The book opens with Jerome's letters to his dad which I think is a good way to start the story and begin explaining the situation that is going on and the situation which we are going to read about. It is unconventional ! The character that I have enjoyed/ think is extremely weird is Levi. He has a unique taste in clothing style and accessories especially the fact that " a woman's stocking, thin and black, on his head,tied at the back in a knot, with a small inadvertent teat like a nipple, on top"(13). I just think that Levi is the little brother that tries to act cool and tough, and is trying to find a way to identify himself with who he is and how he's been raised. I'm excited to start this book, Yay! :)
I think that this book is very interseting, especially the way the characters were introduced. I feel as if the person writing the emails is desperate for his fathers attentiona nd that drives him to act on irrational behaviors, aka marrying someone he hardly knows. But why does the fatehr read teh eamils and not send them?
I think that this book most definitely connects to "The Great Gatsby" when it gets to the topic of infidelity and consequences of one's actions. I say this because on page 14, Kiki says to Howard, "'Whatever either way it's me who's going to be dealing with the consequences of your actions, as usual, so-'"(14). She leaves us with some idea that he might have cheated, and she has to deal with it.
I agree with Vanessa about this book introducing similar themes as the Great Gatsby because on page 43 the narrator says "If you'd told Kiki a year ago, 'Your husband will screw somebody else, you will forgive him, you will stay',she wouldn't have believed it." This follows up with Vanessa's presumption/prediction that Howard might have cheated, but I also find interesting how Jerome completely assimilated and immersed himself into the lifestyle of the Kippses, alot like Nick by hanging out with the high class socialites, and like Gatsby that emerges as a newly rich. The characters become a part of a group they did not originate from.A topic that I find intersting is temptations and compromising who you are for what you want. Both Victoria and Jerome were virgins, but "they made love once,extremely badly"(45) and gave up something that they both treasure.
Reading this story, I'm feeling like Levi is somewhat the "black sheep" of the family. He was the only child that was born in America, so I feel like he is trying to stick to his "American roots" by talking with his "faux Brooklyn accent" (11) and dressing the way Americans would the a doo-rag and sagging pants. While his family found their wealth important, Levi seemed nonchalant and even careless about it because he feels like people look at him for being black and wealthy." 'I just don't wan't to live here anymore, man...all everybody does is stare'" (85).
I agree with Vanessa’s statement saying that there seems to be some type of situation the author is keeping from us. The way Howard interacts with his family by not caring about logical ways to address his son’s engagement or brushing off comments made by his wife, makes me think that he does not want to be involved with his life. This is the same with Tom. Tom cares about Daisy and their daughter and is in love with the idea of having a family, but when it comes down to it he hurts Daisy by cheating on her. On can infer that Howard is the same way, he loves his family but does nothing to better his family. Such an example is when the family is eating breakfast and Kiki, his wife, flips out on her daughter because she does not want to answer the door telling her to get off her lazy “ass” (pg 5). Howard does nothing to stop his wife from saying such profanity nor does he do anything about his daughter disobeying his wife. Not saying the daughter or mother should be punished, but Howard does nothing to fix the situation. This could also foreshadow that as the plot and situation with his eldest son progress, he will detach more and more from being a family man to someone who is just there at the dinner table and does not care what happens to his family.
p.s I am leaving this book group. Sorry guys but this book is making me want to claw my eyes out.
Gina said that the author is keeping something away from us and that secret is that Howard cheated on Kiki with Claire and now the questions is, is Howard willing to repair and mend his marriage after making a fatal mistake? Is there going to be another time where Claire and Howard are alone together again? On page 123, Kiki threatens to kill Howard if he comes near her and I assume that Kiki has put pieces together and has a premonition that Claire was the other woman. Howard " had always loved this about his wife, her ability to play things cool" (121), but is he going to remain with her for the sake of keeping the family together? What I find rather different about the story's perspective is that when it is described through Howard's eyes, everything becomes sexual and women are objectified. It ruins the flow of the story in my opinion.
I agree with Betsie about how Howard sees women as objects. Not only does he objectify women, but I feel like he doesn't have any type of respect for women. on page 203, he is talking to Kiki and says, "'Umm...Is there a time when we could talk, properly? Like human beings. Who know each other.'" I feel like Kiki isn't the problem with their communication, but he is because he almsot seems like Tom from The Great Gatsby because he seems like he likes to be in charge and that he has to be in charge.
