Casting About--Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Thumbing through the books on my on-deck list, my mind was led by sentences to Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer.

I was entertained by some one and two liners:

To break the spell he clicked Delete and left the house as if fleeing the scene of some dreary, as yet uncommitted crime.

Most of the people passing by looked miserable as a disappointing sin.

Maybe she was just starting out, taking time off from her A-levels or whatever they were called these days, filling in for her surly father, who, though he spoke little English, had so thoroughly adjusted to Bristish life that he looked every bit as pissed off as someone who ancestors had come over with the Normans.

Little was I to realize that these bon mots were merely the appetizers to a much more complex and much more widely sardonic and sarcastic wit.

from Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi
Geoff Dyer

The cost cutting was amazing, extravagant, even. No expense had not been spared. Getting rid of free meals and drinks was just the beginning of it. They'd skimped on the flight attendants' uniforms, on the design and graphics of the check-in counter, on the number of characters on the boarding pass, on the amount of foam an cushion on the seats. . . . It seemed they had even budgeted on the looks of the flight attendants. The one doing the safety demonstration appeared to be suffering from an aerial equivalent of the bends. No amount of make-up--and there was a lot of it, caked on like the first stage in the preparation of a death mask--could disguise the toll taken by years of jet lag and cabin pressure. . . .

The plane accelerated, succeeded in taking off, levelled out at the budget cruising altitude, and unless something catastrophic occurred, would land in Venice (or thereabouts) in less than two hours.

It was at this point that I was engaged.  I hope the mood sustains me through the book, because I am a very moody ready.  However, if these little jeux are sprinkled throughout, I have no doubt that I will be enjoying the book for the next couple of days.