NW
A Novel
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NW
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Narrated by:
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Karen Bryson
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Don Gilet
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By:
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Zadie Smith
About this listen
Somewhere in Northwest London stands Caldwell housing estate, relic of 70s urban planning. Five identical blocks, deliberately named: Hobbes, Smith, Bentham, Locke, and Russell. If you grew up there, the plan was to get out and get on, to something bigger, better.
Thirty years later, ex-Caldwell kids Leah, Natalie, Felix, and Nathan have all made it out, with varying degrees of succes - whatever that means. Living only streets apart, they occupy separate worlds and navigate an atomized city where few wish to be their neighbor’s keeper. Then, one April afternoon, a stranger comes to Leah’s door seeking help, disturbing the peace, and forcing Leah out of her isolation....
From private houses to public parks, at work and at play, in this delicate, devastating novel of encounters, the main streets hide the back alleys, and taking the high road can sometimes lead to a dead end. Zadie Smith’s NW brilliantly depicts the modern urban zone - familiar to city dwellers everywhere - in a tragicomic novel as mercurial as the city itself.
A 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
One of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2012
One of Time's Top 10 Fiction Books of 2012
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best 10 Fiction Books of 2012
A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of 2012
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Critic reviews
"This is a book in which you never know how things will come together or what will happen next... NW represents a deliberate undoing; an unpacking of Smith’s abundant narrative gifts to find a deeper truth, audacious and painful as that truth may be. The result is that rare thing, a book that is radical and passionate and real." (Anne Enright, The New York Times Book Review)
"A boldly Joycean appropriation, fortunately not so difficult of entry as its great model... Like Zadie Smith’s much-acclaimed predecessor White Teeth (2000), NW is an urban epic." (Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Review of Books)
"Endlessly fascinating... remarkable. ...The impression of Smith's casual brilliance is what constantly surprises, the way she tosses off insights about parenting and work that you've felt in some nebulous way but never been able to articulate." (Ron Charles, The Washington Post)
"Innovative and moving... This is a rich novel, as crammed with voices and layered with history and pop culture as is London itself. Smith’s flair for dialogue reaches a new height in NW, as she conveys the rhythms and diction of a variety of Londoners with wit and acuity. The story of what happens inside a person when she rises above the situation she was born into was of interest to Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, among countless other novelists. Zadie Smith has delivered her contribution to this literary tradition with aplomb." (Dallas Morning News)
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With its esteemed history and bold contemporary scene, Britain lays claim to some of the most exciting literature in audio. With the hundreds of incredible British writers throughout the centuries, a person could devote their whole literary life solely to British authors and still never run out of amazing things to listen to. Whether you're an avid Anglophile or just want to discover the best English novelists for yourself, here’s a list of the best for you to choose from!
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 36
Zadie Smith has established herself as one of the most iconic, critically respected, and popular writers of her generation. In her first short story collection, she combines her power of observation and her inimitable voice to mine the fraught and complex experience of life in the modern world. Interleaving 11 completely new and unpublished stories with some of her best-loved pieces from The New Yorker and elsewhere, Smith presents a dizzyingly rich and varied collection of fiction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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In Defense of Zadie Smith
- By Andre on 11-11-19
By: Zadie Smith
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Swing Time
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,914
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,735
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,731
Two brown girls dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: About rhythm and time, about Black bodies and Black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It's a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early 20s, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten, either. Tracey makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enthralling and instructive. A novel of the highest caliber
- By Richmond Surrey on 07-27-17
By: Zadie Smith
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White Teeth
- A Novel
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Ray Panthaki, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 786
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 679
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Story4 out of 5 stars 672
At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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4.68 stars....a modern classic
- By ibillinsly@gmail on 06-06-18
By: Zadie Smith
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On Beauty
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 811
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 368
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Story4 out of 5 stars 370
This wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, Massachusetts, whose misadventures in the culture wars—on both sides of the Atlantic—serve to skewer everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. Full of dead-on wit and relentlessly funny, this tour de force confirms Zadie Smith's reputation as a major literary talent.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Somewhat Disappointed
- By Cherokee on 11-15-05
By: Zadie Smith
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The Autograph Man
- A Novel
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Ben Barnes
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4 out of 5 stars 32
Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. A small blip in a huge worldwide network of desire, his business is to hunt for names on paper, collect them, sell them, and occasionally fake them - all to give the people what they want: a little piece of Fame. But what does Alex want? Only the return of his father, the reinstatement of some kind of all-powerful, benevolent God-type figure, the end of religion, something for his headache, three different girls, infinite grace, and the rare autograph of '40s movie actress Kitty Alexander. With fries.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Maybe it's ...me? (But I don't think it's me.)
- By Ashley J. on 05-14-18
By: Zadie Smith
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Autumn
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Melody Grove
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 519
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 459
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Story4 out of 5 stars 455
Fusing Keatsian mists and mellow fruitfulness with the vitality, the immediacy, and the color hit of Pop Art, Autumn is a witty excavation of the present by the past. The novel is a stripped-branches take on popular culture and a meditation, in a world growing ever more bordered and exclusive, on what richness and worth are, what harvest means.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible use of language
- By Mary on 03-06-17
By: Ali Smith
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Grand Union
- Stories
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Zadie Smith, Doc Brown
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 36
Zadie Smith has established herself as one of the most iconic, critically respected, and popular writers of her generation. In her first short story collection, she combines her power of observation and her inimitable voice to mine the fraught and complex experience of life in the modern world. Interleaving 11 completely new and unpublished stories with some of her best-loved pieces from The New Yorker and elsewhere, Smith presents a dizzyingly rich and varied collection of fiction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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In Defense of Zadie Smith
- By Andre on 11-11-19
By: Zadie Smith
What listeners say about NW
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Claire
- 04-07-18
complicated but worth it
this book is more about a place than the characters although the characters intetwraving is amazing
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chris
- 09-24-12
Perhaps Worth It?
