In this Dutch novel two characters, Albert and Thjum break into an empty hotel late at night. As they do so they both experience a simultaneous deja vu:
"Wait a second, wait a second ... standing here loke this with a flight of stairs going down and a flight of stairs going up ... and after that a couple of boys go looking through a cupboard, pull the drawers open ... it's all so familiar.'
'But when ... when?'
'Yes, yes, carry on talking: I know exactly, and I mean exacly what you are going to say next.'
'Go on then, tell me ... what am I going to say next?'
'"Go on then, tell me ..." that's it - the very words. The moment you said them I remembered them. "What am I going to say next" - when did you say those words before?"
It is only when they get on the roof that the deja vu stops. Van der Heijden has them philosophise about whether this event provides proof of the Eternal Recurrence. The author has Thjum disagree with this and he goes on to suggest the following amazingly itladian explanation:
"You know they always say that at the point of death we see our life pass like a film - and why not? - before our minds eye? To me, feelings of deja vu are like trailers, fragmentary previews of the film. Like a foretaste. Deja vu should really be called deja prevu."
If ITLAD is right then it is both vu and prevu!
(this reference is from Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older by Douwe Draaisma - Cambridge University Press 2004)
