Like a trusted guide and true friend, Kevin Kwan uses chatty footnotes to provide us with insider details. What were the most fascinating tidbits you discovered? How would you answer the question he asks at the bottom of page 70: “Where do you rank and what sort of feelings does this bring up?”
I found the footnotes really helpful—especially since I’m not up to date on artists’ names or what anything in that world is worth! They gave me some useful context and made the story more accessible.
As for the question on page 70, I’d definitely rank at the very bottom—and I’m totally fine with that. It made me reflect on how ridiculous and arbitrary those social hierarchies are. I’d rather be outside of that world than constantly trying to prove my worth within it.
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This is the 2nd book in a row that I’ve read with similar use and frequency of footnotes. It’s like reading a book in a book! I found the footnotes enhanced the reading experience and helped gain insight.
I love informational footnotes.; Especially wiitty, but sometimes snarky, footnotes.
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I enjoyed the footnotes, they added to the story. as for the question on page 70, I read it but didn’t dwell on it.
The footnotes weren’t overly informative but more of a side bar conversation. While they weren’t really necessary to the story, they were humorous, irreverent and fitting to the tone of the overall book. Fun.
As for page 70, the titles are eye-roll worthy and evoke a “so what” in me.
As an aside, I listened to this book as well as read the hard copy. In the audiobook the academic credentials of each of the characters was distracting while in the book it was easy to gloss over.
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Even though I went to a fancy uni and belonged to a fancy sorority, that ‘where do you rank’ question rankles. By asking it, Kwan is showing us that everyone is made to feel ‘less than’ by someone. This makes me sympathize with Eden all the more.
It reminds me of a saying involving sled dogs, “If you’re not the lead dog, the view is always the same.”
Sometimes the footnotes took me out of the narrative flow, but they also served to bring me “in” on a lot of fun knowledge – fascinating tidbits, for sure. I especially liked the notes that corrected the characters’ incorrect statements, assumptions, etc. Like when Gopal Das is quoting Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street and Augusta mistakes the quote as being from Ram Dass. That’s very telling of Gopal Das’s background. Fun clue from Kevin Kwan.
And I enjoyed the tidbit about the Vatican’s former fabric supplier, since it’s particularly topical because, hey #newpope.
I loved the footnotes. They added to the story with both humor and additional insight.
Love the use of footnotes, not only for informational purposes but also like an aside where the author is speaking directly to us. It’s very effective and entertaining.
I enjoyed the footnotes as I could read them or stay within the flow of the story, depending on how I was feeling. I think everyone hates being ranked. Even those at “the top” fear slipping in their ranking, you know? I think that staying on top of the narrative drove Rufus’ mother’s decisions.
Some of the footnotes were hilarious.
I probably would be considered a “commoner” who has a PhD. I realize titles “don’t make or define me”. I know that what I do to make the world a better place is the “true mission”. I am certainly glad to not have a title like the ones mentioned. Titles mean nothing it is what you do with them. These titles are certainly “old school” and reflect European/British traditions.
I’ll be honest, at first I found he footnotes really annoying and distracting. That being said, I do love a good footnote, but I found it got in the way of the flow of the read, so if i was truly invested in the moment, I skipped them. The ones I did read were at times so funny and enjoyable. As for page 70, luckily I don’t run in those circles and don’t need to worry where I fit in hahaha.
For the most part I liked the footnotes and found most of them informative. Though there were times when I couldn’t tell if they were fact or fiction and just there to enhance the story. There were other times when I would miss the indicator to read the footnote. Sometimes I would go back to see what the note was referring to; other times I just kept reading to stay focused. As far as the question at the bottom of page 70, I don’t remember reading the note but even if I had I would have assumed the author was being facetious! Despite all of this I really enjoyed the book!!
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Bravo Helen, I like your honesty. I found them so annoying. Not only were they printed in such a wee font, but I not always found them until the end of the page. I must admit I stopped reading them around page 50.
Oh my god, those damn footnotes. I normally like footnotes in books, but for some reason, they drove me crazy. First of all, I could not figure out who the footnotes were from, there were in first person, where the story was in third, so were the footnotes from some outside, secret narrator? The author? And the footnotes were not consistent, sometimes they were informational, but sometimes they were fun and snarky, but again, who was that voice coming from? Also, they pulled me out of the story every, single time. I would get to the bottom of the page, see the footnote and realized I missed the asterix and have to go back and find it to see what (whoever this voice was) was referring to. Or I would see the footnote and then read in a way that I was watching out for the asterix and still beind pulled out of the story because of it. I love snark in my books, but the snarky footnotes were so different in tone from the novel that it was jarring and I wondered who it was.
As far as chpt 70. It was not a genuine question. I (and pretty much everyone reading the book) is not a part of this world and does not have a rank. As far as the feelings it brings up. I did find this interesting because it was obviously meant to make us feel a certain way about the story and the charachters. I did not mind being outside of their world because most of them were so out of touch with reality that they were not likable or relatable. It did make me feel better about my life as a “normal.” I wish I had their ability not to worry about money and bills, but I do not envy their always having eyes on them and having to read about their lives in the morning papers.
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I agree 100% with what you wrote. The academic credentials got tiresome, and I started skipping over them.
I think the footnotes which came across as factual were factual (quick example which comes to mind: the Beverly Hills Post Office zip code versus actually living in B.H.) I agree, some footnotes were snarky backstory.