Book Group April 2007
What the blurb says:
Set in New England mainly and London partly, “On Beauty” concerns a pair of feuding families – the Belseys and the Kipps – and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions – both personal and political – of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family.
I have never read any Zadie Smith before, but have heard good things, many times, about White Teeth and of course this book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Orange Prize in 2006. My expectations about On Beauty weren’t clearly focused, but expectations were certainly in existence.
The first thing you register about this book is the cover – with its dark brown and neon pink, and the more muted wallpaper colours of the authors name, its quite unusual and very striking! I guess the marketing team did a good job in differentiating it; it elicited a reaction from most of the BG, although not all positive.
The book opens with a series of emails between Jerome and his father, Howard Belsey , who is blanking him. This initially stuck me as quite gimmicky, although one that worked as I was drawn into trying to understand the tensions underlying these interactions. What transpires is that Jerome is residing at the home of Howard’s academic rival (read arch nemesis), Monty Kipps, while interning in the UK. During this time Jerome falls hopelessly for the beautiful Kipps daughter, Victoria, and proposes to her. Upon leaning this news Howard dashes off to rescue his son, but in the mean time we learn that Victoria has no intention of marrying, leaving Jerome heart-broken and Howard to bungle the mission. Howard’s motives for opposing the marriage aren’t entirely selfless and are influenced by his disapproval and rivalry with Kipps. A short time later the Kipps decamp to the Belseys home turf as Monty take up a position lecturing at the same University as Howard. Rivalry between the patriarchs continues to be a central and underpinning tenant to the story, but the interactions of the other members of the families as they are brought into contact provides the meat.
The mothers make for the most likeable characters. Kiki (a Belsey) is particually endearing and you can’t help but be sympathetic to her plight as the one holding it all together, but feeling a little disjointed. Carlene Kipps takes more discovering, content as she is to occupy the background, and its through KiKi that we get to know her. Of the children, Zora (also a Belsey) stands out the most. She not a loveable character, but one who you feel you know and have a grudging admiration for; the over intellectual, over earnest type, who seems to have it all in one sense, but hasn’t much idea about how to be liked. Carl, the subject of Zora’s unrequited lust, conjures an image somewhere between a good looking Poet (character in the show OZ), Saul Williams and Thierry Henry. You can see why she fancies him. Levi, youngest of the Belsey clan, reminded me of my brother a little. In fact most of the characters remind you a bit of someone, or a bit of a few people. That’s good though, that’s what proper characters do.
The dispute between Howard on the left-wing and Monty on the right rumbles on, but its more academic and intellectual than a battle of ideologies. An outsider might find more similarities than differences between the two men. Indeed both men share a common mistake, sleeping with their students. A mistake that sees them decide to keep a little quieter on the righteousness front.
Ideas are explored, life is reflected on, the kind of things the middle classes ponder are pondered, and through this the people of the book are discovered.
