There is certainly a good deal of prophecy indulged in by playwrights these days, in their plays and out of them.
Whether or not the Harper's essay foretold a return to the "social novel," and whether or not "The Corrections" made good on that prophecy, "How to Be Alone" reaffirms the novelist's prerogative to engage in social criticism.
But, even as he bristled and grumbled, Conrad surely recognized that, despite the preoccupation of some admirers with the islands he had glimpsed and the storms he had survived, things were also looking good for the prophecy he had set down twenty years before: "This is my creed.
Unless you have been a Christian for some time, and you have a good grounding in prophecy, leave Revelation for the more serious students in their study times.
That can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy: without good talent, good products might not materialize, user growth continues slowly, and the stock gets hammered again.
Like all good end-times prophecies, there's even an approaching date for the robot apocalypse.
Nearly three years on and Steinfeld is set to make good on those prophecies.
In her world, inherently good girls prevail, prophecies come true and children eventually adjust to moving house.
But as in all good tragedies, after the prophecies and the omens, it is character and logic and moral choices that drive the story to its conclusion.
Which is sort of good and bad for interpreting prophecy.
