Thursday, December 9, 2010

It's a cultural thing ...

I was reading Michael Dibdin's 'And Then You Die' the other day and this nice little passage stood out:

You knew where you were in a Catholic culture: up to your neck in lies, evasions, impenetrable mysteries, double-dealing, back-stabbing and underhand intrigues of every kind. With which comforting thought he lowered the blind again and dozed off.

Ah, an explanation for the crisis in Ireland and the lack of any real sense of emergency or protest. It's a cultural thing - the crisis is just normal practice magnified. I'll post a review of the book next week some time.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rob - That is quite a passage, isn't it? Thanks for sharing.

Uriah Robinson said...

Rob, I think that Michael Dibdin might be a bit harsh on Catholic culture when crime writers have done their best to paint Lutheran Sweden as the hotbed of double dealing and underhand intrigues. ;o)

Dorte H said...

Great quotation, but you could also apply it to the present, Danish government if you ask me :(