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meaghanelizabook's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
pagesofkenzie's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Suicide
webtheweeb's review
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What can I say? It’s wonderful to hear from Zadie Smith, to dip my toes again into her turns of phrase. Her writing is so familiar to me now, but it’s also always new. As I say every time I read a Zadie Smith piece, this is a person who is somehow about to put into words what no one else has thought to record. I’m forever thankful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Self harm, Mental illness, and Racism
mariaeileen's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
aerialcataloger's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Suicide
thesinginglights's review
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This is such a strange book to rate. Lately I'm trying to rate books according to how I feel like an author achieved the aims of their desired piece as opposed what I think the piece should have been.
It's a brief look and reflections of Smith released during Lockdown 1: The First Chapter. I've always found Smith most comfortable in non-fiction, where her playground for arranging ideas is concretised by reality instead of characterisation, where moods and ideas can have unbridled space as she develops her arguments.
She's one of my favourite authors to watch in interviews for this reason and this felt like an extension of that, like I was sat watching some of her deepest thoughts. The way she explores ideas is one of my absolute favourites. It's difficult to describe what this is about because like all of her work it's about nothing. On the surface, sure, it's about how one feels to live through the pandemic, but it's also about the scope of a life. What is suffering really? How can we say someone's perception of suffering is more or less valid given certain facts? What does it mean to be self-loathing about one's race? What does womanhood mean to her? What does womanhood mean?
I found myself just sitting sort of bowled over. It's short but powerful, thoughtful and concise. It's bloody brilliant. If you're curious, read it. In writing this I realised how much I loved it.
It's a brief look and reflections of Smith released during Lockdown 1: The First Chapter. I've always found Smith most comfortable in non-fiction, where her playground for arranging ideas is concretised by reality instead of characterisation, where moods and ideas can have unbridled space as she develops her arguments.
She's one of my favourite authors to watch in interviews for this reason and this felt like an extension of that, like I was sat watching some of her deepest thoughts. The way she explores ideas is one of my absolute favourites. It's difficult to describe what this is about because like all of her work it's about nothing. On the surface, sure, it's about how one feels to live through the pandemic, but it's also about the scope of a life. What is suffering really? How can we say someone's perception of suffering is more or less valid given certain facts? What does it mean to be self-loathing about one's race? What does womanhood mean to her? What does womanhood mean?
I found myself just sitting sort of bowled over. It's short but powerful, thoughtful and concise. It's bloody brilliant. If you're curious, read it. In writing this I realised how much I loved it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
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