Zadie
Smith page
Zadie Smith
was born on October 27th, 1975 in North London. Some of the
inspiration for her debut novel, White Teeth, came from her upbringing. Her mother
is Jamaican, and her parents met at a party, as Archie and Clara do in the
novel. Zadie was so amazed that her father had ever been to a party, that she
had to create that scene. However, Zadie has also said that while there may be
similarities with her background, the characters of Archie’s family in the
novel are far removed from those of her own.
In her
midteens, she changed her name from Sadie, to Zadie, because she thought that
it would make her sound more exotic, and it certainly shows that she was
thinking of words and what they mean from an early age (Sadie means ‘mercy’ or
‘princess’, which is a bit girly – ed.). There aren’t that many Sadie Smiths
out there, if the internet is anything to go by, so she did not really have to
change her name to stand out. On the other hand, if you type “Zadie” into
Google, all the links are related to her, so she is the most famous Zadie in
the world. She felt a bit of a freak at school, as she was always wearing odd “shoes,
one red, one white, a red jumper and a red and white hat didn't help...
Literature was a way of avoiding unpleasantness at school, particularly being
at a big comprehensive”. Zadie Smith did have some good times at school, but
perhaps she was a little introverted, and spent plenty of time in her room
reading, for which consumers of literature can be thankful. However, she also
has musical as well as literary talents, having previously earned some cash
from singing jazz. Zadie is apparently very good at impersonating other
singers, so one could say that she has only truly found her voice through
writing. Tap dancing is also another one of her talents, and if they started
making MGM musicals again tomorrow, then she would probably be the first in the
queue for the chorus line. We’ve heard that Zadie is writing a musical on the
life of Franz Kafka with her husband, so perhaps we’ll be able to see her in a
new light – the limelight of the stage.
It
also helps that she is smart, and was successful in gaining entry to Kings
College, Cambridge, where she read English literature (which is what she was
doing anyway – ed.). Yet, as Zadie Smith has said, “an
English Lit degree trains you to be a useless member of the modern world”, so
you may as well try to earn a living from what you’ve learnt. Whilst at
Cambridge, she had a couple of short stories published in the May Anthologies
(see below). It was also while she was at Cambridge that she wrote White Teeth,
and where she first gained the attention of publishers, who conducted a bidding
war over the book. Zadie also acquired an agent, the prestigious Wylie Agency.
White Teeth was published to high acclaim in 2000, for which she was awarded
the following literary prizes: The
Guardian
First Book Award, the James Tait
Black Memorial Prize (for fiction), the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best First Book). Zadie’s
second novel, The Autograph Man, was published in 2002, and won the Jewish
Quarterly Literary Prize for Fiction. Granta selected her as one of 20 young
best British novelists in 2003. Her third novel, On Beauty, was shortlisted for
the Man Booker Prize. FilmFour have bought the movie rights for On Beauty, and
are set to film the novel on a budget of $20m. Alison Owen and Scott Rudin will
produce the film. Scott Rudin has previously handled successful literary
adaptations, such as Angela’s Ashes, The Hours, and also produced The Wonder
Boys. A non-fiction title, Fail Better, is due for 2006. “On Beauty” was the
winner in the Eurasia region in the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, however, Kate
Grenville’s “The Secret River” won the overall title. Zadie Smith is also in
the running for the Decibel Award, which is given to the African, Caribbean, or
Asian writer who has made the greatest contribution to the literary year, and
On Beauty has now won the 2006 Orange Prize, as well as a Somerset Maugham
Award. After receiving the Orange Prize, Zadie Smith said: “I'm delighted that it happened ... I'm
elated, I really am.”
On Beauty has also won the
fiction prize in the 2005 Anisfield-Wolf Awards, a prize that was previously
won by one of Zadie Smith’s literary heroines, Zora Neale Hurston. Zadie Smith
was voted the 9th most stylish British woman in an annual poll
conducted by “Harpar’s Bazaar”, and was the only Briton to make Time Magazine’s
list of the world’s 100 most powerful and influential people in 2006. Zadie
Smith was one of the judges for the Filminute 2006 internet film festival,
along with Bernardo Bertolucci and Isabella Rossellini. Zadie married the poet and novelist
Nick Laird in 2004, who she had met as a student at Cambridge.
