An unusual narrative technically for Coetzee - two simultaneous stories running at the same time, sometimes even three. The top of the page in a collection of short opinion pieces being produced by the author (as a character in the book).
The other narratives are either a) the author's private thoughts around a young Filipina woman he has hired to type for him b) the Filipina's thoughts on the pieces she is typing or on the author who has hired her, or on her boyfriend working in Finance c) for one section, the thoughts and dialogue of the Finance boyfriend attacking and attempting to humiliate the author of the opinion pieces
Not sure how it all ties together. There is a hint that all the male blah blah, both the author's opinions and the boyfriend's, are essentially a lot of male hot air around a woman who for them remains largely invisible as a person. And for whom the opinions are both uninteresting and besides the point in terms of living your life.
Within the author's pieces and simultaneous personal thoughts, there seems to be a growing awareness of some fundamental uselessness or besides-the-point-ness of the opinions he has been piling up over a lifetime. That they become some kind of trap or blinder. At least in the rather strong and categorical form that they have come to take. As narrow and categorical of the Conservative, Finance, Survival-of-the-Fittest boyfriend's opinions.
Also and interesting aside, delivered by the boyfriend, that the Finance types have taken of the world from the intellectual, reflective types - which seems to be an accurate observation.
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