Book Name : Meltdown
What is it about : This work of fiction could very well be based on real life characters in the euphoric and dejected days of the "Noughties" - the years leading up to the financial crisis in 2009 triggered off by the US sub-prime mortgage debacle that swept the world and revealed those "not wearing swimming pants when the tides went out" as famously coined by Buffett. A bunch of friends who were Sussex University mates sharing a house in the student days who then went their own separate ways to become a Member of Parliament (Labour), CEO of a High Street bank, a Stock Trader and an Architect, kept in touch throughout those years and shared laughters and tears as they enjoyed the high-flying life and subsequently fought the crisis head-on, succumbed to debt and despair and rose from the ashes to drink to another day.
Some thoughts after having read the book : The author cast a keen eye on those years of free flowing champagne, mega City bonuses, over-the-top 5 bedrooms town houses (with an in-house lift to the underground car park with enough space for three 4x4s) followed by utter financial ruin through betting the savings on Ponzi schemes which promised astronomical returns of capital and re- and re-mortgaging which ended up with negative equity. The characters involved rediscovered what was important to life - a sound marriage, a sympathetic father who never said "I told you so" and the breakdown of prejudice social barriers; these Sussex mates would also experience the cold hard truth of "Every Man For Himself" when the faeces hit the fan, the blood-hounding of the media and in the case of our disgraced banker, Rupert, the past caught up with him in the form of a university fresher whom he unceremoniously pushed out of the shared house and now had a score to settle.
Would I recommend this book to you : I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Dialogues and set-pieces which real people would have lived out and the whole book was full of memorable wit and the author clearly demonstrated that he understood the signs and mood of those heady days and years. The flipping backwards and forwards of the events pre- and post- crisis gave a colorful contrast to the life style before the crash and the anxiety one would face after the crash - yes, Jimmy on paper still owned "a street", David's over the top half-finished architectural masterpiece remained an eye-sore on the London skyline and yet still no punters for Lizzie's O-So-Lovely butter-knife silver holder (500 Pounds a pair thank you). So what if the latest craze was Tulips, Dot-Coms or beautifully designed and packaged toxic Securities; somehow, human weaknesses would raise its ugly head and return one day to another "this time it's different" boom and bust cycle. A highly recommended book.
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