Randomramblings

I finished reading White Teeth at the end of September, but haven't had the time to publish my review (cross this out and write "my thoughts" instead) before. Or rather, I forgot to do it.

But now - the time seems ripe, the soul willing...

People have told me White Teeth are very similar to some of Rushdie's works, but as I haven't read any Rushdie (just goes to show what a sinner I am) myself I could not compare. I thought the book was fun, but serious at the same time. It dealt with big themes while writing about them in a funny, quirky way, but never carelessly or thoughtlessly. I think what she claims with regard to immigrants is true, to a certain extent. I give her all the credit for portraying the "split" nationality through the story about separated and then reunited twin brothers. I smiled at her desriptions of Samad's desperate attempts to remain faithful to what his religion demands of him, because they are very realistic and just go to show that people (in a way) belong to the environment where they were born. They feel best in an environment where they have contact with their roots. (Roots - a big word in the book, and an important one, too.)

But I didn't like the Chalfen parts of the book. I certainly understood where it went and what it tried to say, but didn't like the characters. This is not to say that the characters always have to be amiable to the reader. It's just my reflection. I applaud Smith for getting the molecular biology right and for taking the trouble to include it. With such subjects I always wonder whether the writers get help from advisors or do they just read books about a certain topic and acquire knowledge that way.

So - I understood the Futuremouse project and how it went to say that in a few decades it won't be important who you were or whence you came from, because at the time life will be given to you, the time of death and all inner, bodily developments will also be scheduled. This puts the person under lots of stress - nothing is inevitable anymore, the sense of free will is lost. Things will happen without you being able to do anything about them. It's not actually the "things happening" that bothers me. It's the fact that your whole life you will dread and fear the moment when your protooncogenes'll stop working and you'll be left hoping that doctors can cure you.

But alas, Futuremouse will also enable one to get rid of the faulty genes and live healthily. But this cannot come about without some serious consequences on the world population. Also, the best way would be to enable everybody to have acess to such a treatment. If some people are excluded, this is discrimination. ...(Ok, this is really becoming longwinded and you don't have to read every thought of mine, so I'll stop.)

What I want to say in conclusion is that White Teeth certainly is a good novel and an excellent first novel. It's very ambitious, running at its 700 pages, but never boring. The ending is a mastery in itself, although I was slightly disappointed by Erie having a child whose father was unknown (I found that cheesy) and taking care for it with Joshua. But apart from that, it was good. Really.