rebecca
Reptile Researcher
No, thank you; I only take tea with my friends.
Posts: 41
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Post by rebecca on Feb 23, 2012 22:54:37 GMT -5
I think Veblen Hall, where the In Auction takes place in TEE, is a reference to Thorstein Veblen, the author of The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). Veblen was extremely critical of the very wealthy and coined the term "conspicuous consumption" to refer to their expensive, frivolous purchases--which makes his tie with Esme Squalor and her seventy-one bedroom penthouse apartment a nice bit of irony. Probably not very interesting to anyone, but I always think it's pretty cool to see the little links that Snicket puts in his books. Has anyone made a kind of compendium on here to keep track of small references like that? And sorry if someone's already mentioned this before--I just got kinda excited when I noticed something that I learned from US History this year, haha.
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Post by Dante on Feb 24, 2012 3:34:43 GMT -5
Aye, this is the accepted theory behind Veblen Hall's naming, which is indeed extremely appropriate. A related expression, one perhaps easier to communicate, is the Veblen good, a theoretical consumer product that would be of great appeal to someone like Esmé; a Veblen good is one for which demand increases as its price increases; in other words, its high price becomes a selling point due to the sort of factors you outline.
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Post by csc on Feb 24, 2012 18:11:53 GMT -5
I find this interesting.
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Post by jman on Mar 1, 2012 18:54:48 GMT -5
I never realised this link. Thanks for poiting it out rebecca!
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Post by zombiesinthesnow on Jan 17, 2013 0:43:53 GMT -5
I love discovering all the allusions in the series as I learn new things. It makes me so happy! Love this!
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Q.R.V.
Formidable Foreman
Better paranoid than dead.
Posts: 149
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Post by Q.R.V. on Jan 17, 2013 1:16:01 GMT -5
Has anyone made a kind of compendium on here to keep track of small references like that? There is a pretty good list over at quidditch.com..
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