Publisher’s write-up:
‘Crafted with the sharp
intelligence, wit and style that have won Zadie Smith millions of fans and
suffused with a profound intimacy and tenderness in response to these
unprecedented times, Intimations is a vital work of art, a gesture of
connection and an act of love - an essential book in extraordinary times.’
Intimations is a set of six
essays (with one of them having a lot of sub-essays within the essay) from the
writer Zadie Smith written during the covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Considering we
have lived through this pandemic, with each of us having our own experiences,
it was interesting to read what a popular writer had to express during these
times.
The book contains essays on
diverse topics and are her opinions on various topics, including American
exceptionalism, suffering, the strange society where demanding a basic need
such as healthcare is deemed ‘radical’, self-hatred, and how the biggest
virus threating us is contempt. I liked the essay titled ‘Something
to do’ where the author writes about the problem we face during the
pandemic – that we are under a compulsion to be engaged in something all the
time. And during the pandemic, most of us have had a lot of time (even those
who were employed cut down on travel time) and this was an issue that most of
us faced and I could completely relate to it. However, what I found interesting
was the author making a comparison with artists – that it is a problem that
artists have had by nature of their profession and thus, she was familiar with
it from before, but this is faced by everyone else at present – it gives us the
opportunity to think about it and understand that we do not need something to
do all the time.
My favourite essay here was –
contempt as a virus – where she explains the contempt we have for certain
groups – such as poor or minorities is the most dangerous virus we have at
present. It is true that even in the most liberal environments, the locality is
deemed unliveable if the percentage of undesirable minorities goes
beyond a certain acceptable percentage and thus, are largely homogeneous
societies. And this contempt spreads easily – from generation to generation and
among peers within a generation – that most parents want their children to be
among other children of similar background and not be stricken by the virus of poverty.
This is something that everyone is affected by to varying degrees – including
you and I.
There were a few essays where I
was not sure what she was trying to express, one being Provocation in the
Park, where she was disturbed by one of the signs held by a student – she
was confused what he was trying to say but then, from what I understood, she
never made any effort to talk to him and instead, just chose to write an essay
about the placard. The final essay – Intimations too, I did not
understand the intent, at first, I understood it to be her version of
acknowledgements where she was thanking multiple people in her life, but the
list soon becomes very generic and contains several people, including Muhammad
Ali.
This is a book relevant given the
times we are living in and it is a short read. The proceeds of the book go to a
charity in New York and if you are compelled by that cause if not by the book,
you are welcome to try it out. On that note, I award the book a rating of seven
on ten.
Rating – 7/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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