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    Feel Free: Essays
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    Feel Free: Essays
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    Feel Free: Essays
    Audiobook13 hours

    Feel Free: Essays

    Written by Zadie Smith

    Narrated by Nikki Amuka-Bird

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From Zadie Smith, one of the most beloved authors of her generation, a new collection of essays

    Since she burst spectacularly into view with her debut novel almost two decades ago, Zadie Smith has established herself not just as one of the world's preeminent fiction writers, but also a brilliant and singular essayist. She contributes regularly to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books on a range of subjects, and each piece of hers is a literary event in its own right.

    Arranged into four sections—In the World, In the Audience, On the Bookshelf, and Feel Free—this new collection poses questions we immediately recognize. What is The Social Network—and Facebook itself—really about? "It's a cruel portrait of us: 500 million sentient people entrapped in the recent careless thoughts of a Harvard sophomore." Why do we love libraries? "Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay." What will we tell our granddaughters about our collective failure to address global warming? "So I might say to her, look: the thing you have to appreciate is that we'd just been through a century of relativism and deconstruction, in which we were informed that most of our fondest-held principles were either uncertain or simple wishful thinking, and in many areas of our lives we had already been asked to accept that nothing is essential and everything changes—and this had taken the fight out of us somewhat."

    Gathering in one place for the first time previously unpublished work, as well as already classic essays, such as, "Joy," and, "Find Your Beach," Feel Free offers a survey of important recent events in culture and politics, as well as Smith's own life. Equally at home in the world of good books and bad politics, Brooklyn-born rappers and the work of Swiss novelists, she is by turns wry, heartfelt, indignant, and incisive—and never any less than perfect company. This is literary journalism at its zenith.

    Editor's Note

    Sharp, entertaining essays…

    On subjects that span the high-low cultural divide, from Justin Bieber to Schopenhauer, Zadie Smith’s intelligence, humor, and charm shine through in this collection of essays.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 6, 2018
    ISBN9780525528746
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Feel Free

