I just couldn't find the characters memorable at all and I simply got tired of reading it...In fact, I didn't even finish it, something that rarely happens to me!
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: I have just finished this book well actually I've got about another 100 pages to go and I don't know if I can be bothered to read anymore. I had heard such good things about this book but I really just couldn't get into it and even now all this way through I am not sure what the point of the book is. As for laughing out loud well I felt more like crying. Over-hyped and over-priced.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: As with many readers, I couldn't finish this book either. There are some beautiful phrases in this book, but overall the material did not flow. I had high hopes for this book given many positive reviews in the media, and since I am a FBI (Foreign-Born Indian), but I was severly disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Will definately read it again
Review: ...and I don't say that very often. This book definately lives up to its hype. It's the type of novel that makes you laugh out loud and revel in the sheer beauty of the way the words are put together. I was sorry that it had to end.
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