Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Money Lit

Here's a quote from Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy-- I'm only about a quarter of the way into this 1500 page doorstop, but it's wonderful! The book has been compared to the novels of Dickens and Austen, but set in India, and I'm really enjoying it. This passage describes a young middle-class couple, who are constantly going out on the town with their friends for long evenings of elegant food and drink and dancing:

Meenakshi and Arun were not really able to afford this-- Billy Irani had independent means-- but it seemed intolerable that they, for whom this kind of life was so obviously intended, should be deprived of it by a mere lack of funds.
We all have this idea that we're intended for a certain kind of life, don't we? And we tend to spend accordingly!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the way this is phrased. "this kind of life so obviously intended" for them. There are times I feel like that too but all I have to do is check the number of my bank account to snap out of it.

Nothing fancy to think of .. said...

Funny - I have posted here before as an Anonymous Coward (well that might be Slashdot.org) but at least without my name and said that I would eventually get my own blog. Well my first topic (besides a hello post) was the consumerism 101 lecture (and the difference between needs and wants).

Perfect timing.

BTW - love the site - I have been reading it for almost a year now.

WriterGirl said...

Enjoy the book - I remember reading it when it first came out, and loving it.
It's kind of interesting also in light of the new, booming middle class in India (the book is taking place at a time when there wasn't really one).