SEA CHANGE (1 march 2004)
Students of secondary schools often have to read English books for their exams.
Many schools don't allow their students to read just any books, but have lists of titles that the students can choose from.
Reading English books has a few advantages, such as:
- the students learn to read;
- the students get used to the way in which English works;
- the students learn about life in Anglosaxon countries;
I'm referring to Sea Change by Robert Goddard. The book is based on the South Sea Bubble , which is the name of the first financial scandal in history.
Unlike some of the books that feature on school lists, the book is pleasant to read. In fact, you could call it an adventure novel.
A problem with historical books may be that there are so many characters involved. After a while, the reader may be wondering who is who. Robert Goddard has been friendly enough to include an appendix, in which all the characters in the book are listed alphabetically. I found this quite helpful.
The story takes place in the early 18th century. It starts in London, where we meet the main character William Spandrel, a mapmaker. Spandrel cannot be called the hero of the book. But if a book needs a hero, I would allot that part to Estelle de Vries.
The second part of the book takes place in Amsterdam, and another part plays in Italy. I have never been to Italy, but the way historic Amsterdam is described was very recognizable to me - as an inhabitant of Amsterdam.
An important object in the story is the green book, a ledger, which contains the bookkeeping of the South Sea company. Many government officials seem to have been involved (often fraudulently) in the financial dealings of this company. It is clear that this green book was much wanted because of its potential of blackmail.
I'm not going to give away all the details. But just to wet the taste here are a few nice quotations it offers:
One does not thrive in the consular service by annoying the local authorities.
The secret of successful lying is to invent as little as possible.
Tempting prospects make bad guides.
Secrets aren't for telling. They are for storing against the day to threaten that you'll tell them.
