Fashion. Whatever can people be thinking? Do they think fashion is something that changes according to the season of the year? Did they really come from all corners of the world to show off their dresses, their jewellery and their collection of shoes? They don’t understand. ‘Fashion’ is merely a way of saying: ‘I belong to your world. I’m wearing the same uniform as your army, so don’t shoot.’
Ever since groups of men and women first started living together in caves, fashion has been the only language everyone can understand, even complete strangers. ‘We dress in the same way. I belong to your tribe. Let’s gang up on the weaklings as a way of surviving.’
But some people believe that ‘fashion’ is everything. Every six months, they spend a fortune changing some tiny detail in order to keep up their membership of the very exclusive tribe of the rich. If they were to visit Silicon Valley, where the billionaires of the IT industry wear plastic watches and beat-up jeans, they would understand that the world has changed; everyone now seems to belong to the same social class; no one cares any more about the size of a diamond or the make of a tie or a leather briefcase. In fact, ties and leather briefcases don’t even exist in that part of the world; nearby, however, is Hollywood, a relatively more powerful machine – albeit in decline – which still manages to convince the innocent to believe in haute-couture dresses, emerald necklaces and stretch limos. And since this is what still appears in all the magazines, who would dare destroy a billion-dollar industry involving advertisements, the sale of useless objects, the invention of entirely unnecessary new trends, and the creation of identical face creams all bearing different labels?
How ridiculous! Igor cannot conceal his loathing for those whose decisions affect the lives of millions of honest, hard-working men and women leading dignified lives and glad to have their health, a home and the love of their family.
How perverse! Just when everything seems to be in order and as families gather round the table to have supper, the phantom of the Superclass appears, selling impossible dreams: luxury, beauty, power. And the family falls apart.
The father works overtime to be able to buy his son the latest trainers because if his son doesn’t have a pair, he’ll be ostracised at school. The wife weeps in silence because her friends have designer clothes and she has no money. Their adolescent children, instead of learning the real values of faith and hope, dream only of becoming singers or movie stars. Girls in provincial towns lose any real sense of themselves and start to think of going to the big city, prepared to do anything, absolutely anything, to get a particular piece of jewellery. A world that should be directed towards justice begins instead to focus on material things, which, in six months’ time, will be worthless and have to be replaced, and that is how the whole circus ensures that the despicable creatures gathered together in Cannes remain at the top of the heap.
Igor is untouched by this destructive power, for he has one of the most enviable jobs in the world. He continues to earn more money in a day than he could spend in a year, even if he were to indulge in all possible pleasures, legal and illegal. He has no difficulty in finding women, regardless of whether they know how much money he has – he’s tested it out on more than one occasion and never failed yet. He has just turned 40, is in good physical shape and, according to his annual checkup, has no health problems. He has no debts either. He doesn’t have to wear a particular designer label, go to a particular restaurant, spend his holidays at a beach where ‘everyone’ goes or buy a watch just because some successful sportsman is promoting it. He can sign major contracts with a cheap ballpoint pen, wear comfortable, elegant jackets, hand-made by a tailor who has a small shop next to his office, and which carry no label at all. He can do as he likes and doesn’t have to prove to anyone that he’s rich; he has an interesting job and loves what he does.
Perhaps that’s the problem: he still loves what he does. He’s sure that this is why the woman who came into the bar some hours earlier is not sitting at his table with him.
He tries to keep thinking, to pass the time. He asks Kristelle for another drink – he knows the waitress’s name because an hour ago, when the bar was emptier (people were having supper), he asked for a glass of whisky, and she said that he looked sad and should eat something to cheer himself up. He thanked her for her concern, and was glad that someone should care about his state of mind.
He is perhaps the only one who knows the name of the waitress serving him, the others only want to know the names – and, if possible, the job title – of the people sitting at the tables and in the armchairs.
He tries to keep thinking, but it’s gone three o’clock in the morning, and the beautiful woman and her courteous companion – who, by the way, looks remarkably like him – have not reappeared. Maybe they went straight up to their room where they are now making love, or perhaps they’re still drinking champagne on one of the yachts where the parties only begin when the other parties are all coming to an end. Perhaps they’re lying in bed, reading magazines, ignoring each other.
Not that it matters. Igor is alone and tired and needs to sleep.
7.22 a.m.
He wakes up at 7:22 .am., much earlier than his body would like, but he hasn’t yet adapted to the time difference between Moscow and Paris. If he was at work, he would already have held two or three meetings with his subordinates and be preparing to have lunch with some new client.
