RWPS Men's Book Group

- Loved the way that the shells falling on the masonry caused all sorts of problems, when they fell on the earth was best, kind of showing the trappings of civilisation

- The only role of women was to go mad with boredom

- Rank hypocrisy of the the system in which their embroiled

- None of the Indian characters are very developed. This was discussed at length because it denies them a voice and an opinion about what is going on around them

- It really struck me that this was the pomposity of the colonialists

- Why isn’t Ballard better known?

- Victorians putting so much emphasis on the machines they build, exemplified by the World Fair

- The auction of the food was brilliant

- Fleury killing someone is the unbelievable part of the book

- Trenchant critique of colonialism portraying the the characters as being woefully shirt-sighted about the situation they’re in. Putting a spear through the omnipotent

- Discussion about UK versus US humour, Monty Python versus The Office (US), a comment about how in Animal House, John Belushi smashing the guitar of some wannabe musician who’s wowing the girls show the difference: in the US Belushi’s the hero, in the UK it’s the guitarist

- Wanted to ask the author about why things happened the way that they did

- Notable difference between the 70’s (when the book was written) and (say) 1985 when Haneef Kureshi’s “Buddha of Suburbia” was written. It feels like a world of difference between the two world views — the difference between seeing Indians as “other” as compared to a part of society

- Watching the colonial oppressors getting their just desserts