White Teeth – review of Zadie Smith's first novel
“Mrs. Begum's Son and the Private
Tutor” - Zadie Smith's short story from 1997, which features
early versions of White Teeth's characters! “Picnic,
Lightning” - another early story from Zadie Smith, published in the May
Anthologies. Unfortunately, this website is now no longer online
White
Teeth: A Conversation with Zadie Smith – Kathleen O’Grady, editor of the May
Anthologies who published Zadie Smith’s first short stories, talks to her about
the publication of White Teeth
Martha, Martha –
we review the short story that was published in the issue of Granta that hailed
Zadie Smith as one of the 20 Best Young British Novelists under forty
I’m
the Only One – is a short story that Zadie wrote for a collection called
“Speaking with the Angel”. This Barnes & Noble page looks to have an
extract from the story
The
Trials of Finch – is the title of a story that Zadie wrote for The New
Yorker. It is not online, but she talks here to The New Yorker’s Ben Greenman
about the story. In The
Sovereignty of Others: Humanity in Zadie Smith’s “The Trial of Finch”, M S
Smith writes about the short story in further depth
Hanwell
Senior – is another Zadie Smith short story published in The New Yorker,
and a very enjoyable one at that
You are in Paradise
– Zadie
writes about a less than exotic visit to Tonga for The New Yorker
The
Limited Circle is Pure – Zadie Smith writes about Franz Kafka, and given
that she is writing a musical about him, this should be interesting.
Love,
Actually – Zadie writes about EM Forster for The Guardian
On the
Road: American Writers and their Hair – Zadie finds something to amuse her
amongst the ennui of a book tour
We proceed in
Iraq as hypocrites and coward – and the world knows it – Zadie tells it as
it is in this article in The Guardian in 2003
The
Divine Miss H – Zadie writes about Katherine Hepburn, her favourite actress
The A4
Challenge – The Guardian prints a doodle from Zadie about the 2004 Hay
Festival
Shades
of Greene – Zadie’s article on Graham Greene
Letter
from Liberia – a personal account by Zadie Smith
We are
Family – Zadie talks to her brother Ben, who released a rap album in 2005
under the name of Doc Brown. It gives some musical details about their
childhood. Maybe writers soon will be more engaged with SOR?
Fail Better
– an excellent Zadie Smith about how an author’s “self” interferes with the
writing of the perfect novel. Read Better
is Zadie’s continuance of this article
Zadie
didn’t tell the real race story – an article in “The Sunday Times” by
Maurice Chittenden, which voices Ziad Haider Rahman’s view of the novel – the
article says that he was the inspiration for Magid
Enlivened
by exasperation – a “Guardian” report on the proceedings of the Book Club
they ran about On Beauty
Where did it
all go wrong, darling? – Mary Ann Sieghart uses the Belseys’ marital
problems in “On Beauty” to explain why we have fallen out of love with Labour
There now
follows a more in-depth look at White Teeth, and I will do this by
building up a list of links related to topics and themes discussed in the
novel, page by page. The page numbers come from the hardback edition, so
for the benefit of the paperback readers, I will also quote the chapters:
What
is past is prologue - an auspicious quote to start White
Teeth off. This is actually a quote from William Shakespeare's The
Tempest. This website has a picture of the statue inscription that Zadie
Smith is probably referring to. This statue, "The Future", is
the work of Robert I. Aitken. This quote was fully attributed in later editions
of the novel
Cricklewood
Broadway - p. 3 Chapter 1 The Peculiar Second Marriage of Archie Jones
- ah, the place to be or not to be -- twinned with Venice!
Cavalier Musketeer Estate - p.3 Chapter 1 - is the very
exotic name of Archie Jones's car. I couldn't find any reference to this
car on the net, so I think Zadie Smith made the name up.
Ophelia - page
7 Chapter 1 - is the name of Hamlet's mad, suicidal lover in William
Shakespeare's famous play. Although the Diagilo family has a tendency
towards going nuts, it's actually Archie who's in the course of committing
suicide in the book when Zadie Smith mentions his first wife, Ophelia
Diagilo.
monstropolous - page
10 Chapter 1 - the use of this one word reveals the depth of Zadie Smith's
reading, for only one writer ever used it before her - Zora Neale Hurston in
"Their Eyes were Watching God".
