ABSTRACT
A noted contemporary writer, reflecting on the literary mentality of his time, has the following to say about the imaginative vision of his country’s fellow novelists:
…[Our] writers have lowered their sights. Novels are made smaller today – craftier, but tending not to grapple with the big political and social issues of our time…. When someone does a book that is socially ambitious, it’s seen as a sort of aberration….
The novelist has always tried to find a territory that’s his own, but in trying to do this he’s retreated, he’s allowed himself to be disenfranchised, or, to put it another way, he’s come into the house, closed the door and shut the curtains. Outside there are wars, riots, sirens, screams. But he records life as a whisper…. Writers, along with everyone else, have pulled inward and miniaturized the significance of their lives. 1
