One real benefit of long-haul flight is that you can plough through books – and on the way to and from Buenos Aires one of the books I read (and finished) was Gary Shteyngart’s extraordinary Super Sad True Love Story (Granta Publications, 2010). One of those books you race to finish – but don’t want to.
Given that I was in Argentina to talk to high net worth individuals, it was interesting that the business of the book’s main protagonist is recruiting ultra-rich people for the biotech company he works for, Post-Human Services. The story, involving the collapse of America, seems to be set 15-20 years into the future – and the language has mutated to suit, in a world where pornography has entered (and corrupted) mainstream culture and no-one reads books.
Interesting to see sustainability reduced to personal SUSTAINABILIT¥, an online measure of personal wealth. Global warming also puts in a fleeting appearance on pages 307 and 328, accorded a word or two each time.
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