Resentful, violent, angry and a brutal metropolis that’s London, says ‘The New York Times’.
In a 4,000-word article in the US newspaper, titled ‘Oh, London, you drama queen’, UK’s leading science fiction author claims the British capital is full of ghosts and a catastrophe of a place which is dominated by “thuggish” buildings.
In fact, Londoners are “wrathful” towards the young while the police are “brutal”, the courts “cruel” and society seething with racism, according to author China Mieville.
Claiming that London society wants to “eat its young”, the article said: “You want to see how much London hates its young, watch them play music on public transport. Everyday silliness, adolescent thoughtlessness are treated like social collapse.”
However, a spokesman for Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, who has been described as a “ninja of bumptiousness”, told ‘The Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “London is the best city in the world and it’s getting better. Crime is down, transport is improving…”
Writing about the London Olympics, the author predicts the Olympic park is in danger of becoming a “charnel ground of Ozymandian skeletons”.
“The Games’ security plans grow ever more dystopian and surreal. There will be snipers in helicopters; jets; warships in the Thames; more British troops on duty in London than in Afghanistan,” he says.
Coming down heavily on the multi-billion Olympic budget at a time of austerity, he says there is actually little hope of benefiting the “uprisen” youth behind last summer’s riots.
“In this time of ‘austerity’, youth clubs and libraries are being shut down as expendable fripperies; this expenditure, though, is not negotiable. The uprisen young of London, participants in extraordinary riots that shook the country last summer, do the math,” Mieville writes.
“Oh, London, you drama queen. You didn’t have to do that. We watch from the route of effluent,” the author adds. However, Johnson’s spokesman said: “We’re leading the UK out of recession and we are on course for a fantastic Olympic Games.”
