Acquired via BookCrossing 14 Jun 2006 – RABCK from Gill

I wanted to read this primarily because Zadie Smith’s “On Beauty” famously “echoes” this book. It was pretty interesting to read this one second, as of course I could see all the bits that Smith used as well as enjoying it as a story. I was particularly pleased to see the joke about the house having belonged to a Mr Howard and representing his “end” or “ending”, as I had drawn a conclusion that “On Beauty” represents the character Howard’s “end”. It was also interesting to see that those who remained true to themselves remained alright in the end, where those who tried to change their situations, by marrying into respectability or by trying to improve themselves, ended up in trouble.

So – an interesting read and a good intellectual exercise to “spot the echoes”! I will now pass it on via BookCrossing by wild release or at a meetup.