The historical fiction novel centers on a real-life Victorian Era trial. Smith says she doesn't look back on the past with a sense of superiority: In her view, human life is 'a continued struggle.'
"History is something we participate in together," says author Zadie Smith."We are all involved in history, and all have something to gain from understanding what happened – exactly what happened." Her new novel,Zadie Smith says she would rather write a 400-page novel than sit and think about death for five minutes."I find writing a kind of absolute avoidance, she says."It's what I do so that I don't have to do things I can hardly tolerate.
Writing this novel helped Smith understand more about her mother's side of the family — Smith's mother is Black and emigrated to England from Jamaica; her late father was British and white. I have a young daughter, and when I hear people speak of,"We've gone through so many waves of feminism, and so it should be that we're in some kind of ideal state where a 13-year-old girl is happier than she's ever been" — but anyone listening to this who has a 13-year-old girl: Do you find that to be true?
What we're here to do is to interrogate history together. That is not a complicated idea, in my mind. What's going on in America is a long-term consequence of a kind of binary argument that happens online, and that is the opposite of thought, in my view. The opposite of history, the opposite of understanding. It's like a childish football game. You win, I lose. You did this, you did that. History is something we participate in together.
So it's ridiculous to claim that you can stay in the same mental space. I can't. But it is always on my mind. ...On how she feels in between writing projects
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
In 'The Fraud,' Zadie Smith seeks to 'do absolute justice to the truth'The historical fiction novel centers on a real-life Victorian Era trial. Smith says she doesn't look back on the past with a sense of superiority: In her view, human life is 'a continued struggle.'
Read more »
TWU boss Samuelsen accuses MTA of ‘fraud’ in contract talks for railroad workersThe head of the Transport Workers Union is urging the state Senate to probe MTA leadership, accusing the brass of engaging in a “scheme” to cheat commuter rail workers out of deserved r…
Read more »
Stolen Covid relief funds: New calls for accountability over biggest fraud in U.S. historyAfter hundreds of billions of dollars were stolen from Covid relief programs, the Department of Justice is working to identify and arrest those responsible. NBC News’ Ken Dilanian has the details as lawmakers ask Attorney General Merrick Garland for more data on the funds stolen by foreign criminals.
Read more »
18 NBA Veterans Arrested in Alleged $4 Million Health Insurance Fraud SchemeMore than a dozen former NBA players have been charged in New York federal court in an alleged multi-million-dollar health insurance fraud scheme to rip off the league’s benefit plan, according to an indictment unsealed in the Southern District on Thursday.
Read more »
Securities fraud case: ‘I’d really like to see him be put away’Jeff Knutilla is still waiting for Donald M. Johnson’s securities fraud case in Porter Superior Court to be resolved, and he’s been waiting for a long time.
Read more »