Lewis Carroll sends Alice on a second set of adventures in some territory that is beyond our world. This time she crosses a mirror and enters a game of chess. She will eventually become a queen but she will in all possible ways express her deep desire to rebel against a world that is seen as having too many limitations and frustrating rules. She will in a way rebel against the game of chess itself when she comes to the end of it and pulls the tablecloth from under all the pawns and pieces to have peace and quiet, to free herself of absolute slavery. But what is she the slave of ? Of rules, the rules of the game, the rules of society, the rules of education. Of words and their silly ambiguities that enable them to mean both one sense and its reverse, that enable them to lead to absurd statements and declarations that completely block her in blind alleys and impasses. But at the same time, her return to the normal world that transforms those adventures into a dream, is a rejection of such adventures and of such rebellion as being absurd and purely fantasmatic, dreamlike. There is in this book a rather sad lesson that comes out of this ending : children can dream adventures, can dream perfect freedom, but reason brings them back to the comfortable world of everyday life and submission. And there is no other way possible. This book is pessimistic about a possible evolution from one generation to the next thanks to the retension of childish, childlike dreams, forgetting that the world can only change and progress thanks to the fuel those dreams represent in our social engine.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

"Through The Looking Glass" is, perhaps, not QUITE as good as "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland", but it's close enough to still rate five stars. Not, properly, a sequel to the first book, there is no indication at any point in it that the Alice (clearly the same individual, slightly older) from this book ever had the adventures in the first one; there is no reference to her previous adventures, even when she once again meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Obviously, the two books are intended as parallel adventures, not subsequent ones.

The most memorable bits from this book are doubtlessly the poem, "Jabberwocky", as well as chapter six, "Humpty Dumpty". But all of the book is marvellous, and not to be missed by anyone who enjoys a magical romp through silliness and playful use of the English language.

(This review refers to the unabridged "Dover Thrift Edition".)

Carrol was a profound and wonderful writer, and Through the Looking Glass... is definate proof of this. Though there isn't much evidence that he was a pedophile, you shouldn't grade his works simply on who he might or might not have been. Through the Looking Glass... is one of the greatest works of literature in the english language, and will continue to be despite the author's supposed problems.

Let me say first that I greatly admire this book's scope and ambition. Not many first-time authors dare to paint in brush strokes this broad (as a counterpoint, think of the Brat Pack novelists of the '80s and their skimpy, self-satisfied works). These strengths, however -- the sprawling, multi-generational plot lines and abundance of characters -- also form the core of the novel's greatest weakness. Simply, Zadie Smith just doesn't have the mojo to pull it all off. The rambling expository passages quickly grow tiresome (it took me several months to finish the book -- I read about a third at a time and took long breaks) and many of the eccentricities meant to liven up her characters occasionally land on the wrong side of annoying parody. That said, White Teeth should indeed be read by anyone with a serious interest in current fiction. There is some truly inspired writing on display, most notably in the scenes involving Samad, Archie and the War. It's a pretty safe bet that Zadie Smith will one day make good on the formidable promise she demonstrates here. She is, after all, only in her mid-20s (a fact which may explain why the book's critical praise has been so wildly out of proportion with its actual achievement as a work of art). Until then, there is White Teeth, an overreaching, overrated and uneven book, but one that most young writers would kill to have written.

"White Teeth", author Zadie Smith's first novel, is the generation-spanning story of two men - one British, one Bengali - whose friendship, career, and families depict an ongoing struggle of race, gender, and religion. Smith addresses global issues (the relationship of former colonies to their erstwhile rulers and of the working class to the middle class, religious fundamentalism, the tribulations of assimilation) as well as personal ones (marital relations, the complications of siblings, forgiveneness) with a voice that is intelligent and skeptical as well as sympathetic.

The book's flaws are minor: occasional slow patches in the 450-page narrative, a (perhaps intentional, but still inappropriate in a novel of this length and scope) superficial treatment of the endgame. Its assets are recommend it to politicians, readers, and inhabitants of the world: it is an enjoyable read, and powerful in a deliberate, thoughtful way. The writing, reminiscent of a less flamboyant, more deliberate Tom Robbins, is an excellent counterpoint to the seriousness of the narrative, rendering the characters' struggles entertaining without trivializing them. The story, rich with its own history, intertwines modern issues with ancient ones, addressing the past and its inhabitants and our struggles to escape them. Ultimately, it points out, we are victims of a fallacy of the English language: "past tense, future perfect".

I received White Teeth as a gift a month ago and I was immediately intimidated by its length, design and the fact that it was written by a woman only a few years older than me. When I finally garnered up the courage to enter Smith's world, it was as if I boarded a British Airways flight to London to spend the week with Archie, Samad, Irie, Milat and Magid. First and foremost, I had fun. I felt like I really got to know the characters (their hang-ups what made them tick) and their situations: Samad's inner struggles with himself and his sons, Irie's unrequited love for Magid, and the hilarious elitism of Joyce and Marcus Chalphen around the dinner table. The backward manner in which Smith weaves her events, not dissimilar to Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, is so sophisticated and works no well in the novel form. I can't possibly convey all of the magic of White Teeth, so I'll have to urge you to go out and pick it up. You'll finish it yearning for more. Smith's voice is so unique that I have no doubt we'll be reading her books for years to come.