If you could sum up NW in three words, what would they be?
Beautiful, interesting, disappointing
Would you recommend NW to your friends? Why or why not?
I doubt it, though it did inspire me to check out Zadie Smith's other works. I would recommend the author if not the book.
What about Karen Bryson’s performance did you like?
Everything. She (as well as the fellow who read for the Felix section) were absolutely perfect for the rhythm and tone of the novel.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
It's all about the style!
Any additional comments?
So well written, but pretty much undone by unbelievable characters.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Colleen C. Obrien
- 12-06-12
Not my favorite Zadie Smith, but not bad either
Where does NW rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Kind of low on the list--White Teeth and On Beauty were so amazing, so I had high expectations.
If you’ve listened to books by Zadie Smith before, how does this one compare?
Not as listenable--maybe because it's more postmodern.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Karen Bryson?
Yes
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Likes Books A Lot
- 04-25-14
stellar performance!
What made the experience of listening to NW the most enjoyable?
the narrator really brought the characters to life
What does Karen Bryson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Karen Bryson turns the story into what feels like a live performance by someone who really understands and cares about each character. Her spoken use of the chapter numbers also adds to the story and my ability to see the words and events in their proper context.
Any additional comments?
I had a little trouble getting what was going on in the beginning as I am not familiar with all of the references to neighborhoods in London. It became clearer as we went along so think I will listen to the beginning again.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- archana
- 07-25-15
Typical Zadie Smith
Got off to a slow start but then the characters become real amd soon you can't wait to know more about theie lives. very readable. Excellent book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Phoebe
- 02-22-13
Amazing shifts between voices and characters.
What made the experience of listening to NW the most enjoyable?
I listened to this book, then read it and then listened again in order to sort out the voices and points of view. The differences between the written and read versions are well worth experiencing. I have recommended this book and reading to all my friends. Nothing less than amazing. The way it is read gives you a preview of the inner lives, but combined with the visual text, it's astounding. I could listen to these voices forever! Amazing dialogue! You will love it and become so attached to some of the characters, you don't want it to stop.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sarah McCormick
- 07-30-14
Zadies does it again!
Would you consider the audio edition of NW to be better than the print version?
Yes, because of the nuances of voice.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Surprise.
Have you listened to any of Karen Bryson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Not applicable, but I will look for her as a narrator in the future.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed aloud sometimes and felt sadness, too.
Any additional comments?
Zadies Smith's writing is very deep and needs in-depth reading/listening in order to really get what she's imparting, and I enjoy her efforts. I have read/listened to all of her books.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cariola
- 03-29-13
Smith Is Back on Her Game
Let me say first that I listened to the audio version of NW, and while it was masterfully read by Karen Bryson, it's the kind of book that probably is better read in print, due to the various stylistic devices that Smith employs. So I will definitely be reading it again.
Smith does an outstanding job of recreating the multicultural community of northwest London in all its grimness and glory. This is a district whose residents reflect African, Caribbean, Irish, Polish, Italian, Indian, Pakistani, Eastern European, you-name-it backgrounds, as well as a large number of mixed race and multi-ethnic persons. For most, life in NW has been hardscrabble, but two longtime friends, Leah and Keisha (who now calls herself Natalie), have somewhat broken out of the neighborhood. Leah, whose narrative opens the novel, has earned a degree in social work, and her decision has been to return to the neighborhood where she grew up. Long on empathy but perhaps a little short on common sense, Leah finds herself in the opening scene giving 30 pounds to Char, a former schoolmate and obvious junkie who knocks on her door with a story about her mother being taken to hospital. Leah's story reflects her confusion about who she is, where she belongs, what she wants out of life--and her marriage to Michel, a Jamaican immigrant. Natalie, on the other hand, has left the neighborhood and seems to have it all: a law degree, handsome husband, beautiful children, big house, trendy wardrobe. Yet she, too, finds that the ties to NW indeed do bind.
Although these two women are the heart of the novel, two young men, Nathan and Felix, also figure prominently and perhaps reflect the darker side of Leah's and Natalie's efforts to change themselves and the neighborhood. Nathan, once the bad boy every girl had a crush on, has gone over to the dark side, dealing drugs and pimping prostitutes. Felix, on the other hand, is cleaning up his act, due mainly to the love of a good woman that he hopes to marry. Their stories intersect with those of Leah and Natalie and with one another's in unexpected ways.
There are moments of humor in NW, but it is a more mature, more serious novel than Smith's first, White Teeth (which I also loved). Here, the consequences of the characters' choices are more severe, and the abiding influence of life in NW more bleakly inescapable. Overall, NW is a brilliant portrayal of life in London's multicultural community. Smith has given us an original and compelling story. I'm happy to see her back on top of her game.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jordan Rivers
- 05-20-21
Excellent
Fantastic novel— original structure and great characters. H w. Do. F t t f d
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- gilb
- 12-27-12
Captures life in a South Asian London neighborhood
What did you love best about NW?
Not a false note in the writing - on the contrary it is as life-giving as Tolstoy.
What was one of the most memorable moments of NW?
When one of the female protagonists tries out the idea of a menage a trois with two South Asian boys.
Have you listened to any of Karen Bryson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I enjoyed the reader's performance - the Audible readers are by and large wonderful.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Laugh maybe, cry no.
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2 people found this helpful