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A review by becandbooks
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
3.0
I am so torn by this book.
The key thing I want to say is the writing is gorgeous. Smith has a way with making her words into sentences that absolutely got me from the first page.
But the problem is sometimes I was focusing too much on how pretty the sentences sounded rather than what the story was.
Don't get me wrong. Swing Time addresses so many hard hitting issues in this book, that combined with her writing style MAKES you feel, for a time, that you are reading an incredible book. And I'm sure for some people that is what it is. From race, gender, celebrity culture, third world poverty, political culture, mum issues, drugs, and alcohol, and relationships. This book covers SO MUCH.
But I feel that among all this the story got lost. There was no real plot. I have seen some reviews describe the book as a journey rather than a book with an end. Which I find accurate. I also found it unsatisfying as a reader.
Covering so many topics across such a broad time frame, there was a lack of focus. By the time I was getting immersed in one issue Aimee was tackling in her life, we were done and off to another one. I felt like the story was always 'off track'.
The chopping and changing was used too much, between countries and time frames and the current issues, making it difficult and confusing and sometimes just a headache to read. So often I felt it was difficult for me to grasp where the story was at.
And despite covering the entire 400+ pages up close and personal with Aimee and all of her life struggles, I felt no connection to the MC. I never pitied her, or wanted to support her, or was angry at her. I just felt no emotional connection. Which really feels like a missed opportunity for the author.
I admire the ambition of the book and adore Smith's way with words and sentences. And because of this, Swing Time will not be the last Zadie Smith book for me. But all in all, I won't be revisting Swing Time again.
The key thing I want to say is the writing is gorgeous. Smith has a way with making her words into sentences that absolutely got me from the first page.
But the problem is sometimes I was focusing too much on how pretty the sentences sounded rather than what the story was.
Don't get me wrong. Swing Time addresses so many hard hitting issues in this book, that combined with her writing style MAKES you feel, for a time, that you are reading an incredible book. And I'm sure for some people that is what it is. From race, gender, celebrity culture, third world poverty, political culture, mum issues, drugs, and alcohol, and relationships. This book covers SO MUCH.
But I feel that among all this the story got lost. There was no real plot. I have seen some reviews describe the book as a journey rather than a book with an end. Which I find accurate. I also found it unsatisfying as a reader.
Covering so many topics across such a broad time frame, there was a lack of focus. By the time I was getting immersed in one issue Aimee was tackling in her life, we were done and off to another one. I felt like the story was always 'off track'.
The chopping and changing was used too much, between countries and time frames and the current issues, making it difficult and confusing and sometimes just a headache to read. So often I felt it was difficult for me to grasp where the story was at.
And despite covering the entire 400+ pages up close and personal with Aimee and all of her life struggles, I felt no connection to the MC. I never pitied her, or wanted to support her, or was angry at her. I just felt no emotional connection. Which really feels like a missed opportunity for the author.
I admire the ambition of the book and adore Smith's way with words and sentences. And because of this, Swing Time will not be the last Zadie Smith book for me. But all in all, I won't be revisting Swing Time again.