NW
Ratings26
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings26
Average rating3.5
From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, White Teeth and On Beauty - a masterful and intimate novel of modern London life 'A triumph. Every sentence sings' Guardian 'Intensely funny, richly varied, always unexpected. A joyous, optimistic, angry masterpiece' Daily Telegraph 'Smith's most satisfying novel. Funny, sexy, weird, full of acute social comedy. She's up there with the best around' Evening Standard Zadie Smith's brilliant tragicomic NW follows four Londoners - Leah, Natalie, Felix and Nathan - after they've left their childhood council estate, grown up and moved on to different lives. From private houses to public parks, at work and at play, their city is brutal, beautiful and complicated. Yet after a chance encounter they each find that the choices they've made, the people they once were and are now, can suddenly, rapidly unravel. Funny, poignant and vividly contemporary, NW is as brimming with vitality as the city itself.
Reviews with the most likes.
At points the form or lack of such seemed almost too much but the final bit saved it all for me. Will likely follow Zadie wherever she takes us all.
One sentence synopsis... A slice of North West London structured around the evolving lives of two best friends.
Read it if you like... beautiful writing and use of language - as with all Smith novels. The turns of phrase and insights make the book worth a read but the ending let it down and some secondary characters could have been more filled out.
Dream casting... Nathalie Emmanuel as Keisha/Natalie and Rose Leslie as Leah. This may be one of my best casting decisions yet. They should remake the BBC adaptation with these choices.
Really enjoyed the last third much more than the beginning, but mostly found this to be a little hard to follow and muddled.
I loved this book.
I loved “White Teeth” but with genius debuts you never know if the experience will be repeated. Her second “Autograph Man” I didn't really enjoy, too much abstruse Kabbalah and obscure symbolism, trying too hard.
The third “on Beauty” i enjoyed but found a bit of a slog in parts, maybe again writing too many words, too much Writing.
This one is a masterpiece.Dialogue driven, every word counts to drive the story on. Each part, as in poetry, has resonances and undercurrents, but none of it seems contrived, it looks effortless. A joy.
