Читать книгу Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women онлайн

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Ellen and David live in a secluded modest house that David had built in the 1950s. The glamour that surrounds the regions of the Hamptons – an area of wonderful sandy beaches – does not affect them. “In Sag Harbor, where everyone has everything, we live behind the times. We don’t need luxury. We drive a 1983 Chevy, and my Mazda is 16 years old. We came to Sag Harbor long before it became the Saint-Tropez of New York.” The Carney’s house is like a museum. It is filled to the rafters with mementoes and treasures of its widely travelled owners. Each piece has its history and tells stories from different continents – Asia, Africa, America, and Europe. Mixed among them are many textile creations of the lady of the house. “Yet at times I would like to see only white walls,” Ellen says.

The one-story house has a basement that is as long as the house and contains a huge library. “This is David’s world. He is a researcher, philosopher, and mathematician. Only he can find his way among these thousands of books about art, philosophy, medicine, politics and literature.” The Carney’s house has no microwave oven, no answering machine, no swimming pool or manicured lawn. “Status symbols mean nothing to me. Do you know how much we have gotten from the village dump? That’s where the rich people discard their good stuff. Lots of books are from there, many of our chairs and our table. Once we saw a grand piano for the taking. And a few years ago I found a Bible from which flew twelve 100-dollar bills. Isn’t this decadent? Of course, I took the money together with the Bible.”