The more I read, the more it grows on me. I'm reading it at the town library on my lunch break and every time my lunch break ends I feel bad about putting it down.
At first there was a little bit of puzzlement- this is good, but why is Zadie Smith trying to write Philip Roth? But I hit a point yesterday where I spotted a keyword from Ulysses, omphalos, and some things kind of clarified. I realized that Jewishness or Goyishness is an update of Joyce's Jewgreek or Greekjew, by way of Lenny Bruce. I'm starting to see the ways in which Alex-Li synthesizes Bloom and Stephen. There is a WHOLE LOT going on in this book beneath the surface. And I really don't like using the word audacious to describe writing because it's so overused in blurbtext, but it's the right word for what Smith is doing here. This is daring, dangerous writing.
Admittedly I have Third Commandment issues with the way she uses the Tetragrammaton, but... that's why she's using it. Because those four characters have so much inherent power to them.
no subject
At first there was a little bit of puzzlement- this is good, but why is Zadie Smith trying to write Philip Roth? But I hit a point yesterday where I spotted a keyword from Ulysses, omphalos, and some things kind of clarified. I realized that Jewishness or Goyishness is an update of Joyce's Jewgreek or Greekjew, by way of Lenny Bruce. I'm starting to see the ways in which Alex-Li synthesizes Bloom and Stephen. There is a WHOLE LOT going on in this book beneath the surface. And I really don't like using the word audacious to describe writing because it's so overused in blurbtext, but it's the right word for what Smith is doing here. This is daring, dangerous writing.
Admittedly I have Third Commandment issues with the way she uses the Tetragrammaton, but... that's why she's using it. Because those four characters have so much inherent power to them.