But as the narrative intercuts between the two, the reader realises that there is a history here.
Gradually, the reader realises that this almost folksy travelogue is in fact a vastly complex rumination on ruination and transience.
The story is, at this point, unsettling enough, but as Emily stands on the verge, considering whether to end things with her boyfriend, the reader realises the two men from the van aren't quite what they seem.
A Strangeness in My Mind is almost just such an encyclopedia: a vast collection of characters, events, houses, food, objects that, the reader realises at the end of 600 pages, are summed up in the name Istanbul.
In his review for the Guardian, Alberto Manguel called the book "a vast collection of characters, events, houses, food, objects that, the reader realises at the end of 600 pages, are summed up in the name Istanbul".
Others have a more obvious connection: late in "Lost Someone", the reader realises that they already know how the story will end, since it is a different perspective on the events narrated in "Godwit".
Things begin to appear more worrisome when a persistent reader realises that most of the "non-tariff barriers" being targeted by TTIP are regulations: those annoying profit-blocking rules erected by governments to stop their citizens being poisoned or killed, or to prevent rampant pollution.
However, as the reader quickly realises, there is far more to Animal than he likes to admit.
What they should have done of course, as every reader realises is immediately hightail it out of there.
I just hope the referee realises there are 22 players on the pitch".
Still, with her "godly distance", she may be colder to the reader than he realises.
