McEwan on London
In an op-ed piece in today's New York Times, Ian McEwan, author of Atonement and most recently Saturday, has a somber, telling commentary on the horrible bombings in London yesterday. His conclusion:
"But once we have counted up our dead, and the numbness turns to anger and grief, we will see that our lives here will be difficult. We have been savagely woken from a pleasant dream. The city will not recover Wednesday's confidence and joy in a very long time. Who will want to travel on the Underground once it has been cleared? How will we sit at our ease in a restaurant, cinema or theater? And we will face again that deal we must constantly make and re-make with the state--how much power must we grant Leviathan, how much freedom will we be asked to trade for our security?"
"But once we have counted up our dead, and the numbness turns to anger and grief, we will see that our lives here will be difficult. We have been savagely woken from a pleasant dream. The city will not recover Wednesday's confidence and joy in a very long time. Who will want to travel on the Underground once it has been cleared? How will we sit at our ease in a restaurant, cinema or theater? And we will face again that deal we must constantly make and re-make with the state--how much power must we grant Leviathan, how much freedom will we be asked to trade for our security?"