Here are the comments from our book group about Zadie Smith’s The Fraud.
- Why the mini-chapters? Zadie Smith is a smart writer so there must be a purpose.
- Regardless of purpose, the book was very irritating—too many characters and historical references, too episodic, too many stories, too much detail and too many temporal shifts—additional related comments included fragmented, utter disregard for chronology, complicated and tiresome, and a skimming satire.
- The shards of narrative conform to the literary technique of hybridity— the technique of weaving different narrative styles, genres, or perspectives within a single text to create complex layers of meaning, challenge conventional storytelling, and explore multifaceted themes like identity and culture.
- Many of the characters were real people but Eliza and Sarah were fictional.
- A good book for English major third year, fourth year, to read it over the Christmas holidays, just after they read all those authors mentioned in this book. And then, they could just have a taste of what it was like.
- The audio version was unintelligible.
- Disappointed as had really enjoyed White Teeth!
- Found nothing positive to say about this book!
- And there was some humor.
- One member reported she had found a reviewer that summed up the book for her, “this book feels like a jigsaw puzzle that I hadn’t successfully put together. In fact, I think I’m missing several pieces.”
- The book provided opportunities for learning—self learning. Most members had a limited knowledge of slavery in the British West Indies.
- Not a book recommended for “personal reading nor book clubs”