Nothing transpires from his studies of the flora and fauna of the reef. There is the sense that Mr Salgado could be an important force in the attempts to preserve the reef, but his diffidence and a certain lack of agency affects his life. When the beautiful Miss Nili comes to stay Triton is entranced by her, and redoubles his effort to make increasingly elaborate meals for them and the friends of Miss Nili whom she invites to their dinners. Mr Salgado is much revered and liked, but he is a man who disdains power for its own sake. The prose has beautiful and sensual cadences as Triton travels with his master to the sea. He is dismissed and Triton begins to learn how to look after his master in place of Joseph. Joseph continues to wield power until the day he oversteps the mark by coming back to the house drunk. "What I disliked most about Joseph," he thinks, "Is the power he had over me." He comes to hate the man when he is the subject of a sexual assault at his hands. It's the story of Triton, a servant who works for Mr Salgado, tormented by his dislike of the man who gives him orders, Joseph. This is a book of supreme poise and elegance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |