Thursday, April 02, 2009

Post-9/11, pre-GFC

Re-reading Joseph O'Neill's Netherland, a post-9/11 novel about cricket and migration in New York (with self-conscious echoes of The Great Gatsby), I came across this passage, a reflection by stock analyst narrator Hans:

Perhaps as a result of my work, corporations - even those with electrified screens flaming over Times Square - strike me as vulnerable, needy creatures, entitled to their displays of vigour. Then again, as Rachel has pointed out, I'm liable to misplace my sensitivities.


I lingered on that passage when the book was first published, mid-last year, and I admired its elegance, but it has a new resonance now.

3 comments:

lurker in columbus said...

Hi Ariel,

I'm a long-time lurker. I've been here since the beginning and remember one of the first posts where you used "F"'s real name. I won't expose it now, but you may want to go back and change it. And yours and husbands as well, those were mentioned during your posts while traveling in California and Mexico to meet husband.

Anywho, I don't want to come off ignorant, but what does pre-GFC or GFC mean? I'm well aware of the meaning of "post 9/11". I'm trying to extract the fullness of your post.

Thanks for helpin' an ignoramus out!

Ariel said...

Hi lurker,

Thanks for de-lurking! So flattering to think you've been reading the blog for so long. And for the tip ... will have to go back and fix that. Obviously I got sloppy while on holiday.

Sorry - GFC is Global Financial Crisis. You're not an ignoramous at all ... when I first heard it I had the same reaction. (God knows where I heard it.)

alby said...

It's certainly more elegant than creaming one's panties.