On Beauty by Zadie Smith

For a novel to tell you that you need to be a certain way is bad art. But good art is a case or analogy of morals. The author does not have to be a moral person. Not just the straightforward "Here is what I believe, so here is what you should believe." Instead, an author being truthful and honest, despite self-deception, creates good art. It is hard in art the way it is hard in life.

For an author, it is important to take vanity and pride out of the picture and view the world in a more unbiased and honest way. Not deceiving yourself into being too selfish. Art should incorporate multiple points of view of a story and portray them beyond the artist's opinions or morals, for good art at least.

Definition of Culture War: The culture war (or culture wars) in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditional or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal. The "culture war" is sometimes traced to the 1960s and has taken various forms since then.

Zadie Smith vs. 'Zadie Smith'
-Difference between two people using an author as a figure to represent their morals/ideas. Zadie Smith (conservative one) is the opposite of Zadie Smith (liberal one) but they are both her!

Very often when attacking someone else you are attacking something that closely resembles yourself. The hatred is self-deceiving and you put the things about yourself onto others. So how do you define genius/art/morals? A way to show both sides is to create a character who encompasses the opposite of what you think your morals are and to truly delve into that character and what it represents. You should create a character, not caricature.

This book will take us through the culture wars on both sides and the conflicts that arise from that. Zadie Smith has been a victim of 'bardolatry' by the Left, who supposedly does not do that kind of thing. Focus on genius while we read this novel. (Radical Left is the multi-culturalist, no great authors or great art) (Conservative Right says there is the 'canon' and certain great authors and that is all)

On Beauty (1-78)

-The Belsey family is an American family living outside Boston. Howard, an Englishman/professor, and Kiki, his African-American wife, and their three children. A very liberal, atheistic family. Yet Jerome(son) is a born-again Christian.
-The Kipps family is an ultra-conservative Christian family from Britain, whos patriarch Monty(Trinidadian) is Howard's nemesis. They compete in academic fields, each touting opposite ideas.
-Howard attacks Monty publicly in an article to a scholarly journal about a painting, and Monty replies by saying Howard has the wrong painting. Howard is humiliated by his mistake.
-Jerome goes and works for Monty over the summer, possibly as a reaction to the liberalism of his family and a need for a conservative shelter. Or simply to get his father's attention. It is comparable to childhood rebellion against father and his ideas, whether for attention or true belief it is unsure. Is he more inclined to rebel at this point because of Howard's affair?
-There is an inextricable link between children and parents, so the effect of the affair on Jerome could be far-reaching, or he could just have a different personality to his father. Preferring celibacy to an active sex life etc. He falls in love with the Kipps family and what they seem to represent. He fell in love with not just a single person, but a family and the ideals that he feels that family represents (even if they in all reality do not).