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NW  By  cover art

NW

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Karen Bryson,Don Gilet
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Publisher's summary

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

©2012 Zadie Smith (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

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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What listeners say about NW

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

discusting!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

poorly writen.

What was most disappointing about Zadie Smith’s story?

Filty language. story about nothing!

Would you be willing to try another one of Karen Bryson’s performances?

not unless she really improved her writing skills.all of them

What character would you cut from NW?

all of them! Start over!!!!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Probably better read than listened to!

What disappointed you about NW?

I found it hard to listen to. The stream of consciousness style and the ultra short chapters in the latter part of the book are probably easier to digest on the page. For a while it is as if you are listening to single sentences separated by chapter numbers, rather distracting. It is one of those books that I would read at various speed, i.e. some parts of it I would linger over and others I'd flip through. Very different from Smith's other books, more experimental in form, imho. That said, I am thinking about getting it as a book from the library to see if I like it better that way.

What do you think your next listen will be?

My current listen is Augustus by Anthony Everitt.

Would you be willing to try another one of Karen Bryson’s performances?

Dunno. The book as such is probably hard to perform. That said, she did a wonderful job of switching from one dialect to the next, and made many of the characters come alive.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wanders off

If you’ve listened to books by Zadie Smith before, how does this one compare?

Characters & setting more compelling than On Beauty (it's hard to sustain that much dislike & contempt for all main characters), but plot much, much thinner.

Any additional comments?

It was really evocative, and I enjoyed the different characters' way of seeing the same place and the very different voices, but it felt like the author lost her way at the end and everyone just sort of wandered off stage left.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • R,
  • 09-23-12

Trying too hard.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't think it was worth publishing.

What was most disappointing about Zadie Smith’s story?

She fails completely to convey meaning. She tries too hard with images that mean little. It is possible that the reader gets in the way of the story by interpreting things that the reader should be left to interpret. A good book does not need such an elaborate performance. The performance detracts from the book and adds nothing.

Would you be willing to try another one of Karen Bryson’s performances?

Hopefully not

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

I will have to read the book myself to give an objective view. The reader was much too involved.

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