White Teeth

Zadie Smith

6/20/2007

Archie Jones met Samad Iqbal for the first time in 1945. They served together in a tank at the end of World War II. After the war was over, Archie returned to London with an Italian wife. Samad, a Bengali Muslim, returned to his homeland. When he wife was old enough to marry, the new couple immigrated to England. There Samad looked up his old friend and moved to the middle class neighborhood where the Jones lived as the older couple were divorcing. Now it is 1975, Archie is newly divorced and attempting suicide. When he is rescued he starts looking through London for a party. At the party he finally locates he meets Clara, a tall beautiful young Jamaican. Archie falls in love and the two marry.

Their London neighborhood is a melting pot of nationalities - middle class "typical English", immigrant families like the Iqbals, many from the India and Pakistan countries, black, and the mixed families like the Jones. Samad, although not devout himself, wants a Muslim family. His much younger wife always picks at him. Their twin sons are different from each other, but both want to be English, not Bengali. Archie works as a paper folder and Clara is always learning. Their daughter is intelligent but wants to fit into the neighborhood.

When the children are in their early teens, another family enters their lives. The Chalfens are a typical middle class white English family. Marcus is a geneticist. Joyce is a free thinking gardener. Their 4 sons are geeks and geniuses. They are the outsiders that affect the path of the Iqbals and Joneses. Samad and Archie are older men with younger wives and children they can't understand. Add in the Chalfens and the mix gets stranger.

Zadie Smith has written a novel of friendship, family relationships, North London lower middle class culture, trying to fit in, trying to remain true to your own culture, and the give and take of every day life. White Teeth covers about 20 years but occasionally jumps back to other historical moments that are important in these families.

Archie and Samad's relationship is intriguing. They had a break of nearly 30 years between the end of the war and the Iqbals' immigration to England, but are now best friends. Who did Archie have before Samad came to England? He certainly didn't have his first wife for support - she was insane. Now the 2 men hang out at the same pub between their work shifts - Archie has a day job while Samad works evenings in a restaurant. Their wives become friendly although never close. Their children grow up together and go to school together. When the hurricane hits, the Iqbals automatically go to the Jones' home for the families to shelter together.

When the children in White Teeth are teen agers life gets worse. One son is away studying the old traditions and Islamic life. The other is a trouble maker and ring leader. He runs with gangs. The girl is a good student but is in love the the trouble maker. The oldest Chalfen boy falls in love with her. All of them bounce off the others. The end of the novel brings together the families and the disparate themes together in one surprising moment.

Zadie Smith's acclaimed novel weaves together well. Yet I found I couldn't get overly interested in the characters or their troubles. If I hadn't been reading this for my monthly book club, I could have easily put it down half way through for something else. I didn't dislike it; I feel it is worth reading. It just isn't my cup of tea, as the English would say.

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Notice: Sexual situations, explicit violence, graphic language