Nothing to Declare

Intimations by Zadie Smith is a collection of six essays written against the backdrop of lockdown. I personally chanced upon this book when I was looking for a way to comprehend the confusing realities of the pandemic. Having never experienced a sudden detachment from social interaction and in light of movements such as Black Lives Matter, I found wisdom in Smith’s writing. One of her essays, “Suffering Like Mel Gibson”, was particularly illuminating. Smith illustrates how suffering is absolute, not relative. She tells of a seventeen-year-old girl who killed herself because she could not “go out and see her friends”. Before we start to make judgements about this girl and compare her experience to someone worse off, Smith reminds us that “her suffering, like all suffering, was an absolute in her own mind, and applied itself to her body and mind as if uniquely shaped for her, and she could not overcome it and so she died.” Remembering this in today’s world is pertinent, where empathy is scarce, and people are quick to judge. Smith’s essays capture the zeitgeist of our tumultuous times. Her writing style is conversational and natural, making her ideas accessible to all audiences. Especially as a young person figuring out this complex world, her writing shines a light on how to navigate it with empathy.

Reviewer: Sam-I Liew, Cooper Lodge