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Beyond idiom, however, the book is incorrigibly Western in being targeted for the contemporary Western mind. That being the author’s mind, he had no choice in the matter; but it must be accepted with the recognition that the book would have
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“I admired him more than anyone but I didn't wish him well. It was that I preferred him to me and wanted to be him. I coveted his talents, face, style. I wanted to wake up with them all transferred to me.”
― The Buddha of Suburbia
― The Buddha of Suburbia
“A slave, Marcus Cato said, should be working when he is not sleeping. It does not matter whether his work is needed or not, he must work, because work in itself is good – for slaves at least. This sentiment still survives, and it has piled up mountains of useless drudgery”
― Down and Out in Paris and London
― Down and Out in Paris and London
“I liked Terry more than anyone I'd met for a long time, and we talked everyday. But he did believe the working class - which he referred to as if it were a single-willed-person - would do somewhat unlikely things. 'The working class will take care of those bastards very easily,' he said, referring to racist organisations.”
― The Buddha of Suburbia
― The Buddha of Suburbia
“This was the English passion, not for self-improvement or culture or wit, but for DIY, Do It Yourself, for bigger and better houses with more mod cons, the painstaking accumulation of comfort and, with it, status - the concrete display of earned cash.”
― The Buddha of Suburbia
― The Buddha of Suburbia
“A rich man who happens to be intellectually honest, if he is questioned about the improvement of working conditions, usually says something like this:
‘We know that poverty is unpleasant; in fact, since it is so remote, we rather enjoy harrowing ourselves with the thought of its unpleasantness. But don’t expect us to do anything about it. […] The present state of affairs suits us, and we are not going to take the risk of setting you free, even by an extra hour a day. So, dear brothers, since evidently you must sweat to pay for our trips to Italy, sweat and be damned to you”
― Down and Out in Paris and London & the Road to Wigan Pier
‘We know that poverty is unpleasant; in fact, since it is so remote, we rather enjoy harrowing ourselves with the thought of its unpleasantness. But don’t expect us to do anything about it. […] The present state of affairs suits us, and we are not going to take the risk of setting you free, even by an extra hour a day. So, dear brothers, since evidently you must sweat to pay for our trips to Italy, sweat and be damned to you”
― Down and Out in Paris and London & the Road to Wigan Pier
Rubaiat’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Rubaiat’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,172 books
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52 friends
2,149 books
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38 friends
271 books
|
251 friends
200 books
|
66 friends
189 books
|
41 friends
266 books
|
632 friends
0 books
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102 friends
425 books
|
80 friends
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