Great in parts…but the narration was terrible.

Zadie Smith fan here, and so excited to listen to one of her books for the first time, versus reading hard copy.

The story was entertaining, much stronger in some parts than others (the history of Mr Bogle being standout). Strong characterisation helped prop up the slightly slower parts of the novel, and overall it was a story worth knowing.

But I have to say, the narration was really poor, particularly for the first few hours. It was my sheer force of will to unravel the story that had me push past it. Ms Smith speaks with a lisp for the majority of these first hours, which made some parts unintelligible and meant that I had to rewind several times to strain to understand. Of course, having a lisp is nothing to apologise for, but upon investigation I read an interview with Smith in the Evening Standard where she comments “I also had a mouth brace in so it’s a bad Scottish accent and a lisp, so enjoy nine hours of that.”
Once I read that I was disappointed and frustrated that she chose to take on the narration, with an awareness that it might impact the enjoyment of the listener. It really did detract from the experience for me. So I would suggest you listen to the sample, to see if it’s for you. In retrospect, I would have bought in hard copy.

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6 people found this helpful

Terrible narration

I’m a great admirer of her writing, but her narration, particularly her attempts at accents, irritated me all the way through. Had it not been for the quality of the writing, would have abandoned it after first chapter.

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2 people found this helpful

Accents

This novel although well written and absorbing was spoiled by Zadie Smith’s reading. To have the main character Scottish but to render her speech foreign to any Scottish person - the Irish accent was no better - as a strangled screech at times jarred with me !

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1 person found this helpful

Couldn’t listen - should have had someone else read

Zadie Smith’s narration was just to hard to listen to, sorry! So, can’t comment on the story. Gave up.

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1 person found this helpful

Outstanding

Zadie Smith is marvellous reading her latest novel. The audiobook really added something to my reading experience.

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Loved it, the clever tapestry of stories reminded me of White Teeth

Absolutely genius the way so very much of this novel translates to current affairs, two hundred years later. It’s the kind of story I’ll have to listen to at least once more and also buy a hard copy of!

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Very Zadie

I really enjoyed this.

It's very good in the respects Zadie Smith is usually good. Exuberant; lively dialogue; sharply observant; reflective and critical; full of information; jostling with different perspectives, life experiences, ways of perceiving and thinking. The historical material she's used is fascinating and has some obvious contemporary resonances.

I think the book is rather weak in the area I generally find Zadie Smith's books to be weak, namely structure. In my view, her books are usually longer than they should be, tending to lose momentum after starting brilliantly. This makes them a little disappointing, but only because they initially promise so much.

Zadie Smith's reading is amazingly good for a non-professional. It's a real plus to have the book in her voice.

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5 people found this helpful

Reading Aloud.

This novel combines a notorious case with an account of an almost forgotten writer and makes a good read.
However please don’t ask an author to read his or her work aloud. It didn’t work in this case and in my experience never has. Much better to use an actor.

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1 person found this helpful

An enchanting description of 19th century Britain

I found the story compelling and the narration excellent with convincing changes of accents.
The book informs us of details of life in England and Jamaica in the 1800s and covers the ending of slavery with attendant attitudes prevailing at the time along with the literary scene in London. An enjoyable listen.

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Brilliant writing paired with excellent narrator

Every sentence feels delicious to the ear.
I am quite fussy about quality of narrators and found this narrator absolutely brilliant.
I think Zadie Smith’s attention to historical detail is so impressive - down to the topics of the day that different people would be talking about around the breakfast table - and the pace, characters brought so vividly to life. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A wonderful literary achievement.

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