Revolution in the head - and beyond

Interesting article by Boyd Tonkin in yesterday's Independent about books as incendiary devices. Tonkin celebrates the enduring and perhaps even increasing power of works of fiction to shape our world and attitudes, but also ultimately concedes that such novels must necessarily be more than just prescriptive tracts: "Grand designs in philosophy and politics may have lost their purchase on our imaginations. Stories – expedited by a globalised publishing business - strike home as forcefully as ever. Now another paradox looms into view. Try to concoct a novel as direct propaganda for some cause or ideology, and it will almost invariably fail. Convert vision, memory or nightmare into an art that stands alone, as an Orwell, a Heller or a Morrison did, and who knows how far the seed might spread? So, if you really want your book to change the world, don't set out to write a world-changing book."