I've been wanting to read Zadie ever since my sister said she was amazing. I read Nick Laird (Zadie's husband) previously (Utterly Monkey). Chrismiss had borrowed some books from my library when she was here and I read some of them before I returned them. I was utterly not impressed. Very British male, very typical. Similar to Nick Hornby, whom I am not a fan of (High Fidelity was such a disappointment). But I digress. I'm here to write about Zadie after all.
I tried reading On Beauty with a very open mind and with minor expectations, not wanting a repeat of what happened during my reading of Ishiguro. But, either I failed keeping in my expectations to a minimum, or this book just did not live up to the hype.
Yes, it was very well written. Yes, the characters were complex and developed. But, I could not connect with any of them at all. It was fascinating reading about the Belseys and the Kipps but all i could think of was, So what? Maybe it was because there were too many characters (and Zadie was trying her best to give justice to each of them) and too many things happening. But the novel felt disjointed. I'm sorely disappointed.
I'm still willing to give her another chance though. I will read White Teeth. Good thing it's on my list.
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I'm now trying to tackle Saturday by Ian McEwan. I'm encountering the same problems I had when I was reading the last 2 novels. The writing is very good, yes, but it also seems to be too self-important.
Maybe it's my frame of mind. I've decided to do something about it. I've borrowed a popcorn book from the library and will read it in the meantime so that I can appreciate good writing better. What's a popcorn book you ask? No substance, very unsatisfying but easy to munch and get through (sometimes addictive).
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