Fellow literary Bondians, I'm after that page in one of the Benson's (my hunch is NDOD) where a character explains how the world could be represented by 10 people... One would be American, 4 would be starving, etc.
I've had a flick through them but can't find it anywhere. My memory says it is on a left-hand page (hence my search got cut down by 50%) :-)
But if someone has got a better memory than me and can point me to the right spot? It'd be much appreciated.
Cheers,
J
Find the Benson page...
Started by
James Page
, Feb 05 2002 09:50 PM
10 replies to this topic
#2
Evil Doctor Cheese
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 11:32 PM
Oh those 4am morality conversations in the taxi home! 
#3
James Page
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Posted 07 February 2002 - 12:03 AM
Evil Doctor Cheese (06 Feb, 2002 11:32 p.m.):
Oh those 4am morality conversations in the taxi home!
Who said anything about taxi's? :-)
You were right about the 4am thing though mate.
#4
RossMan
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Posted 05 February 2002 - 11:19 PM
Actually, I think it's in Doubleshot.
On my US edition, it starts at page 99. Just after he meets up with Latif Reggab. It's chapter 10, On The Run. Hope that helps.
On my US edition, it starts at page 99. Just after he meets up with Latif Reggab. It's chapter 10, On The Run. Hope that helps.
#5
James Page
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 12:41 AM
Ah thanks RossMan!
On the UK first edition paperback it's page 108 - I was right about it being on a left hand page though :-) (wow, 50/50 shot! LOL).
On the UK first edition paperback it's page 108 - I was right about it being on a left hand page though :-) (wow, 50/50 shot! LOL).
#6
Blofeld's Cat
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 03:31 AM
Any chance of enlightening us all of the quote from the book?
Sounds very interesting.
Sounds very interesting.
#7
James Page
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 01:04 PM
Unashamedly taken from Raymond Benson's "Doubleshot"
...if we could shrink the world's population down to a village of precisely one hundred people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, the results are quite extraordinary.
There would be 57 Asians and 21 Europeans. There would be only 14 people from the entire Western Hemisphere, north north and south. There would be 8 Africans. Of these 100 people, 52 would be female, 48 male. 70 would be non-whit, 30 white.70 would be non-Christian, 30 Christian. 89 would be heterosexual, 11 homosexual. 59% of the village's wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people, and all six would be Americans. 80 people would live in sub-standard housing. 70 would be unable to read. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. One would be near death, one would be near birth. Only one person would have a college education and only one would own a computer.
"When one considers our world from such a condensed perspective, the need for both acceptance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent."
...if we could shrink the world's population down to a village of precisely one hundred people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, the results are quite extraordinary.
There would be 57 Asians and 21 Europeans. There would be only 14 people from the entire Western Hemisphere, north north and south. There would be 8 Africans. Of these 100 people, 52 would be female, 48 male. 70 would be non-whit, 30 white.70 would be non-Christian, 30 Christian. 89 would be heterosexual, 11 homosexual. 59% of the village's wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people, and all six would be Americans. 80 people would live in sub-standard housing. 70 would be unable to read. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. One would be near death, one would be near birth. Only one person would have a college education and only one would own a computer.
"When one considers our world from such a condensed perspective, the need for both acceptance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent."
#8
Blofeld's Cat
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Posted 07 February 2002 - 02:19 AM
Thanks for that James.
Condensing a macrocosm to a microcosm certainly highlights the world's eco/social boundaries, while expanding a microcosm to a macrocosm dilutes them, thus making them harder to see, and therefore accept, if one wishes to.
Condensing a macrocosm to a microcosm certainly highlights the world's eco/social boundaries, while expanding a microcosm to a macrocosm dilutes them, thus making them harder to see, and therefore accept, if one wishes to.
#9
Blue Eyes
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 09:47 PM
That's a damn good quote!
#10
Evil Doctor Cheese
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 09:51 PM
James Page (06 Feb, 2002 01:04 p.m.):
"When one considers our world from such a condensed perspective, the need for both acceptance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent."
Amen.
#11
James Page
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Posted 06 February 2002 - 11:26 PM
Yes, I love the end of the quote.
This one is up in my armoury of arguments against the racist element that still exists in Britain :-( and you run into in the least suspecting places - like people you've known for years who get talking after a few notches of burbon in the early hours.
This one is up in my armoury of arguments against the racist element that still exists in Britain :-( and you run into in the least suspecting places - like people you've known for years who get talking after a few notches of burbon in the early hours.