Those who enjoyed Zadie Smith's first novel, "White Teeth," and liked her new and different voice will be let down by "The Autograph Man," the fragmented tale of Alex-Li Tandem and his search for . . . peace? Himself? Or just this movie star's autograph?

"The Autograph Man" gets off to a good start, with a flashback of Alex-Li and two friends being taken to a wrestling match at the Albert Hall by Alex-Li's dad. It is a fateful trip for several reasons: first, Alex meets the boy who will turn him on to autograph collecting and thus set him on his professional path. Second: Alex's father dies of a massive heart attack shortly after the match between Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks is over. This prologue contains the dead-on dialogue and offbeat cultural observations that Zadie Smith writes so well. It is exactly like spending too long in the car with three precocious thirteen-year-old boys. One is a classic urban Jewish kid, another is a black African Jewish kid, and then there's Alex-Li, a half Chinese Jewish kid. The fact that Alex-Li's dad, a man you like immediately, has offered to take these three to a wrestling match ranks as one of those truly selfless acts of a parent's love.

Zap to the present, where, as one character puts it, the best and the brightest work on the fringes of the entertainment industry. Alex-Li is now a full-time Autograph Man. That arcane industry is cunningly limned, but truth to tell, it is very hard to care about these self-absorbed characters now that they are adults. That they are frequently drunk or stoned adds to the sense of disaffection experienced by them and unfortunately the reader as well. There is some Jewish mysticism stirred in for spice, but ultimately "The Autograph Man" never comes together. Besides Alex's father, only the movie star turns out to be someone you can care about.

"White Teeth" garnered many literary prizes and "The Autograph Man" is unlikely to capture any. That's okay. Consider this a phase. Zadie Smith's next book will still be worth looking forward to.

"The Autograph Man" is Zadie Smith's second novel, following "White Teeth", and is somewhat less ambitious - I thought it was all the better for that.

The main character, Alex-Li Tandem, deals in the autographs of the rich and famous. His great desire in life is to acquire the genuine autograph of the elusive former movie star Kitty Alexander. The plot hinges on Alex's attempts to get Kitty's autograph.

Zadie Smith uses this novel to satirise some strange aspects of the North London Jewish community, but more intersting to me was the potential for "The Autograph Man" to be viewed as a somewhat sardonic examination of the modern cult of celebrity, and in particular how some people live their lives vicariously through their celebrity heroes and heroines. It's also a portrait of obsessive behaviour: "all fandom is a form of tunnel vision: warm and dark and infinite in one direction". If some people attach so great an importance to objects such as autographs, (or for that matter writing reviews?), what does that say about the balance in their lives - are they missing or avoiding the really important things?

So, I thought that Zadie Smith touched upon some interesting issues in this novel. That's not to say that I thought it was as good a piece of fiction as it might otherwise have been - for example, the humour is very hit-and-miss (the three funny rabbis were anything but), the plot dragged at times (a need for closer editing?), and the characters were mostly two-dimensional. But in all, I thought that this was an improvement on "White Teeth" and that Zadie Smith might be an "author to watch".

Zadie Smith's Autograph Man is a good novel. Zadie Smith herself is an incredibly talented writer. Autograph Man, while good, pales in comparison to White Teeth, and yet, because of her talent Autograph Man is still pretty good. The story of Alex-Li Tandem and his quest for the autograph of an reclusive 50s movie star lacks a certain cohesiveness to make it all hang together and work. You cannot say anything bad about each individual paragraph or sentence in the novel--it's just that, taken as a whole, there is something missing. Still, it makes for good fun reading.

If you require a guide to Smith's execrable 'White Teeth', then I regret to inform you that you are too stupid to live.

Before I'd read the book, this seemed like a dubious enterprise. Surely 'White Teeth' is too recent to reward (or deserve?) this kind of close critical attention. But in fact, this short book works well because of its chronological proximity to its subject, and you get a genuine sense of the author's enthusiasm for the novel - an enthusiasm that I share.

Briefly, this book consists of a chapter that sketches the pertinent details of Zadie Smith's career so far; a chapter that engages fully with the themes and qualities of the novel; a couple of chapters that look at how the book was reviewed upon publication and how it performed initially; and a concluding chapter that contains a wide selection of Discussion Points and a surprisingly thorough bibliography. Ms Squires is particularly good at illuminating Zadie Smith's stylistic techniques, and is also refreshingly well-researched on the novel's history in terms of its publishing life (agents, deals, marketing, etc).

I was not aware of this series ('Continuum Contemporaries') until I stumbled across this particular volume on Amazon. If the other volumes are of the same high standard, I will be impressed.