Swing Time

The first thing I want to say about this book is that the narrator of the audio version is fantastic. Pippa Bennett-Warner was perfect for this. And on the whole, I liked the book very much. (I also had the hard copy and read parts of it even though I was mostly focused on the audiobook.) I do think the book comes down too hard on the “White Savior Syndrome,” although it does–begrudgingly, I thought–acknowledge the good intentions of some who want to do good in Africa and elsewhere. But my real concern here, and the reason I've given the book just 4 stars instead of 5, is structural. There's nothing wrong with telling two stories at once, but they seem to be only loosely connected–the story of the narrator's obsession with her childhood friend Tracey and the story of the narrator's work for an international pop star who is creating a school for girls in Africa. One sheds only a small amount of light on the other. Still, I'm glad I read it, and Smith is an excellent stylist.

Swing Time is an instant literary classic. Zadie Smith writes at her finest & is in top form, bringing back the full power of her witty & nuanced storytelling evident in White Teeth. I would say that the commentary is not as fresh & revelatory as the latter (this mostly comes through in the inequality/development part of the plot), but that may just be a factor of perspective change in me in the intervening years between reading both, & my education in inequality & development. the juxtapositions of characters & their messy contadictions against layers of inequalities of race, class, gender are satisfying & relatable. What stands out is the sisterly relationship between two best friends, and I can see how the comparisons to Ferrante are relevant & accurate here.

I was completely captivated by the story while also completely disliking the protagonist/narrator. Her cluelessness about anything happening around her, her passivity, her inability to ever say the right thing at the right time, all of these qualities were utterly infuriating to me. (This is one of those times where what I hate most in others is what I hate most in myself.) Every time I put the book down it was with some level of exasperation with the narrator; yet I couldn't stop picking the book up. The story loops and circles, which I always love. And the other characters have something going on, something worth diving into feet first. Highly recommend.