Nutshell

by Ian McEwan

palmy Norway—my first choice on account of its gigantic sovereign fund

Driven by a self-harming compulsion, I listen closely to analysis and dissent.

when my mother and Claude meet, they occasionally discuss the state of the world, usually in terms of lament, even as they scheme to make it worse.

This is Claude as in property developer who composes nothing, invents nothing. He enjoys a thought, speaks it aloud, then later has it again, and—why not?—says it again.