World

I was listening to Radio 4 the other day. That book programme was on, the one hosted by Mariella Frostrup. I don't have anything in particular to say about the programme: a statement made by one of the guests on it set me off on a train of thought. There was a female novelist and she was recommending a book set in the world of well-to-do New York socialites (I think it may have been called The Nanny). One of the reasons why she thought this book was so good was because it evoked its world in a totally compelling manner. It was full of telling details. It knew everything there was to know about it milieu.

And I found myself wondering, 'If someone were to write a novel about me, what details would they use to try to bring my milieu to life? What makes my world unique? Or perhaps it isn't unique at all?'

And I decided I'd go into my kitchen to try to find things which could exist only within the context of Me. We keep our carrier bags in one of those dispenser things. I took out some of the bags: they were mostly from Sainsbury's and Waitrose, although a few were from Tesco. There weren't any from Asda or Morrisons. I suppose that must say something about Us. I suppose the fact that we've even got a carrier bag dispenser also says something about Us. In the fridge there were - amongst other things - a half-empty pot of creme fraiche, some unopened Boursin, some left over Chinese takeaway (sweet and sour duck Hong Kong style), two bottles of white wine, some ground coffee in an airtight tin, half a pint of organic semi-skimmed milk. Does all of that say anything about Us? Next came the larder: a few packets of pasta, flour (self-raising and plain), Marmite, strawberry jam, three tins of tuna (one in brine, two in oil). Surely none of this really says anything about Us. Doesn't everyone have Marmite, jam and tuna in their larder?

Or is my world really nowhere near as unique and notable as the kind of world a writer would choose to immortalise in a novel? Is my context mundane and banal? Are the things that have happened to me not the sorts of things people out to be reading about?