The thirty-fifth book that I’ve finished reading this year is Edna O’Brien’s “Paradise”. A young woman follows an old man on a holiday in a far off island, attempting to mingle in a social class that is foreign to her. As she starts to take swimming lessons to prepare for a performance for his guests, how well would her final act be?

As a short story, this book paints a poignant picture of the social struggles the young woman experiences in an absurdly extravagant setting. The rich people, including her lover, seem to live for no particular meaning and do not show her any genuine feelings. Children laugh at her smallest blunders and she is always self-conscious of the littlest things. However, in the end she manages to break free the shackles of maintaining a falsely perfect reputation (though what she did is quite ludicrous) and comes to terms with how she’ll never fit in with the others. Looking at the description of upper-class life, I do feel that to be quite meaningless and too profligate. Everyone has a way of life and it’s best to look for what you want rather than what others deem best.