Δεν υπάρχει αγάπη στη Wall Street

by Ira Trivedi, Γιώργος Στάμου (Translator)

Έξυπνο, χιουμοριστικό, γρήγορο, διασκεδαστικό. Ένα μυθιστόρημα που διαβάζεται μονορούφι…

Η Ρία Τζέιν είναι παράφορα ερωτευμένη με τη χλιδάτη ζωή που ζουν οι επίδοξες τραπεζικές επενδύτριες στο κολέγιο Γουέλσλι της Μασαχουσέτης. Έτσι, αποφασίζει να εγκαταλείψει μια για πάντα την Ιατρική για να μπει κι αυτή στον μαγικό κόσμο των επενδύσεων.

Η μοναδική της φιλοδοξία είναι να εξασφαλίσει μια θέση πρακτικής στην Goldstein Smith, τη νούμερο ένα εταιρεία στη Γουόλ Στριτ. Εκεί πιστεύει ότι θα ασχολείται με συναλλαγές πολλών εκατομμυρίων, θα απολαμβάνει ατελείωτα εταιρικά γεύματα και θα διασκεδάζει στα πιο εντυπωσιακά κλαμπ της Νέας Υόρκης.

Δυστυχώς, η πραγματικότητα είναι αρκετά διαφορετική. Η προϊσταμένη της είναι αποφασισμένη να της κάνει τη ζωή κόλαση, οι ατημέλητοι συνάδελφοί της δεν ανταποκρίνονται ούτε κατά διάνοια στην παραμυθένια εικόνα που είχε σχηματίσει για τους τραπεζίτες και, ως ασκούμενη, δουλεύει ατελείωτες ώρες μέσα στο άγχος. Ο Γκαουτάμ Πάντεϊ, από την άλλη, έχει δραπετεύσει από τον εξοντωτικό κόσμο των τραπεζικών επενδύσεων. Πρώην επενδυτής και νυν δημοσιογράφος του οικονομικού ρεπορτάζ, δείχνει να είναι ο μοναδικός άνθρωπος στον κόσμο των τραπεζών που τα έχει βρει με τον εαυτό του. Τώρα είναι η σειρά τής Ρία να αποφασίσει πού θα βρει την ευτυχία –φυλακισμένη μέσα στην «Αγία Τράπεζα» της Goldstein ή έξω στον πραγματικό κόσμο;

Ήταν μια όμορφη φθινοπωρινή μέρα στο Γουέλσλι της Μασαχουσέτης. Στο γρασίδι έβλεπες κοπέλες που λιάζονταν με τα μπικίνι τους για να μαυρίσουν, κάποιοι έπαιζαν τεμπέλικα ποδόσφαιρο, ενώ άλλοι κολυμπούσαν στα ήρεμα νερά της λίμνης Γουάμπαν. Οι ήχοι από τα χαρούμενα γέλια τους έμπαιναν απαλά μέσα από τα παράθυρα στο εργαστήριο της βιολογίας, όπου εγώ περνούσα ακόμα μια μέρα…

…Και τότε τις είδα. Ήταν μια από εκείνες τις στιγμές που μπορούν να σου αλλάξουν τη ζωή για πάντα. Οι Επενδύτριες! Τις γνώριζαν οι πάντες στο πανεπιστήμιο. Σπούδαζαν όλες τους οικονομικά και φιλοδοξούσαν να ασχοληθούν με τις τραπεζικές επενδύσεις. Ήταν τέλειες από κάθε πλευρά. Και ξαφνικά ήρθε η επιφοίτηση… θα γινόμουν μια τραπεζική επενδύτρια. Τέρμα οι φαρδιές εργαστηριακές φόρμες, τα βρομερά λάτεξ γάντια και τα πτώματα ζώων. Θα γινόμουν μια από τις θεές των τραπεζών, με σέξι ταγέρ και γυαλιστερά μαργαριτάρια και θα πήγαινα σε κοκτέιλ πάρτι και φανταχτερά δείπνα.