Waste
and Whiteness: Zora Neale Hurston and the Politics of Eugenics -
provides another quote using the word "monstropolous". Given
that White Teeth also covers eugenics, this essay by Chuck Jackson might be of
some interest to readers of White Teeth
Hoover's
brand name - p. 10 Chapter 1 - the debate goes on and on. The
Hoover building in Perivale is not a million miles away from Willesden, and
it has ironically been internally rebranded as a Tesco supermarket (I can see
the illuminations from my house in Ealing at night – ed.).
Cosimo
de' Medici - p. 11 Chapter 1 - Archie's wife, Ophelia, has delusions
of being the maid of this famous art patron
Herne
Hill Stadium - p.13 Chapter 1 - this where the cycle events were held
for the 1948 Olympics. It’s not going to be used for the 2012 London Olympics
1948
Cycling - these are the top 3's for the cycling events in the 1948
Olympics - doesn't go as far as 13th place!
Thespis -
p. 20 Chapter 1 - introduced "hypocrisy" (more popularly known as
"dialogue") into drama, and he invented tragedy. Eastenders
would never be the same again...
"That Jamaican Cricketer" - p. 21 Chapter
1 - I thought Zadie Smith was referring to Viv Richards here (Archie
purloins a cardboard cut-out of Viv Richards to put in O'Connell's), but Viv
Richards comes from Antigua and played for the West Indies
Chelsea
Boots - p. 23 Chapter 2 Teething Trouble - all you ever needed to
know about Ryan Topps' footwear
"This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" -
p. 28 Chapter 2 - the debate about what Jesus actually meant when he
said this rumbles on
A
time, and times, and half a time? - p. 28 Chapter 2 - could have new
implications for time and a half...
Jehovah's
Witnesses decide the end is Fluid - p. 28 Chapter 2 - explains the
emphasis on the 1914 generation, and why the end of the world just keeps
slipping further away.
"Separating
the Sheep from the Goats" - p. 29 Chapter 2 - Bad news
for Goats Shocker - How Jehovah's Witnesses interpret (and
re-interpret) this phrase
Nearer
My God to Thee - p. 30 Chapter 2 - singalong now!
Saint
Jude - p. 31 Chapter 2 - Hey Jude! Find out more about the saint
- Clara and Ryan go to St. Jude's school<
Live fast, die
young - p. 31 Chapter 2 - examines who may have come up with this
phrase originally
The Lord's
Supper and the 144, 000 Anointed Class of Jehovah's Witnesses - p. 33
Chapter 2 - how many Jehovah's Witnesses are cruelly denied wafer-thin bread
The
144,000 - so the world will be safe from apocalypse as long as we
all keep on sinning!!!
The
Great Crowd - p. 33 Chapter 2 - what Jehovah's Witnesses mean by this
Where is the
Great Crowd? - my guess is that they're not at Wimbledon FC
Jehovah's
Witnesses: An Overview - explains briefly what will happen to the lost
Murphy's
Law - p. 37 Chapter 2 - where it all started to go wrong
Better
to Marry than to Burn - p. 40 Chapter 3 Two Families - was Paul a
misogynist?
Should
not muzzle the Ox - p. 40 Chapter 3 - why one must never do this, even
if the ox in question is a fat lardy bastard. St. Paul was obviously not
thinking at all of the obvious implications for the Cadburys and Rowntrees
production line
Iphegenia
at Aulis by Euripides - p. 43 Chapter 3 - Clara at the registry office
is where Zadie Smith deigns to tell us what her middle name is. The
real Iphegenia was fooled into going to Aulis by the promise of marrying hunk
Achilles (while Archie's not a youthful hunk, like Achilles, he's a bit gammy
in the leg region), but then she's sacrificed by her father Agamemnon instead,
just so that the boys can go to war. Such is the stuff of which several
great dramas are made. Does not bode well for the Peculiar Second
Marriage of Archie Jones
Jamaican
Patois - p. 65 Chapter 4 Three Coming - mentions Irie
Abraham/Ibrahim -
p. 65 Chapter 4 - one common figure in the traditions of Christianity,
Islam, and Judaism. Sarah must have been one hell of a babe at 90
The Churchill
Tank - p.73 Chapter 5 The Root Canals of Alfred Archibald Jones
and Samad Miah Iqbal - hardly the best tank in the world
how
to cook rabbit - Koos Rozemond, a Dutch lawyer, lays into Zadie
Smith's depiction of the Royal Engineers - but even he goes with the flow in
the end. I've always suspected that Zadie Smith was partially inspired by
The English Patient for this section
Forging
the Iron Curtain in the Balkans - p. 75 Chapter 5 - EAM was the
political wing of ELAS, who were actually fighting EDES - so Zadie Smith is
indeed incorrect on this page, as Rozemond writes (in his broken English).
