Splinters

A good essay by Ferdinand Mount in yestrday's Graun on politics and literature and the tricky path of combining the two. Illuminating examples aplenty. Mount argues "politics works when it is lost in art". I for one am not averse to a bit of sledgerhammerish proselytising (ie. The Iron Heel) but in many cases he's right. I've just finished reading the  wonderful and hypnotic Super-Cannes for the first time, inspired by JG's recent death. It occured to me that while Ballard would never be considered a campaigner or left-winger, the book had a lot more to say about the alienated callousness n of today's international ruling elites than any number of more "socially concerned" novels.