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
Ports of Call (Maalouf novel) seem more like ideas than people." Ports of Call (Maalouf novel) Ports of Call () is a 1991 novel by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. The narrative follows a married couple consisting of a Muslim man and a Jewish woman, Ossyane and Clara, who become separated after World War II. William Ferguson wrote in "The New York Times" wrote that the protagonists' "marriage is presented here as an exemplary rejection of suspicion and hatred between peoples, most particularly in the Middle East. Perhaps the author's fondness for allegory is the reason Ossyane's tale sounds more like polished writing than real