November 2006: On Beauty (Smith)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 8:50:37 PM

More than a dozen of us met last night (November 29, 2006) at Betsey's to discuss Zadie Smith's On Beauty. We were pleased to welcome Sophie, a first-time attendee, and welcome back others who had been long absent.

Due to the size of the group, Betsey directed the meeting with a firmer grip than is usual in our typically rather free-form discussions, starting off by asking about why we thought the title was chosen. We also explored our reactions to various characters, and questions of infidelity and forgiveness. On the question "is infidelity forgiveable?", several young alumnae among us leaned towards a hard-line approach, while some older alumnae felt that each situation needed to be evaluated on its own merits. Most found the book compelling, even though the characters were generally unappealing. Many thanks to Betsey for hosting!