articleFrom New York Review of Books
by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith reviews Joseph O'Neill's Netherland and Tom McCarthy's Remainder and turns them into a diagnosis of the Anglophone novel: the polished 'lyrical Realism' that wins the prizes versus an avant-garde that distrusts depth, authenticity and the self. Still the essay to read on what contemporary fiction is for, and the clearest map of a debate that hasn't ended.
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