Recipe For Disaster

Most of the characters in On Beauty are of a different ethnicity from those in the books we have been reading so far in the course, so it takes me a while to reconfigure my mindset and get used to them -- especially to Levi's "faux Brooklyn accent." Zadie Smith's writing is not action-packed like Wonder Boys, but she writes in a way that somehow makes the characters come alive in my mind and I find myself being drawn to their lives.

There are contrasts between the Kippses and the Belseys, as is evident from the title given to the first part of the novel: Kipps and Belsey. From Jerome's emails, the Kippses are portrayed as a conservative and loving Christian family. He describes them as "a family who wanted to spend so much time with each other"; and later when we first have a direct encounter with the Kippses, we find that Michael Kipps is very protective of his sister, Victoria, and Carlene Kipps is an amiable lady. The Belseys seem to be a more flawed, but more realistic family -- they interact in a way that people only do with family.

However, after the discovery of Howard's one-night stand, the family seems to begin to fall apart. Kiki decides to forgive Howard and tries to hold the family together. Of the three children, Jerome appears to be the most affected by his father's affair. Kiki thinks of Jerome's temperament as the mildest among her children; I perceive all three of them as being capable of intense emotion, passion, and opinion, but in varying areas. Jerome feels very strongly about family matters, so he "falls in love" with the Kipps family -- sort-of an "ideal" family -- and is upset that his own family is disintegrating.

"It's like, a family doesn't work any more when everyone in it is more miserable than they would be if they were alone. You know?" (pg. 60)

It is also interesting to see how the two families' lives are intertwined: Howard and Monty hate each other, Jerome falls in love with Victoria, the Kippses move to Wellington, Levi talks to Carlene, Kiki and Carlene become fast friends. By bringing the Kippses to Wellington, Zadie Smith is setting up a stage for disaster. Being in closer proximity would only generate greater friction between the two families. Indeed, I think Howard and Monty's being in the same university will create more tension and conflict (I don't see them suddenly becoming best buddies). Kiki and Carlene's friendship comes as a surprise, and almost feels like a betrayal, like they are each "fraternizing with the enemy".

Hmm... I wonder how the title connects to the novel.