Capitalism, it might be argued, can be reduced to a simple equation: x + 1 = y (where x = what you have, and y = what you wish you had). If you substitute the soul, or wisdom, or meaning for mere capitalistic stuff, then the same equation can be applied also to literature, from the story of Adam and Eve to The Da Vinci Code. Dr Johnson once remarked on ‘how small a quantity of REAL FICTION there is the in the world’; it’s possible that x + 1 = y is in fact the only real fiction there is.

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