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It dawned on him1 while driving to work that he had semtex in his brain.2 Hearing but not listening to Jane, Greg and Alex babble and laugh,3 it struck him4 that only one thing would do the trick:5 change everything.6 He did not know if he had the courage to follow the revelation,7 but he knew where it came from.8
A few weeks earlier9 he’d settled down one evening to re-read his favourite novel10 but, responding to a disposition he did not understand and strangely did not want to resist,11 after half an hour he’d returned the unopened book to the shelves, thinking, ‘why read anything twice?’12