![]() ![]() In a strange omission, McEwan offers clues suggesting both Jed's existence and his unreality but never explains the misleading evidence after the reader learns the truth. ![]() Even Jed's belief that he is meant to bring Joe to God through his love might be a reflection of Joe's distress at the senselessness of the balloon accident. It becomes unclear whether Jed exists at all: No one else sees him stalking Joe, and Clarissa worries that the handwriting in his letters resembles Joe's. The story moves almost entirely to Joe and his attempts to convince Clarissa and the police that Jed poses a threat to him. Yet suddenly, midway through the novel, McEwan practically abandons Jed. At times, his delirious love letters suggest a mix of the jealous poet in Vladimir Nabokov's "Pale Fire" and the crazed fan in Stephen King's "Misery." Psychotic or not, Jed is a fun character. Good researcher that he is, Joe hits the books and diagnoses Jed's mental condition as De Clerambault's syndrome, or erotomania-a delusional state bordering on psychosis. ![]() ![]() The double entendre in the book's title becomes apparent as Jed begins calmly to stalk Joe, his expressions of love growing more elaborate and insistent. ![]()
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