He has another task to fulfil here: he must find someone he can sacrifice in the name of love. He needs a victim, so that Ewa will get his message that very morning.
He has a bath, goes downstairs to have a coffee in an almost deserted restaurant, then sets off along the Boulevard de la Croisette on which nearly all the major luxury hotels are located. There is no traffic because one lane is blocked off and only cars with official permission are being allowed through. The other lane is empty because even the people who live in the city are still only just getting ready to go to work.
He feels no resentment. He has passed the really difficult phase, when he couldn’t sleep because he was so filled with pain and hatred. Now he can understand Ewa’s feelings: after all, monogamy is a myth that has been rammed down people’s throats for far too long. He has read a lot on the subject. It isn’t just a matter of excess hormones or vanity, but, as all the research indicates, a genetic configuration found in almost all animals.
Paternity tests given to birds, monkeys and foxes revealed that simply because these species had developed a social relationship very similar to marriage did not necessarily mean that they had been faithful to each other. In 70 per cent of cases, their offspring turn out to have been fathered by males other than their partners. Igor remembered something written by David Barash, Professor of Psychology at University of Washington in Seattle, in which he said that the only species in nature that doesn’t commit adultery and in which there seems to be 100 per cent monogamy is a flatworm, Diplozoon paradoxum. The male and female worms meet as adolescents, and their bodies literally fuse together.
This is why he cannot accuse Ewa of anything; she was merely following her human instincts. However, she had been brought up to believe in those unnatural social conventions and must be feeling guilty, thinking that he doesn’t love her any more and will never forgive her.
He is, in fact, prepared to do anything, even to send messages that will mean he has destroyed someone’s world, just so that she’ll know that not only is he willing to welcome her back, he will gladly bury the past and ask no questions.
Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet
Thanks,Paulo
maybe some people can not define clearly about “Tools” and “Goals”
fyi, I can’t find your great book in Indonesia
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While reading this chapter an old idea came into my mind: the simpler, the better (concerning different spheres of life - food,clothes etc)..but the mass media forces us to think the opposite: the more expensive & complicated the happier & more successful you are. Thank you Paolo for enlightening such message.
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I’m having a great time reading this and is always looking forward for the next chapter.. great thanks paulo..
.. i would like to comment on what’s written at the latter part of this chapter,
“Professor of Psychology at University of Washington in Seattle, in which he said that the only species in nature that doesn’t commit adultery and in which there seems to be 100 per cent monogamy is a flatworm, Diplozoon paradoxum. The male and female worms meet as adolescents, and their bodies literally fuse together”
I’m from the Philippines and my country’s national bird which is known as “HARIBON” is an eagle - A MONOGAMOUS CREATURE! :) it is also the largest eagle in the world and is now endangered because of its nature. Haribon only choose one mate and only after its partner dies that it chooses another mate.. These birds are wonderful creatures and my country’s pride although its not a surprise that the world knows less about my country’s wonders. Americans have named this eagle as Monkey-Eating Eagle.. i never liked that term though.. you can check them out in discovery channel as well.
again, thank you very much paulo from the bottom of my heart that you are willing to reach people through your work in countries as far as the Philippines..
May God Bless you always!
Joize
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I like this part “phantom of the Superclass appears, selling impossible dreams: luxury, beauty, power. And the family falls apart.”
Their adolescent children, instead of learning the real values of faith and hope, dream only of becoming singers or movie stars. - true Paulo.I work in the tv and broadcasting industry in my country and I know that this is so true.
in which he said that the only species in nature that doesn’t commit adultery and in which there seems to be 100 per cent monogamy is a flatworm, Diplozoon paradoxum. The male and female worms meet as adolescents, and their bodies literally fuse together.- interesting factoid.
each chapter becomes more exciting… onto the 4th !
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Educativo, totalmente educativo!!!, es para concientizarnos y desprogramarnos de tanta domestication. Espero el libro
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es por tu candor por lo q con cada libro tuyo se llegan a mi olas de libertad de querer experimentar sensaciones de libertad
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Simply Marvellous!!!
Bravo Paulo
I really like your sense of observation and then putting them up into words. I hope people will read your work with open mind and wish that people will wake up soon.
Love
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je suis très impressionnée par vos romans. merci d’avoir publier ces 3 chapitres, l’histoire est très intéressante, Igor est un exemple d’un Homme qui vit dans ce monde ou l’apparence de la personne domine plus que ses valeurs!!
Cependant Igor est cool, il faut admirer le style de cet homme, à mon avis; il est un gagnant, pas de doute.
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I can´t wait to read more!!
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DEAR MR.COELHO,I ADMIRE YOU SO MUCH AND I THANK YOU FOR ALL THE THOUGHTS YOU OFFERED TO US THROUGH YOUR BOOKS.WAITING TO SEE YOU SOON AGAIN IN ATHENS-GREECE!
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Hello..Thank you for this rare opportunity This is entertaining and also presents an opportunity to delve into your, dear authors thoyght processes as you present this book and the story line reveals itself. A rare and special opportunity. Vielen Dank:)
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Parece interesante, pero me temo que la traducción al español es pésima. Creo que tendré que comprar el libro si quiero leerlo.
Bueno, de todas formas pensaba hacerlo.
Pero gracias por el detalle de esta publicación.
Un abrazo.
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Igor attracts women because he is a barbarian-alike and women are attracted by “survivors” most often, no offence. If a man is a beast and contempt the human race and takes by force instead of giving to the humanity anything back, well, this is the perfect recipe for a woman with “sensitive heart” to like him. Paulo just says that to us in a sweeter way : good girls end up with bad guys. Or, if they don’t, the bad guys take care to do it happening like that.
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I was interested to see that Igor is one of the privileged…not an outside observer. It changed my perspective on where you are taking this story. In light of the world economic downturn, are you alluding to the self-destructiveness of greed, avarice, and self-centeredness?
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They must have been buying shares then, no can’t be….
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I began to wonder if Paulo should upgrade Igor’s thoughts in this chapter to reflect the realities of the current financial crisis and its impact on the Rich. After all they have lost several trillions in the last few months.
Igor only has lunches with clients? Not with suppliers? Not with competitors? Targets of mergers and acquisitions?
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Hi!
Its a very intriguing chapter and I am really honored to get a read of the novel in the making. I always wonder what keeps writer’s motivated to go on with novels, I mean the creativity and the imagination, is there no saturation point to it. And you are awesome as usual in all your writings. I am working on my first attempt at writing, but somehow, don’t have the motivation to go on further (have written three chapters so far-though the style of writing is completely different from yours). Could you please share some tips on how I can go on and keep myself motivated. The attempt at writing the first 3 chapters was itself exhausting since somewhere it was taking away a lot of me emotionally. Reading is really a simple thing, but, writing….phew its a tough job.
Looking forward to the chapters ahead.
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Is that a tribal thought?
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I did not know they gave paternity tests to birds, monkeys and foxes..
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it will be nice book
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thanks
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how ironic that this book is entitled “the winner stands alone”… if this is, therefore I wouldn’t want to be the winner…
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with a name like Igor he is made of gold…. the man with the golden gun. :D
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hi mr coelho (”,)
i am incredibly awed with your writings. You surely have a way of presenting realities and conveying truths in present times…i wonder though when will your latest book be released in Asia?…
and thank you for posting the first three chapters…
bless you!!
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Marie-Christine, he is not a winner. He has a gun, as I assume, and people with guns are not happy people. His heart is in pain, because of not being with his loved girl, which left with another man. Often, the disappointed men stay alone for the rest of their lifes, while disappointed women marry someone very early.
But, as you know, most often the yowl of a wolf hides behind it the mute whime of a helpless and desperate puppy…
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Thank you Paulo
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Meantime Igor is as cool as a cucumber, you’ve got to admire the style of that man, he is a winner, no doubt about that.
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They have those catalogues that are sent around deciding what color and what sort of clothes we are going to wear for this year.
I don’t know about you too, I get a bit sick and tired of seeing the same faces over and over in films too, there are beautiful movies made in other parts of the world than the English speaking world such as Italy, Spain, Brazil, France, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, with a lot of depth in them. That is what happens when you get the monopoly.
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They have those catalogues that are sent around deciding what colour and what sort of clothes we are going to wear for this year.
I dont know about you too, I get a bit sick and tired of seeing the same faces over and over in films too, there are beautiful movies made in other parts of the world than the English speaking world. That is what happens when you get the monopoly.
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wow, so very true.
I completely agree with the idea of wrong values, sensless investment in buying things, which will make you just like all the rest… why sacrifice so much time, money and effort just to become ordinary??? And who are those ordinary people with wrong values, empty brains and wrong lifestyles? I don’t think they are the people we would like to learn things from.
I’ll be looking for chapter 4. Paulo you are touching very important and interesting subjects here. The issues are still in process and maybe your book will make some people from the “big army” look back re-think and re-consider.
thank you!!!
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It is a catch22 isnt it? Wherever you go, whatever you do, they get you.
I remember our children used to complain because they did not have the latest BMX bikes that every other kid had.
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