Sorry if this is a little rough. The good news is that this screenshot of me is so gosh darn glamorous.

Yay, for being done with our very first reading challenge book! I mean no disrespect to the lovely Zadie Smith, as a writer, but White Teeth probably won’t be holding a special place in my heart, next to The Great Gatsby. It was entertaining, for the most part, and really made me think about things, which is more than I could have hoped for, but the ending killed me. I had to go back and read the last page a couple of times, because I didn’t even know what I just read. I’m so afraid to tell you what I didn’t like about it, because I don’t want to give out any spoilers for my uncle, Mike, and those who may read it, but I’m relieved to have this one checked off of my list. On the other hand, I don’t want to discredit the entire work simply because it didn’t end up the way that I wanted. As I mention in the video, Zadie Smith is a wonderful writer, and there was plenty of other meat to it to keep me turning the pages.

Also, I should specify that when I talk briefly about the religious group, KEVIN, I’m not hating on religion. This particular group, to me, is more of a creepy cult than anything, and the passage that I read expresses their views toward women. (Obvs, their views stray miles away from my own.) This paragraph is followed by, “Deep in a blue funk, Millat resolved to walk the eight miles home, beginning in Soho, glaring at the leggy whores and the crotchless pants and the feather boas.” I assumed that Smith was talking about prostitutes here, but I’m still on the fence about that one. Either way, the word “glaring,” strategically placed after the incident where Millat tries to convert a woman to KEVIN is not accidental. KEVIN has clouded Millat’s thoughts to believe that all women either have the potential to be “saved,” even if they don’t want to be, or that they are whores. There is no in-between, and the extremity of this group applies to everything, not just women.

Just for the record, I re-recorded this video around five times before I just gave up and said whatever came out. Holy poo! It’s nerve-wracking to do this kind of thing. How do the celebs do it?

Next update will reveal the next reading challenge book! Also, whenever Mike over at One Mundane Life posts his response to the novel, I will link it, so you can get another opinion.

Until then,
xoxoxo
Ash

P.S. I don’t know how I forgot to mention Neena Begum. She is my FAVORITE character in the book, and she’s known to Alsana, who is in an arranged marriage to Samad, as niece-of-shame. She’s awesome, and her character gets two thumbs up from yours truly.