"I really didn't have any idea," he says. "But I'm reminded of a story from my childhood - up until age five, I had to spend all my time in a full-body brace, to make sure my bones grew as straight as possible and didn't break too often while they were still just developing. I have it on good authority from my mother - my own memories are somewhat vaguer - that as soon as I got out of the thing, I learned to run almost immediately and didn't slow down for months." He thinks of Ivan, and adds, "Some people might say I still haven't. So your complaints about haut society have... emotional resonance."