{"id":1322,"date":"2022-03-30T07:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T07:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2024-08-23T18:53:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T18:53:32","slug":"matt-berg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/matt-berg\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Berg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Other formats: PDF<\/a> | \u00edslenska<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Matt<\/a>
Illustration B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cHow did you like it?\u201d my colleague asked as I handed him the novel I had borrowed from him a couple of weeks earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPretty good\u201d, I replied and wasn’t exaggerating. I had enjoyed the book very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWasn’t it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndeed. In particular I found the character development to be good. They were so alive somehow\u2014the characters. So believable. As if one knew them in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, exactly,\u201c my colleague agreed. \u201dI experienced that too. I was able to immerse myself in the scene. I felt somehow as if I was a part of that group of friends in the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found the Matt Berg character especially realistic and convincing\u2014somehow.\u201d I added. \u201cI could visualize him so clearly in min mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMatt Berg?\u201d my colleague asked and we were clearly not on the same page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, the social scientist,\u201d I said to help him refresh his memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My colleague lifted his eyebrows. He then narrowed his eyes as if he wanted to dig into my mind to understand better what I was talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ambitious one,\u201d I continued. \u201cThe dude who was thought to be so promising and clever but turned out to be an arrogant, hollow and narcissistic idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, that guy,\u201c said the colleague and was visibly relieved. \u201dYou mean Ollie Smith?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOllie Smith?\u201d I asked surprised. Now it was I who was not on the right page. \u201cWas that his name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, most definitely,\u201d answered my colleague, with total conviction. \u201cHow could you misread the name in such a way? It’s not as if the names rhyme or have any resemblance whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo clue,\u201d I answered, shrugged my shoulders and looked out of the window. I visualized the face of the character who had been so particularly realistic when I read the book. I saw the grinning image of Matthew Steinberger. Matt Berg. My ex-classmate who had so often made attempts to humiliate me in high-school all those years ago. Had tried to cast doubt upon my abilities. Had tried to promote his own work by attempting to make mine look dodgy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There at that moment I saw his image clearly in my mind. I who had all but forgotten his existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n