Captain
Corelli's Mandolin is a recent novel that famously dealt with this
Greek acronym clash. It would appear, that Zadie Smith, like KEVIN, has
an acronym problem
The
Gothic Line - p.77 Chapter 5 - where Samad fought well
The
Tiger Triumphs - more details of Indian fighting divisions in Italy at
this time
The German
surrender documents - p. 80 Chapter 5 - as signed by Colonel-General
Jodl
Dorothy
Lamour - p.83 Chapter 5 - her IMDB entry
Pandy -
p. 85 Chapter 5 - also means to strike the hand. Samad, Mangal Pande's
great grandson, was shot through the wrist by accident, ruining his earlier
glorious war career
“Mangal Pande in London” - Amitava Kumar points out
just how unlikely it is that Samad could be Mangal Pande's great grandson - but
like Rozemond, she's willing to forgive Zadie Smith for the odd mistake or two
in an utterly compelling narrative. More to the point, where have all the
good copy editors gone? This article is no longer online
Pesotsky -
p.93 Chapter 5 - Zadie Smith possibly got this name from Chekhov's The Black
Monk
Lydia
the Tattooed Lady - p. 98 Chapter 5 - read the lyrics and singalong!
Facts
about Diabetic Retinopathy - p. 100 Chapter 5 - learn more about this
condition. If Dr. Sick has such bad vision, how is he ever able to shoot
Archie?
when the chips are
down - p.104 Chapter 5 - comes from poker, a game that Samad is very
good at. Nothing to do with fish or depressed potatoes
The
Cricket Test - p. 107 Chapter 5 - Norman Tebbit does his bit to
promote cycling, if nothing else
“If
they pass the ‘cricket test’, how do we stop the suicide bombers?” -
Tebbit’s terminology is still being used by the media today, as this article by
Niall Ferguson in the Telegraph shows
Mrs.
Miniver - p.111 Chapter 6 The Temptation of Samad Iqbal - no doubt
Samad first stumbles over Katie Miniver's name and status because if the famous
book and film - you can learn more about Jan Struther, author of Mrs. Miniver,
and read the whole book here
Am I a
'Ms' or a Miss - p. 112 Chapter 6 - the debate goes on
How do we
worship - p. 113 Chapter 6 - Samad says that 20 days would be
freed up if all the pagan holidays were removed from the Christian calendar,
but this website says that there are only 8 pagan holidays
OshKosh B'Gosh -
p. 117 Chapter 6 - can be spelt in several ways, although the spelling
Zadie Smith employs is not that popular - Millat really wants to wear this
stuff?
Why is the
sky blue? P. 117 Chapter 6 - Magid is absolutely right
Blue Sky
and Rayleigh Scattering - the science bit
To the Pure, All
Things are Pure - p. 119 Chapter 6 - Samad must have heard Clara say
this phrase, as it comes from St. Paul, upon whose writings she has already
mused. "Can't say fairer than that" sounds more like
Archie. Samad thinks of the sayings of his married friends as
he contemplates infidelity
Things
which make a Fast void - p. 120 Chapter 6 - Zadie Smith has them
listed correctly
Abdullah
Ibn Umar - p. 120 Chapter 6 - more details about him
Freddie Mercury -
p. 135 Chapter 6 - the early life story of the Queen front man
Bharata Natyam -
p. 136 Chapter 6 - more details about the dance that Alsana used to perform
Harlesden
Clock - p. 142 Chapter 7 Molars - in glorious Technicolor
Home
from Home - p. 143 Chapter 7 - the Stonebridge Estate is currently
undergoing something of a regeneration
Speak-and-Spell -
p. 148 Chapter 7 - literacy would never be the same again. Zadie Smith
should be paid for this product placement stuff
The
Mandibular Third Molar: A Method of Predicting its Eruption - p. 150
Chapter 7 - what Dudley would have done for this... Men inherit wisdom
teeth much less regularly than women
Satyagraha -
p. 154 Chapter 7 - find out more about Satyagraha and Gandhi
The
Bukhari Hadiths of Islam - p. 156 Chapter 7 - an overview
George Stubbs on
the Internet - p. 159 Chapter 8 Mitosis - he's not just on the walls
of O'Connell's
Beastie
Boys-inspired fad boosts VW emblem thefts - p. 166 Chapter 8 - this is
what Mickey is talking about when he refers to "Beetie Boys" - may I
apologise on behalf of my brother for the theft of that VW emblem from a
car that was parked outside our hotel in Sorrento in the late 80's?
