Gridlock (novel) Gridlock (novel) Gridlock is a 1991 novel by Ben Elton. The novel depicts a near-future London in which traffic congestion has reached almost critical levels, such that accidents in a few key places could bring the entire city's traffic network to a halt. The government is aware of the problem and plans a major new road-building program to relieve the pressure. The alternative, heavy investment in public mass transport systems such as railways, is ignored because it clashes with the government's ideology. The author argues that this is a highly misguided policy since, in his view, more roads have historically
Death of the novel the "death of the novel" were José Ortega y Gasset, who wrote his "Decline of the Novel" in 1925 and Walter Benjamin in his 1930 review "Krisis des Romans" (Crisis of the Novel). In the 1950s and 1960s, contributors to the discussion included Gore Vidal, Roland Barthes, and John Barth. Ronald Sukenick wrote the story "The Death of the Novel" in 1969. In 1954, Wolfgang Kayser argued that the death of the narrator would lead to the death of the novel - a view that has since been contested by many people. Meanwhile, Alain Robbe-Grillet argued that the novel would