Rather, as she writes, “These are above all personal essays, small by definition, short by necessity.” And therein lies the strength of this slender volume it is in the personal that her concern for others shines through. The second thing you should know is that in no way does Smith try to provide some kind of comprehensible account to help us make sense of everything. It grants us the perspective to recognize what’s happened to us while simultaneously bringing us closer to a time that already feels as though it belongs to a distant past.

It creates more distance for us to consider the turmoil we’ve all felt. Of course, we’ve all read about these topics to the point of surfeit, but there’s something refreshing about reading good, old-fashioned, published prose on these subjects, to sit with a book in hand rather than tablet. Zadie might be the first deliver (in book form), and it’s both timely and timeless.The first thing you should know about Zadie Smith’s slim collection of essays, Intimations, is that it concerns the first months of the pandemic, from the moments just before the threat of COVID-19 got serious up to the killing of George Floyd. Many people have wondered, such as on social media, what literature inspired by 2020 will look like, what art will come of these times. This essay collection is a masterpiece and should be required reading. It’s a reminder that “difficult times” were never just relegated to days past– we’re all living it and always have and Zadie brilliantly examines what this all means, where we can go from here, if anywhere. That’s why reading Zadie Smith’s Intimations was extra surreal - it’s real-time commentary on not just a global pandemic, but on a nation and world suffering from multiple viruses, may of which aren’t new, but rather highlighted by current events. Growing up, as students, we read ‘classic’ literature - novels, short stories, essays - and try to look at them through the lens of that time period. Here’s the review, in full, embedded from GoodReads. I MADE this time because I immediately had to tell people to read this timely, brilliant collection. I found some time today to share my thoughts on the new essay collection by Zadie Smith, Intimations.

I got away from writing reviews on GoodReads, or elsewhere, after I finished a book.

Intimations zadie smith review