Luncheon
Vouchers - p .167 Chapter 8 - despite what Mickey says, the
golden age of Luncheon Vouchers is not over, and it's all thanks to Zadie
Smith!
Queen
Lucksami Tave - p. 167 Chapter 8 - was not so lucky. According
to this webpage, she drowned in the river Chaopraya, not the Nippon-Kai as
Zadie Smith writes
Operation
Blue Star - p. 171 Chapter 8 - and the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi
discussed
mono-browed - p.175 Chapter 8 - means "to not
shave between the eyebrows”
“they are like the English POWs in Dresden who continued
to pour tea and dress for dinner, even as the alarms went off, even as the city
became a towering ball of fire” - p. 182 Chapter 9 Mutiny! - I could find
no reference to this incident on the web, so I presume that Zadie Smith gleamed
these details from reading
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, who
is one of Zadie Smith's favourite writers, as listed in this interview
Geographical Facts of
Bangladesh - p. 183 Chapter 9
Bangladesh
Cyclone May 1985 - p. 184 Chapter 9 - more details about this disaster
"Night's
darkness is a bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn" - p. 184
Chapter 9 - comes from Tagore's 'Stray Birds' - read the full text of the poem
here
Rabindranath
Tagore - p. 184 Chapter 9 - a brief bio of the writer who penned both
the national anthems of India and Bangladesh
To
put away childish things - p. 189 Chapter 9 - just how many letters
did that St. Paul blokie write? Zadie Smith's ghost writer invades the
text again. Ryan Topps also calls on this phrase to save him from the
embarrassment he feels at meeting Clara's daughter, Irie - p. 335 Chapter 15
Biddy Mulligan's -
p. 190 Chapter 9 - where Millat gets in a fight, is a real pub in Kilburn, that
used to be frequented by some of the members of the rock band Bush
Tornadoes -
p.190 Chapter 9 - the world's deadliest tornado swept through Bangladesh in
April 1989
The
Great Storm of October 1987 - p. 191 Chapter 9 – (coincided with my
sister's 18th birthday – ed). Michael Fish has never looked so
pescine. A more disturbing event than even the great Dudley earthquake of
2002
Royston
(Iceni) Weather Station - you'll never leave! Some pictures of
roads blocked by the storm damage
The Great
Storm - also affected Northern France and the Netherlands
Michael
Fish - a caricature
Worsley
Institute of Blu-Tack Art - p.191 Chapter 9 - how long before they
show up in Tate Modern?
Artists in
Residence - Blu-Tack is "so polymorphous and essentially
dichotomous", exactly the same thing that I always say about it. I
think they're taking the piss, but one can never be too sure with artists.
Blu-Tack -
Mrs. McNeill, our school headmistress, was the first to introduce us to this
magical new English sticky stuff. It was my first exposure to product
placement and globalisation, from which I've never truly recovered. It's
kind to speakers too - no band should leave home without one
Viz
puts on a show - p.191 Chapter 9 - it were twenty years ago today when
methought that
Whizzer and Chips was
the epitomy of comic excellence, but Viz was a photocopied rag about to hit the
big time
"O
Me O My. There's no place like home. There's no place like
home" - pp.191-192 Chapter 9 - is a reference to The Wizard of
Oz. I find it hard to believe that hardboy Millat would do this. Apparently,
a character in The
Autograph Man also mimics Dorothy at the end of The Wizard of Oz. The
best critique of the movie was written by
Salman Rushdie, who
was right to question the ambivalent ending. Maybe Zadie Smith will have
a third and final click of the heels in her next novel
You Talkin' to Me? - p.192 Chapter 9 - Robert
De Niro as Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Millat's iconic hero
Buffalo
Soldier - p. 194 Chapter 9 - the story behind Bob Marley's lyrics
Buffalo
Soldier - the lyrics
"I
do not serve what you worship, nor will you serve what I worship. You
have your own religion, and I have mine" - p. 197 Chapter 9
Mutiny! - quote from the Qur'an
Somokami - p. 199 Chapter 9 - looks like the crew
are impugning the ticket-man's sexuality, and do this even more on p.
