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.
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.