Zadie Smith weaves in an important detail about the family of this story. Howard is white, Kiki is African-American, and the children are of mixed race. As Levi walks into his house he says,"Well,someone thought that I was robbin' you again"(84). My questions is, do the Belsey children have identity struggles or have they had identity struggles especially living in Wellington, a presumably predominantly white neighbordhood? What is Howard and Kiki's opinion about the situation?
I feel like as I read this story, there is no clear plot. I am not really sure what I'm supposed to leave with knowing when I finish because this story is basically all over the place. It talks about Howard and Kiki's dysfunctional relationship, Levi's feeling of not belonging, Jerome getting married to Victoria Kipps. On top of that, they mention different characters, for example, Katherine Armstrong. On page 249, they mention her and start talking about her background and life story and as I'm reading, I'm wondering, why do I really care? It's at least this story is slow to get into, or it's not a good story.
As much as I don't like this book and what's going on in this story, I do like the descriptions Zadie Smith uses to give the readers a mental picture of what a place or person looks like. I feel that if at least a story can be very descriptive, it will make it much better. For example on page 275, Smith says, "The sky is colourless. The trees are black and starkly cut back. The grass is hoary with a crunch underfoot, and the only relief is the occasional scarlet flash of the holly-berries" (275). This description put a distinct image in my head of what is going on in that certain point in time.
Vanessa, I felt the same exact way. I was confused as the book started and even in the middle because Zadie Smith doesn't have one direct plot, a straight message that she is sending to her readers. As the book moved forward and Levi made new friends, on page 245 the author writes,"The reflection of themselves in Levi's eyes was,after all,a more than welcome replacement for their own realities...Who would chose their own lonely,dank rooms,over this technicolor video, this outdoor community that Levi insisted they were all a part of?". My question is, do you think that Levi is trying to find and create a family of his own because he feels that he is missing one with his real parents and siblings? Is he simply substituting the people that are causing him hurt and pain so that he continues to gain a familial experience without those that are blood-related?
Also, Smith introduces the racial difference between a husband and wife and on page 206 Kiki exclaims," Everywhere we go, I'm alone in this. . . this sea of white. I barely know any black folk any more, Howie... I staked my whole life on you. And I have no idea anymore why I did that." Kiki blames Howard for not experiencing the life she wanted, with her type of people. She reserved and closed off and seperated herself from what she is accustomed to all for the man she USED to love. Do you think that because Kiki is a 'typical' Southern African-American women she chose to sacrifice her life for her husband to please him, to fit in and become part of the Wellingtonian culture?
The fight between Zora and Carl at the end of the book revelaed alot of secret information and underlying feelings that were not previously known. At the zenith of the fight Carl responds,"You think you're too good for your own people. You got your college degrees, but you don't even live right. You people are all the same"(419). Carl points out an interesting point that happens to people. When people are given opportunities to rise above and move up on the social ladder they start to adopt a superior mentality where they are better than those who weren't given the same opportunities. I believe that there is educational knowledge and life knowledge. You can have the highest degress in education and not know how to live, how to treat others, and how to enjoy the life, and there are others who have no educational knowledge but know how to treat others and how to enjoy and be content with what they have. I agree with Carl 95% except for the part that he says that all blacks in these situations are the same because not everyone adopts this mentality and attitude, that is a generalization.
Overall, I found this book different and unique in it's own way. I did find myself laughing many times at the author's frankness and truth in mostly all the situations, and the way that she ties together English culture with American culture is specific to the author and this novel. I really liked how she ended the book with Remembrandt's love, Hendrickje. I felt that symbolic of Howard and Kiki and their love.Remembrandt always had strong opinions in his paintings with strong messages but his love was always there by his side, like Howard who always opposed Monty Kipps but Kiki was always there for him no matter what. Towards, the end I enjoyed it more, than the beginning because it had a slow start.
Beauties, You have created a thoughtful, insightful dialog here that touches on some huge issues. Also, you have done something that none of the other groups have done: connecting this text to what's we've been reading in class. Good work!