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    • 4/5
      Feel Free, Zadie Smith, author; Nikki Amuka-Bird, narratorTo be honest, I wanted to stop listening to this book on many occasions because, at times, it was over my head. However, the spectacular quality of the narrator’s reading voice and accent coupled with the magnificent prose of the author kept making me return, even when I could not quite understand the essay, because I could always understand the narrator’s interpretation, and therefore, get some message from the piece. This admittedly left-leaning author admits that she wrote these essays during the time of Obama’s reign. She adores him and views Trump as a harbinger of disaster. Now, a year and a half into his Presidency, I do not know if her view has changed, but as a committed Liberal, I doubt it. Whether or not it has changed, had no bearing on my appreciation of her essays. I found, though, that she introduces race, and her own view of it, very often, During Obama’s term, I believe the public became more willing to hear alternate views, even when they conflicted with their own, opening a window that seemed, previously, to be kept purposely opaque. Although I did not find this discussed in reviews, which surprised me, her analysis of race and racial issues, especially as someone who is biracial, is far different than my own, as a white person, on many levels, which leads me to believe that the divide between the the races when interpreting life situations, is far broader and wider than generally understood. As a person of the Jewish faith, as well, I can understand suspicion, fear and even animosity toward some, but I don’t find the negative perceptions and perhaps grudges that are held against some who represent past heinous behavior, as pervasive in my life, as it seemed to come across with regard to her perceptions in her life and the life of others of color. Still, I found many of her arguments had merit and were worthy of further thought and introspection. Overall, I found, for me, the point is to get each party to come to the middle, to try and understand the divide and bridge the gap. I am hoping that I will better understand her views and be able to reconcile them with my own.Smith writes on a variety of topics. I don’t even pretend to understand all of her ideas or her philosophy or even her selection of subject matter, at times, but I admired the power of her words, so expressive and analytical were they. The words just seemed to naturally come forth from this author’s hand, in spite of the fact that she disparages her lack of education and laments the fact that so many others with far greater degrees have achieved far less than she has. Yet, so many of the better educated can’t seem to put two intelligent words together to make a sentence that paints any image and she paints masterpieces with her vocabulary.Some of the topics she discusses are libraries and what they represent to her and the world, socialism and how it served her needs when she was growing up without having everything she wanted or needed, climate change and the perception of some she views as less than bright, the insect world and our perception of it. She analyzes films and comedy skits, art and artists, different forms of music and composers, writers and their intentions, dancers and their identities, realism vs. idealism, the gap that exists between classes, the current immigration policy compared with how it used to be, relationships in families and with friends, suicides, illness, Brexit, Comedy Central and the stars it created, compassion, the internet and its pitfalls, being biracial in a white world, the injustice of the justice system and more.Her book sometimes reads like a who’s who with so many names dropped, some familiar, some less so, like Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Philip Roth, Jay Z, Beyonce, Sorkin, Zuckerberg, Schopenhauer, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Hurston, Nabokov, Emmett Till, Baryshnikov, Marquez, Astaire, Bojangles, Kelly, Nureyev, Prince, Murdock, Nigel Farage, and Michael Jackson, to name just some of the myriad personalities that appear in her essays and run the gamut of subject matter. She dissects each subject with a fine tooth comb and makes the reader really think about her message. At one point, I felt like I was part of the narrative. She brought up the Marcy Housing Project, in Brooklyn, where Jay Z grew up, because as a young teacher, of 20 years, when I thought I could change the world and make it a better place, I taught the children that lived there. It was not an easy lifestyle to survive or a very nice place to live, even decades ago. There is something for everyone in this book, but not everyone will be able to understand all of the essays. Truthfully, I am not a genius, but I consider myself fairly well educated, and I had trouble deciphering some. That is why I highly recommend it in print version, so it can be read in small doses and delved into more deeply. Each essay imparts an important message. The author’s choice of subject matter, diverse as it is, is very intriguing; the reader will be inspired and encouraged to seek more information to better understand Zadie Smith’s philosophy on each subject.
    • 4/5
      I already loved Zadie Smith's writing, but this collection of essays really made me feel like I knew this amazing author so much more. The essays include musings on popular culture (Facebook, Key and Peele, Justin Bieber, and Jay-Z all make appearances), which had the effect of making me feel more cultural literate, but also provided a framework for thinking more deeply about the world we live in. Smith, in addition to her reviews of popular movies and music, also offers more personal stories - I'll particularly remember the one about burning down her home in Rome and realizing that everything that was destroyed was replaceable. All in all, this talented author offers plenty to explore with this essay collection and I eagerly await to see what she turns her pen to next.
    • 4/5
      This collection of essays was mostly tedious for me, I'm sorry to say. (I was a bit meh about the one novel of Smith's I've read, but feel like she's someone I shouldn't have given up on yet?) She writes well, and her intelligence shines through all of these pieces, but I just never had the spark of interest or connection that will make an essay collection really work. Many of the essays were reviews of books, films, or artwork I have not read or seen, and that can make it hard to invest in the review, I find. It's not as if this was a complete waste of time--some of the essays were interesting, and I learned quite a few things. But on the whole, just not for me, I guess. I have no reason to think that if you already like Smith's work you won't like this too.
    • 3/5
      Like all collection of essays, it's a mixed bag with many of the referenced books unknown and unread. I read it as an audiobook, and in retrospect, It would have been better to read in print form as I was often unsure which book she was talking about. As with all Zadie Smith's work, it is beautifully and simply written.
    • 2/5
      These are well-written and entertaining essays. I enjoyed some of them but was not interested in the subject matter of others. I'd like to read another book by this author, based on the quality of the writing, but it seems that this particular one was not a good match for my interests. The topics range from politics, to fiction, to pop stars.
    • 4/5
      Smith had me at the first short story about the importance of libraries, and then the stories continue and are so relevant. I’m not fond of short stories but Smith gave me so much to think about, I would put the book down after reading a story and think about it as I worked on other things.
    • 4/5
      There is something clear-sighted and honest about Zadie Smith’s essay style. Over a spread of 31 pieces on such varied subjects as Brexit, dance, art exhibitions, book reviews, and what might be called think-pieces, Smith is consistently insightful, self-deprecating, erudite, and personal. She eschews the fashion amongst (especially British) essayists of disingenuousness. It’s clear that she must have been a precociously literate child, an intense reader of works well above her age bracket, and an early writer (well, obviously, since her first novel was published to great acclaim when she was still in university). When she turns her attention to matters literary or artistic she is able to offer opinions based on both breadth of experience and depth of understanding. And though she is not touted as a philosophical writer, her essays on philosophical topics (e.g. juxtaposing Justin Bieber with Martin Buber) are refreshing and provocative. Yet some of the essays I like best are those in which she mentions what it was like growing up in London with her Jamaican-born mother and her elderly, white, father, both of whom she so clearly loves (and who dearly loved her), even though the marriage itself broke down when she was just a young girl.I would gladly read almost anything coming from Zadie Smith. This collection reinforces that intention. Enjoy it in full and wait impatiently, as I will, for what Smith writes next.