200. But more importantly - was there ever a train service between King's
Cross and Milton Keynes? Sometimes I think Zadie Smith is making this
stuff up as she goes along! Not that I'm a trainspotter or anything, I
just live in Milton Keynes
Raggastani - p.
200 Chapter 9 - although it's debatable whether Zadie Smith coined this word,
she has certainly popularised it
Fear
of a Black Planet - p. 200 Chapter 9 - the story behind this
famous Public Enemy album
Rushdie
in Hiding after Ayatollah's death threat - p. 202 Chapter 9 - mentions
the burning of The Satanic Verses in Bradford
Book
Burning in Bradford sparks political mayhem - p. 202 Chapter 9 - There
were many people attending the protest who, like Millat, hadn't read the
book. (I remember talking to a woman I worked with at the time who was
violently angry against Rushdie if she had actually read the book - she hadn't
- but then again, neither have I -
ed.). However, events over the last year have made White Teeth even
more resonant as a book of our times
A
Decade on, the Rushdie crisis is over - p. 202 Chapter 9 - Never mind
the man from Porlock, the man from my home town of Slough was far more
malevolent
Divargiit Singh - p.203 Chapter 9 - gets his only
reference on Google due to his mention in White Teeth
The
vast majority of Bangladesh's inhabitants are Bengalis - p. 204
Chapter 9 - seems to be liberally quoted on the web
Indo-Aryan -
p. 204 Chapter 9 - definition
Chuck
D takes on the record industry - p.205 Chapter 9 - Millat has (had) a
signed autograph from this member of Public Enemy - before Alsana burns
it. The
Autograph Man, of course, relates the business behind the exchange of such
symbols
Slick
Rick's Hey Young World - p. 205 Chapter 9 - has recently been
re-recorded by Macy Gray
Shaft
in Africa - p. 205 Chapter 9 - a review of this film epic
Berlin and the Cold
War - p. 205 Chapter 9 - a good place to start to find out about the
fall of the Berlin Wall
Fort!
Da! Blues! - p. 211 Chapter 10 The Root Canals of Mangal Pande -
everything you ever needed to know about the game invented by Freud's grandson,
fort-da. Still, if the Football League collapses, we'll all be looking
for a cheaper new sport to entertain us
Dum-Dum
Arsenal - p. 218 Chapter 10 - a variation on "Boring, boring
Arsenal"?
The
Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 - pp. 218-219 Chapter 10 - more details
Paper
Cartridges and the Sepoy Rebellion - pp.218-219 Chapter 10 -
includes an extract from Blackwood's Magazine
Mangal
Pande and Bhang - p. 221 Chapter 10 - according to Shuddhabrata
Sengupta, Hindus don't have any qualms about drinking bhang, as long as it is
strong enough
Captain
Hearsay - p.220 Chapter 10 - I could not find any mention of a Captain
Hearsay in relation to Mangal Pande, but a Captain Hearsay did (appropriately
enough) threaten to sue Rudyard Kipling for libel, which led to Kipling
abandoning India. It was more than a hundred years later when a crappy,
manufactured pop band maliciously stole the good captain's name for their own
nefarious ends. According to one webpage, the name and rank of the
officer who demanded Pande's arrest was actually Major-General Hearsey,
although the Wikipedia webpage above refers to ‘General Hearsay’
Trafalgar
Square - Napier and Havelock: Truth behind the Generals' statues -
p.220 Chapter 10 - it's not only Samad who hates this statue of General
Havelock - Ken Livingstone wants to pull it down too
Alas!
Poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio - p.221 Chapter 10- is the actual
quote that everyone really knows well
Tatia,
the Sword of Freedom - p. 225 Chapter 10 - another account of Mangal
Pande's mutiny
In the old age black
was not counted fair - p. 231 Chapter 11 - read this critique of
Sonnet 127
My mistress' eyes
are nothing like the sun - p.231 Chapter 11 "The Miseducation of
Irie Jones" - a critique of Sonnet 130
Thy black is fairest
in my judgement's place - p. 233 Chapter 11 - this quote comes from
Sonnet 131
For
since each hand hath put on nature's power - p. 233 Chapter 11 - is
another quote from Sonnet 127
In
nothing art thou black, save in thy deeds - p. 235 Chapter 11 - comes
from Sonnet 131
Then
I swear, beauty herself is black - p. 235 Chapter 11 - in his
brilliant critique of Sonnet 132, Nigel Davies does battle with Mrs Roody's
interpretation of this series of sonnets. Irie's reading - that
Shakespeare is celebrating the beauty of a black mistress - does ring very
true
“Blacks in London: An Interpretation” - p. 235
Chapter 11 - Henry Louis Gates, Jr. says that Elizabeth I "demanded that
all the blacks in England pick up and leave", so Mrs Roody is wrong in her
assumption that there were no Africans in seventeenth century London
Introduction
to Black Studies - p. 235 Chapter 11 - this overview mentions that
"African slaves were brought to England from the 1570s onward. It became fashionable"
Black
Wednesday was White only in Britain - p.240 Chapter 11 - Robert J.
Gordon writes some mumbo-jumbo about why Britain left the ERM
Lessons
learned on 'Black Wednesday - p.240 Chapter 11 - the BBC overview of
the crisis
It's
time to get your knots fried - p.240 Chapter 11 - Erika Rollins on the
contradictions of the beauty industry
Ethnic
haircare - p. 240 Chapter 11 - from research sponsored by Mintel
KTalk -
p.240 Chapter 11 - where there's demand, there are business opportunities, as
Paul King discovers to his delight in White Teeth, with some of the money even
going to good causes
Gimme a head with hair - p. 240 Chapter 11 - shows
how globalization if affecting thee beauty industry, with black-owned firms
being bought out by the major cosmetics companies (referenced webpage is no
longer online – ed.). "And I wish to God I could buy black hair
products from black people for once" says one of the customer's in Roshi's
Haircare, little knowing that this will soon be even more difficult (p.
243 Chapter 11)
Black
Beauty: Millionaire C. J. Walker - p. 240 Chapter 11 - C. J. Walker
was America's first self-made woman millionaire, money she earned from her
creation of beauty products for black women
The
HisTory of Michael Jackson's face - p.243 Chapter 11 - need we say
more?
Sense
and Sinsemilla - p. 245 Chapter 11 - sinsemilla is marijuana
"Samad hates Saraswati, you understand. Calls
him colonial-throwback, English licker-of-behinds" - p. 248 Chapter
11. I am not sure if Zadie Smith is referring to any particular writer
here. His name suggests
V. S. Naipaul, but Naipaul was born in the
Caribbean.
Saraswati
is the
name of a Hindu goddess
"Where
is his Khamise?" - p. 249 Chapter 11 - Samad is critical Magid's
Western clothing
"What does Islam
mean?" - p. 249 Chapter 11 - find out here
Laborare
est Orare - p.250 Chapter 11 – definition of this Latin phrase
toke -
p. 251 Chapter 11 - is a word that has travelled far
The Keepers of the Eternal and Victorious Islamic Nation
(or KEVIN - they have an acronym problem) - p. 255 Chapter 11 - would appear to
be a satire on
the Nation of Islam
The person who goes in search of knowledge is on active
service for God until he returns - p. 255 Chapter 11 - this phrase can be
used in the context of converting to Islam
Vermiculous
- p. 264 Chapter 11 - appropriately enouggh, means "wormy". A
good word for all you Scrabble freaks out there
The
British Empire Exhibition of 1924 - p. 265 Chapter 11 - Wembley has
never been used just for football
British
Empire Exhibition - p. 265 Chapter 11 - another view
autogamy
- p. 267 Chapter 12 Canines: The Ripping Teeth - onanists
geitonogamy -
p. 267 Chapter 12 - slightly more exciting than monogamy (for plants)
xenogamy -
p. 267 Chapter 12 - nothing to do with Xena, or her gams
The
Third Life of Grange Copeland - p. 268 Chapter 12 - more about Alice
Walker's first novel