The book opens with Jerome's letters to his dad which I think is a good way to start the story and begin explaining the situation that is going on and the situation which we are going to read about. It is unconventional ! The character that I have enjoyed/ think is extremely weird is Levi. He has a unique taste in clothing style and accessories especially the fact that " a woman's stocking, thin and black, on his head,tied at the back in a knot, with a small inadvertent teat like a nipple, on top"(13). I just think that Levi is the little brother that tries to act cool and tough, and is trying to find a way to identify himself with who he is and how he's been raised. I'm excited to start this book, Yay! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that this book is very interseting, especially the way the characters were introduced. I feel as if the person writing the emails is desperate for his fathers attentiona nd that drives him to act on irrational behaviors, aka marrying someone he hardly knows. But why does the fatehr read teh eamils and not send them?
ReplyDeleteI think that this book most definitely connects to "The Great Gatsby" when it gets to the topic of infidelity and consequences of one's actions. I say this because on page 14, Kiki says to Howard, "'Whatever either way it's me who's going to be dealing with the consequences of your actions, as usual, so-'"(14). She leaves us with some idea that he might have cheated, and she has to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vanessa about this book introducing similar themes as the Great Gatsby because on page 43 the narrator says "If you'd told Kiki a year ago, 'Your husband will screw somebody else, you will forgive him, you will stay',she wouldn't have believed it." This follows up with Vanessa's presumption/prediction that Howard might have cheated, but I also find interesting how Jerome completely assimilated and immersed himself into the lifestyle of the Kippses, alot like Nick by hanging out with the high class socialites, and like Gatsby that emerges as a newly rich. The characters become a part of a group they did not originate from.A topic that I find intersting is temptations and compromising who you are for what you want. Both Victoria and Jerome were virgins, but "they made love once,extremely badly"(45) and gave up something that they both treasure.
ReplyDeleteReading this story, I'm feeling like Levi is somewhat the "black sheep" of the family. He was the only child that was born in America, so I feel like he is trying to stick to his "American roots" by talking with his "faux Brooklyn accent" (11) and dressing the way Americans would the a doo-rag and sagging pants. While his family found their wealth important, Levi seemed nonchalant and even careless about it because he feels like people look at him for being black and wealthy." 'I just don't wan't to live here anymore, man...all everybody does is stare'" (85).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vanessa’s statement saying that there seems to be some type of situation the author is keeping from us. The way Howard interacts with his family by not caring about logical ways to address his son’s engagement or brushing off comments made by his wife, makes me think that he does not want to be involved with his life. This is the same with Tom. Tom cares about Daisy and their daughter and is in love with the idea of having a family, but when it comes down to it he hurts Daisy by cheating on her. On can infer that Howard is the same way, he loves his family but does nothing to better his family. Such an example is when the family is eating breakfast and Kiki, his wife, flips out on her daughter because she does not want to answer the door telling her to get off her lazy “ass” (pg 5). Howard does nothing to stop his wife from saying such profanity nor does he do anything about his daughter disobeying his wife. Not saying the daughter or mother should be punished, but Howard does nothing to fix the situation. This could also foreshadow that as the plot and situation with his eldest son progress, he will detach more and more from being a family man to someone who is just there at the dinner table and does not care what happens to his family.
ReplyDeletep.s I am leaving this book group. Sorry guys but this book is making me want to claw my eyes out.
Gina said that the author is keeping something away from us and that secret is that Howard cheated on Kiki with Claire and now the questions is, is Howard willing to repair and mend his marriage after making a fatal mistake? Is there going to be another time where Claire and Howard are alone together again? On page 123, Kiki threatens to kill Howard if he comes near her and I assume that Kiki has put pieces together and has a premonition that Claire was the other woman. Howard " had always loved this about his wife, her ability to play things cool" (121), but is he going to remain with her for the sake of keeping the family together? What I find rather different about the story's perspective is that when it is described through Howard's eyes, everything becomes sexual and women are objectified. It ruins the flow of the story in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Betsie about how Howard sees women as objects. Not only does he objectify women, but I feel like he doesn't have any type of respect for women. on page 203, he is talking to Kiki and says, "'Umm...Is there a time when we could talk, properly? Like human beings. Who know each other.'" I feel like Kiki isn't the problem with their communication, but he is because he almsot seems like Tom from The Great Gatsby because he seems like he likes to be in charge and that he has to be in charge.
