On Zadie

The Times Literary Supplement has one of the first reviews of Zadie Smith's On Beauty, and Sophie Ratcliffe seems impressed:

" If we are to ask, what, exactly, we are looking at in this novel, it offers an assured and readable, almost seductive lull. The 'hysterical realism' that James Wood saw in Smith’s writing seems to have been toned down....But the writing is superbly controlled....she has produced a novel that knows its own worth and weight....On Beauty is an attempt to pay tribute to the way others look, to Mozart’s music and to Rembrandt’s paintings. Zadie Smith asks for attention for others. She deserves more than a second look herself. "

Update: And here's another rave from The Guardian's Stephanie Merritt: "On Beauty confirms Smith as an outstanding novelist with a powerful understanding both of what the brain knows and of what love knows, especially when it comes to families."