4/8 notes

Zadie Smith, On Beauty: Literature can be political, but still be great writing. Smith says that if a novel tells you a specific way to be moral, it is bad. A novel, however, can be truthful and honest, which is difficult because of self-deception (novel difficulties mirror life). This novel is about multi-culturalism and the culture wars (war between people on the left and on the right - in the academy, overseeing the money). In this war, the left throws out standards of greatness: outdated, irrelevant, and racist/sexist. Book branding: some books with sell because of who the author is, not "who" the author is. The good moral book is a case, an analogy of morals, that teaches you not to believe in the set standards of greatness. This book fits, encouraging one to explore any character from both worlds: no one is completely wrong or evil.