On the whole the literary history of the ‘thirties seems to justify the opinion that a writer does well to keep out of politics. For any writer who accepts or partially accepts the discipline of a political party is sooner or later faced with the alternative; toe the line, or shut up. It is, of course, possible to toe the line and go on writing—after a fashion. Any Marxist can demonstrate With the greatest of ease that “bourgeois” liberty of thought is an illusion. But when he has finished his demonstration there remains the psychological fact that Without this “bourgeois” liberty the creative
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