276°
Posted 20 hours ago

The Fraud: The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller

£10£20.00Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

The fraud is referencing The Tichborne Trial that is the lifeline of the novel, every other theme is springing from it, chosen by Smith perhaps because:

With the virtuosic agility of an actor in a one-woman play, Smith as narrator so fully embodies each of her many distinct characters that she exposes, sometimes without their even knowing, the ways in which every one of us misrepresents ourselves in one way or another. This is a 19th-century novel of manners in which various people have very bad ones, and the result, thanks to the author’s perfect ear for comic timing, is vigorously, insistently funny…Smith bounces nimbly across the vernacular empire while leaving no mistake about her ubiquitous irony, her vocal side eye.”— Lauren Christensen, The New York Times Book Review I've not read any Zadie Smith since the outstandingly good White Teeth but The Fraud sounded so interesting on paper that I was extremely hopeful that it would be just as excellent. However what I ended up with was a confusing, mish mash of stories and timelines that made me long for the end. Smith, in her most commanding novel to date, dramatizes with all-too relevant insights crucial questions of veracity and mendacity, privilege and tyranny, survival and self, trust and betrayal . . . Smith is always a must-read, and this spectacularly entertaining and resonant historical novel will have enormous appeal.” — Booklist (starred review) A] brilliant new entry in Smith’s catalog . . . The Fraud is not a change for Smith, but a demonstration of how expansive her talents are.”— Los Angeles TimesDon't let me dissuade you from reading this if you really like Zadie. But be apprised of my recommendation - print not audio. And my feelings about this one won't stop me from gobbling up her next novel, stories or set of essays!

Mesmerizing . . . Smith weaves Eliza’s shrewd and entertaining recollections of her life, a somber account of Bogle’s ancestry and past, brief excerpts from Ainsworth’s books, and historic trial transcripts into a seamless and stimulating mix, made all the more lively by her juxtaposing of imagination with first-and secondhand accounts and facts. The result is a triumph of historical fiction.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Strong prose. Smith writes great descriptions and I appreciate her sly humor and observations about human beings and their behaviors. Overall I feel like this is a book of parts or pieces that never quite completely fit together. This could have easily been three books which could have sunk more deeply into these questions and perhaps captured and held my interest. Maybe Smith has the Maggie O'Farrell effect on me. Which is to say, I love both of these authors' contemporary works, but not as much their historical ones. Have you ever spent a dinner in the company of men who fancy themselves rather the intellectuals? The ego stroking and egging, the name dropping, the astonishing degree to which well educated, well travelled, men can hold such ill informed opinions.la storia della vita di Andrew Bogle, un ex schiavo che fu uno dei testimoni del processo Tichborne. It is in [Smith’s] openness to and her endless curiosity about other people, even the ones she disagrees with, that her power lies. The Fraud . . . feels free in a way Smith’s novels haven’t in a long time, as if she is once again wandering a path of her own choosing, shaped by her own unhindered desires. Think of it as an instruction manual for how to read our fellow human beings, and also how to read Zadie Smith: Always prepare for surprises, and never make up yourmind.”— Laura Miller, Slate Il libro della settimana: L'impostore di Zadie Smith (Mondadori) | Il cacciatore di libri | con Alessandra Tedesco | Radio 24 How about Eliza's growing social consciousness? Without any narrative ramifications -- for instance, if she was arrested at a violent protest -- it's character development, not a story.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment