This was a major disappointment. I expected more from a Booker prize winner. Had I known this was a parable about narcissism I would have skipped it. Mind you, there are some brilliant passages. But the ending ... you see it coming a mile away and think, that's too obvious; he wouldn't do something that ridiculous. Sadly, it turned out just as I was afraid it would. Motivation? I just didn't get it. I can't remember the last time I was this flummoxed by characters' motivation in a novel.