“Is there such a thing as good art that is unsure of itself, unsure of what emotion it is trying to evoke or what message it is trying to send?” Tom McTague asks (Editor’s note, July 3). I believe this quality is the hallmark of truly great art, because it creates space for the reader to think and decide for themselves. There are countless examples, but here are five that I rate particularly highly:
1) Karen Solie’s poetry. it Caiplie Caves (2019) is an exploration of what it means to live with profound uncertainty.
2) Contemporary memories: the work of Annie Ernaux, or Miriam Toews A truce that is not peace (2025), or, even better, Brian Dillon’s Ambivalence (2026). The title says it all.
3) The work of Jenny Offill, especially Department of Speculation (2014) and weather (2020). It turns profound uncertainty into profound meditations on the condition of being human.
4) The stories of Alice Munro. They are deceptively complex, steeped in conflicting perspectives and intractable ambiguities.
5) Finally, the incomparable Anton Chekhov (from whom Munro probably learned a lot). His stories leave me wondering what to feel. Was I right to laugh? And so on.
As Keats wrote in his letters, “We hate poetry that has an obvious design on us.” Amen to that, and the short lecture is over! Keep up the wonderful work.
Freddie Baveystock, English Literature Teacher, Harris Westminster Sixth Form
Damned American
After reading John Gray cover (July 3), I remembered a comment I once heard about the US: “A country that has passed from youth to old age without a period of maturity.” Trump’s presidency has clearly accelerated the situation.
Tim Weaver, Lydbury North, Shropshire
John Gray’s masterful essay evokes the European carnival in his description of America as “a carnival of carnivals.” It was a time when what was ordered and decided was allowed to be suspended: social hierarchies were overturned; the poor could mock the rich and powerful and use colorful language in public; and such categories as high and low, sacred and profane, were blurred. Importantly, everyone knew that this condition was licensed because it was temporary. American carnivals display these features with this new and disturbing distinction: now it is the rich and powerful who have turned the world upside down, their power and wealth mocking those below them – and they give every sign that this will be permanent.
Peter J Andrews, London EC1
I enjoyed reading John Gray’s sobering analysis of politics in contemporary America amid the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. His insights got me thinking about how right-wing politics in the UK continue to hawkish warnings about immigration. Surely the hypocrisy described in Gray’s article applies just as strongly here.
Britain built its wealth and power by conquering and colonizing other lands, and enslaving their people – a forced emigration, if you will – so I find the scapegoating of immigrants deeply hypocritical and morally repugnant. Britain has a population replacement rate of about 1.4 children per woman (the rate required for a developed economy to replace itself is 2.1). Why is the UK public not being told that the population of this country is on the verge of explosion, and therefore economic collapse? The anti-immigration movement is not only deeply hypocritical and morally bankrupt, it is also an act of economic suicide.
Justin Bridge, London SE21
There’s no nice John Grey, is there? After decades of denouncing “progressivism,” the Enlightenment, and any idea of human progress, Gray now has a US president who embodies the backwardness and nihilism he wants, and he still doesn’t like it. Why does anyone continue to take it seriously?
Jim Denham, Birmingham
Counter punch
Despite being a longtime fan of Oli Dugmore, I have to take issue with his statistical choice (Left hook, July 3). of BMJ The study he cites that the Australian social media ban has been ineffective also suggests that “the implementation of more stringent age verification strategies… may be necessary to prevent circumvention” and says “the full impacts of the act may not be apparent for a decade”. Despite indulging in a bottle of Glen in my youth and suffering the consequences, the legislation implied I knew it was scary and bad for me. I would argue the same for the next wave of social media legislation.
Dr Tej Pradhan, 26, Nottingham
Lit crit mis-hits
Tanjil Rashid (These Times, July 3) points out that Keir Starmer can’t name a favorite novelbut Starmer has, on various occasions, quoted that of Franz Kafka TRIAL and James Kelman A disappointment (1989) as his favorites. The reporters’ focus on the one time he didn’t name a favorite seems like an attempt to portray him as heartless and boring. Surely he can be removed now he will soon be out of power.
Madeline Thompson, Cambridge
Tanjil Rashid is quite wrong to suggest FR Leavis as a possible influence on Andy Burnham. Leavis retired from Cambridge in 1962 and his influence waned considerably during the seventies. When Burnham arrived at Cambridge in the autumn of 1989, the English curriculum had been restructured by Raymond Williams, Colin MacCabe et al, to reflect new thinking: cultural studies, Marxist and sociological criticism, feminism and canon expansion, structuralism, poststructuralism and continental literature. It is these tools that would have provided Burnham with the “training” to understand the modern world.
Peter Brown, Enfield, Greater London
Rhine-Marr
If Andrew Marr believes that Wagner’s music dramas are primarily aimed at “right-wing” people. he is surprisingly unfamiliar with European culture (At Large, July 3). Baudelaire, Mann, Debussy, Elgar, Proust, Kandinsky, Eliot, Auden, Shaw and Hockney were all under his spell. Bryan Magee, the former Labor MP, wrote the best short book on the composer and one of the best long ones. Wagner was not right-wing. He was grotesquely anti-Semitic, but that’s another thing entirely.
Michael Henderson, Bamford, Rochdale
Can someone please tell Andrew Marr that my beloved Everton don’t play at Goodison Park anymore? They now reside at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Francis Harcombe, Northwich, Cheshire
Without equal
It drew me from New statesman more than a decade ago by the profound feminist writing of Victoria Smith (also known as Glosswitch). But there is a real lack of equality among your contributors in 2026. In the July 3 issue, Andrew Marr used his column to mention: Andy Burnham, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Keir Starmer, Melvyn Bragg, Prince Harry, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Mullan, Roger McGough, Elbow, JB Priestley, Forestley, James Joyce Orwell, Ezra Pound, Wagner, Billy Wilder and David Hencke. We were treated to the inclusion of a woman, Margaret Atwood, but only because she was quoting a man! Desperately I turned to Correspondence to find more of the same, and then on the next page I read Tanjil Rashid’s column on the merits of studying English and noticed references to Shakespeare, Tony Harrison, Arthur Scargill, John Ruskin, James Callaghan, Thomas Gray, Chris Smith, Michael Gove, Homi Bhabkea, and Edmund F. Again, there’s a nod to Middle gearbut the author remains nameless!
It seems the Bechdel test has passed New statesman from. It’s hard to settle into my favorite magazine when I’m frantic to finally give way to boredom and the feeling that I’m reading an ancient text that isn’t meant for me, nor has I any interest in capturing my own experience. Any other readers feel the same way?
Grace Walsh, Leicester
Preparing the crowd
The author of Beer and sandwiches (June 26) wonders why they can’t take Henderson’s Relish out of Sheffield. Might be worth checking Morrisons – it’s available in my local branch in Glasgow.
Alan Jenkins, Glasgow
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(Further reading: Letter of the week: The seer without a vision)
