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A daily record of what I'm thinking about what I'm reading

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Sunday, February 10, 2013

Zadie smith's current New Yorker story

Writing this post during blizzard recovery not sure when or how I will actually post it. Read Zadie Smith's story in current New Yorker, The embassy of Cambodia, and I think it's the best thing by her I've ever read.. Who wasn't impressed by White Teeth? Evidence of huge talent and original voice if kind of chaotic and overly determined by plot. I thought her novel Thing of beauty or whatever it was called was awful sexist crude and completely ignorant about its american setting. And then I liked recent nyer piece which is part of her current novel NW and now this one seems to be in the same style short takes building a complex narrative by simple mosaic pieces and of the same milieu multicultural suburban London. Cmabodiamis an incredibly moving short piece about an African girl working as a nanny au pair for a se Asian family and she is essentially a captive. Smith beautifully renders her complex and subtle inner life, tells us her life story without being maudlin or tendentious expertly renders her sweet relationship w a young Nigerian man she meets at church -'many beautiful elements in this piece including the mysterious embassy building on the street w it's strange echoes of the exotic and the captive - the game of badminton played just out of sight the rare glimpse of an embassy employee the young people in the courtyard waiting for tourist visas and the elderly man in the rest home surveying the scene and perhaps narrating the story - very fine piece of fiction smith has found a mature and compassionate narrative format and voice.

Sent from my iPad

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