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The Citadel
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The Citadel, Buddy Read Part 4
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Hana, Hana is In Absentia
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Apr 02, 2020 02:44PM
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Oh, Andrew! What an unlikeable character you can be at times. Volatile doesn't even begin to describe his behavior; the explosion at the beginning of his story didn't need dynamite - a body part would have sufficed. It's a good thing that his nasty mood swings go to repentant about as fast as his meanness, otherwise Christine might have had to hit him with a cast iron pan.
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I remember reading that, too, and although I have my reservations about government health care, I can see how such poor care for poor people needed to be addressed. Even at my age and experience, I'm still shocked and horrified at the greed and hard-heartedness that exist in the heart of so many who are entrusted with the welfare of others - and "health care", including pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers, rank at the top of my list of power abusers.
Andrew is a prime example of "if he were half as smart as he thinks he is"...
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I've only been reading bits as I garden (yay! also, groan), but every time that I pick it up, I go, "Oh, Andrew!"
Thinking about the emotional IQ as being low, and I think that's him in a nutshell. He's only interested in his own emotions, his own feelings. It's as though he's completely forgotten that people exist outside of his ego.
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For a movie that captures the financial industry version of Andrew's great temptation I'd recommend Margin Call: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/marg...
I've always (until I beat it out of myself, which I hesitate to even write for fear it should rear its ugly head again) had a big streak of competitiveness. In school I would study just enough to keep ahead of everyone else, and I found myself as an adult doing the same thing in the workplace. It wasn't really ambition but rather a desire to not be at the bottom of the heap - and what better way than to be at the top of it? It wasn't the innocuous pride in a job well-done, but the much more insidious pride in being better. Ouch. If we let it go on too long (and the realization that we have it is something too many of us never even face), we end up being seduced and suckered into what Andrew became, a man who thought everyone else was material to be exploited.
I just looked up Margin Call - I don't think I'd even heard of it!
Have you ever seen The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit? Or read it? I'm fond of Gregory Peck, but somehow I've never managed to see it. It seems to have the same underlying theme of managing what's important.
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I've never seen The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, but I love Gregory Peck so I'll check it out!
I ran up the hill (haha! I walked.) yesterday morning at 10:00a.m. to see if I could hear our church bells ring. But the wind was blowing so hard that all I could hear was wind. Sunrise was gorgeous and the sky is blue, but if the wind would let up, I wouldn't mind! I miss singing, but I think that's something I'll forego for a while - all that flying spit, you know!
As a retired nurse, I found this book very interesting and did wonder how widespread this type of thing was in England and in that time period. Cronin being a doctor, I'm sure this must have been based on fact. I also was very disappointed in Andrew. I was thinking back to his first encounter with Christine and could see how his temper and emotions were on display early on.
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