TRUST
Trust
Hernan Diaz
Chaos is a vortex that spins faster with each thing it swallows.
In part one Bond, the description of the perspective by novelist Harold Vanner describes how money was made by Benjamin Rask (pseudonym) in trading. It is also the most popular version which was acceptable in New York. Rask was a trader and finance wizard with seldom any inclination for emotional aspects of life. When he got married to Helen, his life takes a sweet turn which cane be gauged from the following line,
Intimacy can be an unbearable burden for those who, first experiencing it after lifetime of profound self-sufficiency, suddenly realise it makes their world complete.
Part two, “My Life” by Andrew Beval, is divided into seven chapters which discusses about the ancestry, education, business, prospect of his family and himself. Th chapters with his wife Mildred, he further talks about how the prosperity has to be created and sustained. The chapter starts with a prophetic statement:
My name is known to many, my deeds to some, my life to few. This has never concerned me much. What matters is the tally of our accomplishments, not the tales about us. Still, because my past has so often overlapped with that of our nation, lately, I have come to believe that I owe it to the public to share some of the decisive moments of my story.
Bevel writes that the "Denial is always a form of confirmation", however he forgets his own maxim and spends pages to attempting to counter the narrative set in part one by Harold Vanner. In chapter 5, Prosperity and its enemies, he states,
Every life is organised around a small number of events that either proper or bring us to a grinding halt. We spend the years between these episodes, benefiting or suffering from their consequences until the arrival of next forceful moment. A man’s worth is established by the number of these defining circumstances, he is able to create for himself. He need not always be successful, for there can be great honour in defeat. But he ought to be the man actor in the deceive scenes in his existence, whether they be epic or tragic.
The part three, "A Memoir", remembered by Ida Partenza is the version of the story by the author commissioned by Bevel, who can write on his behalf and present him and his business in good light. This part also explains the relationship the author has with her immigrant father and friend Jack. She became very uncomfortable in the process of narration by Bevel as she got instincts of being manipulated. Though she tries to collect independent information about Mildred from various literary sources, journals, friends and even attempted to contact Vanner to get his views on the family as he had certain personal interactions with Bevel family in few social interactions. She also sifted through documents, journals, magazines, paper reports of the time but it was of not much use as Mildred used to live secluded life.
Part Four, "Futures" is reproduction of journal which Mildred wrote and which uniquely in morning and evening. A plain reading of a journal brings very astonishing fact which I don’t intend to share here for benefit of readers and to keep the climax intact.
The book not only gives a story but some terrific philophical principles applicable in larger life. Some of my favorite ones are:
Most of us prefer to believe we are the active subjects of our victories but only the passive objects of our defeats. We triumph, but it is not really we who fail — we are ruined by forces beyond our control.
Some people are exceptionally clear-eyed. To them, nothing is ever too complex or mysterious. Answers invisible to most are in plain sight to these enlightened few. Their approach to the world is elementary and without fail, right.They see through false complications and find the simple truths of life.
It is hard to give money away. It requires a great deal of planning and strategizng. If not manage properly, philanthropy can both harm the giver and spoil the receiver. Expand. Generosity is the mother of ingratitude.
It is a good read especially in light of the fact that I read fiction barely and could finish the book in time. :)
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