Coffee pots with wings

Knausgaard quotes Dag Solstad from 1969: 'We won't give the coffee pot wings.' He explicates: 'Out with spirituality, out with feeling, in with the new materialism.' He describes Solstad's presence within the zeitgeist, and his deep understanding of the constituents of the Times. But this is not what makes him special, he says, because this is just 'a part of his material, a part of his orientation.' The key to Solstad's efficacy lies in his language, which is innate. So Knausgaard concludes that:

It is not the case that we are born equal and that the conditions of life make our lives unequal, it is the opposite, we are born unequal and the conditions of life make our lives more equal.

Life and money and success flatten our experiences. So a firey-headed intelligent young lady drops out of university while her dependable, predictable friends go on to become heads of departments in dull corporations. She has been made more equal to her peers. And Solstad is just another writer, and Knausgaard is just another writer. Unless we believe in exceptionalism, in coffee pots with wings.