Has anyone else noticed/blogged about Orin having the same defects that we're beginning to see more of in Hal? Or Orin's similarities to the Entertainment?

When Orin is having sex with the non-Swiss spy woman, there's a scene that describes how "Orin can only give, not receive, pleasure." (596), which makes him seem as though he's a wonderful lover to the bajillion girls he's slept with. He's found that he needs these women to feel pleasure and completely in love with him, or under his control (very drug and addict-like, but not the point of this post).

Later in this scene, when the Wheelchair Assassin/survey-taker knocks on the door, Orin feels at his face, and then describes missing sneering at things he loves (p 599). This was especially interesting seeing he was feeling at his face, an action we usually see in Hal to confirm what expression he's currently wearing, paired with the description of an incompatible facial expression/emotion set. As in, "sneering" and "love" just don't generally go together. The passage ends with "Orin's smile wasn't as cool as he thought..." (601).

While this clearly echoes Hal's increasing disconnect with his face (Mario cannot tell Hal's emotions anymore (p 590), Hal's face feels inflated but then it's okay when he feels it (p 513), etc), it really reminded me of the Entertainment. We have descriptions from Tavis about how athletes are ultimately entertainers and we even have movies of Orin presented in the book. But here it seems Orin is more a human embodiment of the Entertainment than his ex-girlfriend. He can only GIVE pleasure, as if he were an inanimate object, and he also needs to see total control/love/rapture from the women he pleasures. Very creepy, buy also very reminiscent of the Entertainment.

(Apologies for the recent absence of posts- thesis was due last week so I've been neglecting the blog)