ReplyDeleteZadie Smith weaves in an important detail about the family of this story. Howard is white, Kiki is African-American, and the children are of mixed race. As Levi walks into his house he says,"Well,someone thought that I was robbin' you again"(84). My questions is, do the Belsey children have identity struggles or have they had identity struggles especially living in Wellington, a presumably predominantly white neighbordhood? What is Howard and Kiki's opinion about the situation?
ReplyDeleteI feel like as I read this story, there is no clear plot. I am not really sure what I'm supposed to leave with knowing when I finish because this story is basically all over the place. It talks about Howard and Kiki's dysfunctional relationship, Levi's feeling of not belonging, Jerome getting married to Victoria Kipps. On top of that, they mention different characters, for example, Katherine Armstrong. On page 249, they mention her and start talking about her background and life story and as I'm reading, I'm wondering, why do I really care? It's at least this story is slow to get into, or it's not a good story.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I don't like this book and what's going on in this story, I do like the descriptions Zadie Smith uses to give the readers a mental picture of what a place or person looks like. I feel that if at least a story can be very descriptive, it will make it much better. For example on page 275, Smith says, "The sky is colourless. The trees are black and starkly cut back. The grass is hoary with a crunch underfoot, and the only relief is the occasional scarlet flash of the holly-berries" (275). This description put a distinct image in my head of what is going on in that certain point in time.
ReplyDeleteVanessa, I felt the same exact way. I was confused as the book started and even in the middle because Zadie Smith doesn't have one direct plot, a straight message that she is sending to her readers. As the book moved forward and Levi made new friends, on page 245 the author writes,"The reflection of themselves in Levi's eyes was,after all,a more than welcome replacement for their own realities...Who would chose their own lonely,dank rooms,over this technicolor video, this outdoor community that Levi insisted they were all a part of?". My question is, do you think that Levi is trying to find and create a family of his own because he feels that he is missing one with his real parents and siblings? Is he simply substituting the people that are causing him hurt and pain so that he continues to gain a familial experience without those that are blood-related?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Smith introduces the racial difference between a husband and wife and on page 206 Kiki exclaims," Everywhere we go, I'm alone in this. . . this sea of white. I barely know any black folk any more, Howie... I staked my whole life on you. And I have no idea anymore why I did that." Kiki blames Howard for not experiencing the life she wanted, with her type of people. She reserved and closed off and seperated herself from what she is accustomed to all for the man she USED to love. Do you think that because Kiki is a 'typical' Southern African-American women she chose to sacrifice her life for her husband to please him, to fit in and become part of the Wellingtonian culture?
ReplyDeleteThe fight between Zora and Carl at the end of the book revelaed alot of secret information and underlying feelings that were not previously known. At the zenith of the fight Carl responds,"You think you're too good for your own people. You got your college degrees, but you don't even live right. You people are all the same"(419). Carl points out an interesting point that happens to people. When people are given opportunities to rise above and move up on the social ladder they start to adopt a superior mentality where they are better than those who weren't given the same opportunities. I believe that there is educational knowledge and life knowledge. You can have the highest degress in education and not know how to live, how to treat others, and how to enjoy the life, and there are others who have no educational knowledge but know how to treat others and how to enjoy and be content with what they have. I agree with Carl 95% except for the part that he says that all blacks in these situations are the same because not everyone adopts this mentality and attitude, that is a generalization.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I found this book different and unique in it's own way. I did find myself laughing many times at the author's frankness and truth in mostly all the situations, and the way that she ties together English culture with American culture is specific to the author and this novel. I really liked how she ended the book with Remembrandt's love, Hendrickje. I felt that symbolic of Howard and Kiki and their love.Remembrandt always had strong opinions in his paintings with strong messages but his love was always there by his side, like Howard who always opposed Monty Kipps but Kiki was always there for him no matter what. Towards, the end I enjoyed it more, than the beginning because it had a slow start.
ReplyDeleteBeauties,
ReplyDeleteYou have created a thoughtful, insightful dialog here that touches on some huge issues. Also, you have done something that none of the other groups have done: connecting this text to what's we've been reading in class. Good work!