Andy

Andy is the novel's central character, its narrator and protagonist. He comes across as intelligent and clever (which are not always the same thing), self-analytical and self-absorbed (which are definitely not the same thing), and above all determined to understand himself as fully as possible. This is clearly different from Dag, who seems content with a superficial self-understanding, and Claire, whose self-understanding comes about almost by accident. At the same time, however, and in terms of his outer life (as opposed to his more actively searching inner life), Andy is very much a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, not much inclined to take deliberate, decisive action - he tends to not only let life happen to him but to watch it and note it down, not really participating. This makes the occasions when he does make active choices (the purchase of the candles and the decision to join his...