Irving's characters often want to be writers (T. S. Garp, Ruth Cole), and there are always powerful literary preoccupations running through the novels.
Cripta (1937; "Crypt"), considered to include his most important poems, dealt with basic human concerns and revealed in compact, powerful language a preoccupation with time, solitude, and the absurdity of life.
His over-reported rivalry with his fellow Conservative has helped conceal the two men's shared political goals, illustrated in Johnson's case by the cultivation of links with powerful media and business interests, a preoccupation with cutting "waste" whatever the consequences and, most importantly, a regressive approach to urban development dignified as "listening to Londoners".
The recurrent images of clashes between hooded demonstrators and police officers defending the barons of global capitalism have become a powerful motif for the protests and preoccupations of a new millennium.
Whatever the personal reasons for Wood's preoccupations, cross-dressing makes for a powerful conceit in this collection that couldn't be more relevant today.
The proliferation of powerful processing and sensing devices, coupled with the human preoccupation about personal wellness, makes for a potent combination — and a sizable business opportunity in the healthcare space.
The preoccupation with land and identity are the most powerful themes I have encountered in this conflict.
Its preoccupation is encouraging cross-border trade, and until recently, some powerful voices within it were pushing for a full-blooded services directive which would have meant that Polish workers could have been brought to Britain to work on the Polish minimum wage.
Michael is given unusual prominence in a "Last Judgement" for the period, and his powerful presence emphasises the work's function in a hospice and its preoccupation with the liturgy of death.
Plant trophies from distant lands decorated the gardens of Europe's powerful and wealthy in a period of enthusiasm for natural history, especially botany (a preoccupation sometimes referred to as "botanophilia") that is never likely to recur.