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Ira Trivedi is the bestselling author of What Would You Do to Save the World? (2006), The Great Indian Love Story (2009) and There Is No Love on Wall Street (2011). Her latest book and first work of non-fiction is India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st century, a landmark book on India's new social revolution in marriage and sexuality.

Ira's books have been published by leading publishers like Penguin and Aleph and have been translated into several languages including Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Greek.

Ira contributes to a wide variety of publications including Foreign Affairs, Hindustan Times Brunch, Forbes, Outlook, Daily News & Analysis (DNA), The Asian Age, the Telegraph (India) amongst many others.

She is regularly invited to speak to students, youth groups and corporates across the country.

Ira Trivedi has lived all over the world: in four countries, nine cities and three continents. She graduated from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, USA with a BA in economics from and gained her MBA from Columbia Business School, where she won the prestigious Feldberg Fellowship.

In addition to her career as a writer, Ira is also a certified teacher of yoga. She lives in New Delhi, India, with her family.

Reviews

[Sarika Gulati · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a fast paced story of a life of an Indian girl trying for all the wrong reasons to become an investment banker and the realities she faces once she is a part of it. Her desire and obsession is portrayed well but that is just one side of the coin. She has substance as a person but i feel that part of her is missing. The superficial frills of a night life in New York and all her dreams are weaved in without any pause for a reflective mood. A time pass read for a couple of hours . . .

[Pankaj Menon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly conceptualised, badly edited.
I had to push myself to finish this.
Predictable

[Shradhanjali Lama · Rating 1 out of 5]

After being much inspired by Jane Austen to read more female writers I steered towards another and sorely betrayed and unimpressed I was by Ira Trivedi. I might sound harsh but the writing is juvenile. The protagonist of the book has passed out of the same college as the author. I dont know if she is using this book as in instrument as a way of expressing her true feelings. (?) Not to mention, it also highlights her lack of imagination.

Just because she comes from a family of money does not mean that she inflict us with this shame that she calls a novel.

I understand that she is an MBA graduate. It requires soul to write. Sure some can be business oriented and still be writers, but it takes an artist to be one. In her case she cannot be further from it. I suggest she stick to her expensive MBA.

[Pankaj Mamde · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well the writer Ira had visited my alma mater and I was jobless enough to attend the talk of hers and while discussing with her afterwards, soft spoken and innocent Ira spoke regarding this book and how sexist culture exists in investment banking world, hence I gave it a read.
Although ficticious it resembles the not so enchanting realities faced by regular new female recruits and how she dealt with it, simultaneously dreaming about her aspirations.

[Ambika Rani K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a very nice guide to all youngsters who run behind a glamourous life and end up in screwing their own lives. It is excellently written and makes you feel so enlightened.

[Shreela Sen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadly Predictable, but still a tale that holds interest.
It's as is obvious
About the ugliness of the Corporate world
But also about the main protagonist "getting tired of her own bullshit".

[Sachin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a candid tale of infatuation with the I-bankers and their demeanour that Riya Jain, the protagonist has, and narrates her efforts to achieve this aim of her, which she thinks is her ultimate goal in life...but with the span of time there is a self-realization by Riya that this is probably not, "her world". There is also a mention of her friend Ivana, who falls in trap to the dark side of the Banker's life of manouvering and using girls, just for satiating their carnal desires... Well, at the end though, Riya feels repugnant of all these things that affects her and is timely supported by one of her acquaintance Gautam Pandey (who probably will have a significant position in her life later), and she decides to turn to writing...

Overall, a very candid story in which the Protagonist is blatant enough to reveal her true mind, where she is irritated and trapped by her parents into behaving in an orthodoxical way and adopt the hackneyed way of life as perceived by them; also she is honest enough to accept that she is incapable of working so much hours just glued to her computer screen and confined to pigsty...

A good read for people who are still in the process of discovering where their true talent lies...