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My problem so far with reading Zadie Smith's novel is the fact that I have already read Howard's End.  Rather than trying to find meaning in On Beauty, I find myself only trying to make connections between the two novels.  The whole first part of On Beauty for example I was trying to pair up characters between the two books like Jerome and Helen, and Monty Kipps and Mr. Wilcox.  When reading On Beauty I often find myself thinking that Smith expects you to have read Howard's End with the amount of concurrence that there is between the two novels.  I wish I had not read  Howard's End first to see if I would get new meaning out of this novel. 

I have a problem with literary adaptations or "homages" in general after reading the first part of this book.  This is my first experience reading a book based on another book.  I am okay with film adaptations because, for me, you get to compare the characters from the novel that you have formed in your mind with the characters as they are represented in the film.  I feel that there is nothing rewarding about reading a novel based on another novel because all you can do is anticipate what's going to happen next in the novel.