WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith

ISBN: 978-0140276336 (UK)

"'Keepers of the Eternal an Victorious Islamic Nation,' repeated Millat, impressed. 'That's a wicked name. It's got a wicked kung-fu kick-arse sound to it.'

Irie frowned. 'KEVIN?'

'We are aware,' said Hifan solemnly, pointing to the spot underneath the cupped flame where the initials were minutely embroidered, 'that we have an acronym problem' (page 295).

White Teeth, Zadie Smith's debut novel, is the last of her three published books that I've read. Of the other two, I picked up The Autograph Man in 2007 (my eco-criticism professor knew Zadie Smith at Harvard, and I was curious), and I read On Beauty last year when I stumbled upon the large print version of it at the little library at the foot of the road (the library is mainly patronized by elderly women, so most of the fiction is large print). 

Having now completed the Zadie Smith triumvirate, I feel I can sum up her work in one word: multiculturalism. But to add a few more words: multiracial, multinational, multifaith, and multigenerational families. Interracial couples with biracial children, either British or American. And another word: London. Having grown up in London, Smith writes the city with such intimate knowledge, such detail and love that you end up feeling like you grew up there too. And just one more word: humor. Lots of it.

White Teeth is the story of Archibald Jones, ordinary, bland, and predictable Englishman; and Samad Iqbal, a Bengali soldier who served with Archie in World War II. Samad and Archie are each other's best and only friends, both living in London, both working in dead-end jobs, both with wives over twenty years younger than them, and both with children they don't understand. Archie's wife is Clara, a Jamaican immigrant and recovering Jehovah's Witness. Samad's wife Alsana is a fiery and opinionated Bengali, chosen for him by an agreement between their families. Archie and Clara have a daughter, Irie, an awkward, intelligent girl who often acts as the voice of reason for the other characters in the book. Samad and Alsana have identical twin boys, Magid who wears neat button-down shirts, and Millat, who is a born hell-raiser. 

When the white middle class family of one of their classmates decides to mentor Irie and the two Iqbal boys, the three families are thrown into chaos as race, class, religion, science and morals collide, with far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. 

I have to say that, while it took me a while to get into this novel, in the end I really enjoyed it. The book spans three to four different generations of the different families, and there is a lot of backstory to cover. Some of the sections, such as those describing Archie's and Samad's experiences during the war, I found a bit tedious. Others, especially those told from Irie's point of view, I liked much more. I did like the way that all of the threads of plot come together in the end, including things from earlier in the book that I had forgotten about. The foreshadowing is subtle and really well done. There are also a lot of themes tying the different strands of the story together; among them: fate and chance, fundamentalism, and nature versus nurture. And then there is the motif of teeth: Clara's are knocked out, Irie's are uneven, and the Iqbal twins' are perfect. And always in the background there is that Western ideal of beauty and success: straight, gleaming white teeth.

Although Zadie Smith writes in a style that most creative writing instructors would discourage (extra words everywhere, informal tone, elegant variation), it seems to work for her, and it gives her novels a truly original feel. 

So, if you want something different from most mainstream novels, or you like character-based, multicultural stories and/or sprawling family yarns, you might want to give this book a try.