Lionel Shriver on the death of fiction

It comes to something when a writer as liberal – in the classical, original meaning of that word – as Lionel Shriver is characterised as right-wing; or, to use the version of that term habitually applied to anyone who does not fully subscribe to every aspect of today's shape-shifting orthodoxy, 'far-right'. She makes the point in this interview that brainwashed children are now setting forth from their campuses and taking influential positions in society. Her run-in with Penguin shows just how pernicious this will become.

She also says that she feels like a lone voice; that other writers who may be of a like mind seem to keep their heads down, no doubt in fear. Well, even though I am far less successful than Ms Shriver, I nonetheless may be classified as a 'writer', and I completely endorse her views.

I am coming to the end of drafting a new novel and have been toying with the idea of submitting it to a traditional publisher rather than, as I have with my last few books, self-publishing the thing. The novel makes no concessions to political correctness whatever. I have even set it in the early 1960s before the rot set in. It will be very interesting to me to see what reception it meets, and I shall leave this post in place for any prospective publisher to read.

We must fight back against this creeping tyranny. Unless we do, it will morph into something far, far worse than being hounded on and deplatformed by Twitter and Facebook, far worse even than being doxxed and having your employers blackmailed into firing you from your job.

The most relevant part of this interview starts at 8'31, though the whole of it is well worth your time; Part One is here.