Carmen, Laura en Annie zijn vriendinnen. Carmen is de leider, Laura de mooiste en Annie is altijd wanhopig. Ze wonen in een dorpje waar nooit iets gebeurt, althans niets wat meisjes van zestien interesseert. De nieuwe roman van Fay Weldon vertelt het verhaal van drie vriendinnen op zoek naar geld en geluk. Hoe bereiken ze dat? Door middel van het huwelijk, een carrière of seks? Is je een weg omhoog slapen hetzelfde als je ziel aan de duivel verkopen? In ieder geval is het een manier om rijk te worden en een luxueus leven te leiden. Maar welk voordeel levert het je uiteindelijk op? "Rijk worden" is een humoristische roman over de grote vragen in het leven van jonge vrouwen.
Fay Weldon CBE was an English author, essayist and playwright, whose work has been associated with feminism. In her fiction, Weldon typically portrayed contemporary women who find themselves trapped in oppressive situations caused by the patriarchal structure of British society.
I know of no other author like Fay Weldon. This proto-feminist, also, meta-feminist, machine-gunning witticisms since the 70s, handing out generous portions of the grotesque and the macabre, dripping spite and disarming honesty. She's like the kid who'll say what everyone, or most, or enough, think but won't say out loud. And she won't challenge your cowardice. Because the truth is there, or a very interesting version of it, and there's no point not pointing it out. Comedy can be extracted from such situation, but the process will also require some sort of sightseeing. Jealousy, envy, hope, magnificent individuality, bravery, so much to see. I like Fay Weldon. Her books are not the easiest read, and not just because they are often uncomfortable, but always a pleasure.
Another Fay Weldon classic; how I wish I could write like her! Here she uses age-old story-telling techniques, like that of three friends, their life-stories told by a disabled narrator who observes because she has very little by way of active life herself. The presence of the Devil, on the look-out for souls and influencing events in order to gain those which he’s decided are for him; including that of Sir Bernard, whose hubris ought to lead to his death but doesn’t. His fortunate outcome, and those of the others, seem to stem from Carmen’s determination to live her own life and even hang onto her virginity even when she wishes to lose it.
Confused? Don’t worry about the meaning that’s in Weldon’s tale, much of it is obvious as she sets the ‘progress’ of modern society against the preservation of the past as well as the new Feminism challenging the ‘traditional’ roles of women. Whatever else Fay Weldon may be, she’s a great teller of tales. Read and enjoy.
This is the first Fay Weldon book I've read. It won't be the last. A wonderfully creative age old tale of what happens to three friends who grow up under the shadow of the Prince of Darkness. I thought this was clever, lyrical, poetic and witty. Sigh. I want to write like this.
Etwas anstrengend zu lesen mit den Schachtelsätzen. Von der Handlung wie ein moderner Faust.....eine edler Herr lässt sich auf einen Pakt mit dem Teufel (im Person seines Fahrers) ein um seine Traumfrau zu bekommen, die sich aber gewieft immer wieder verteidigt. Durchaus spannend, aber geschmackssache.