Thus Will Self for The Guardian today. “Literary fiction used to be central to the culture,” he elaborates. “No more. In the digital age, not only is the physical book in decline, but the very idea of ‘difficult’ reading is being challenged.” Indeed, the article is both too long and difficult to read. And it comes about a century after the best and the brightest among writers have realized that the novel is dead. Congratulations, Will Self! You are catching up with the times at long last! Hey, how about writing a novel on this very theme?! That would blow the readers’ minds, to be sure.