Here, surely, is a fictional transmutation of Eliot's own "elopement" with Lewes in 1854.
The book is about a secretive and feared Washington group called the Camel Club — feared in part, surely, because its fictional leader is named Oliver Stone.
Some fictional land, surely?
With the possible exception of Mickey Mouse, the indestructible and incorruptible Man of Steel is surely the most famous fictional character ever created in cartoon form.
In his review of Brad Ricca's "Super Boys" (June 2), Peter Keepnews contends that "with the possible exception of Mickey Mouse," Superman is "surely the most famous fictional character ever created in cartoon form".
While it's now accepted that media-savvy publishers and authors are harnessing the power of online marketing, when it comes to fictional characters, surely that's going a little far.
"This may not, quite, be a masterpiece, but it is unquestionably a marvel – entirely original among contemporary British novels, revealing its author as, surely, the most impressive fictional mind of his generation," said Alexander Linklater.
One explanation for the latter aspect is that children's fiction traditionally has juvenile leads, but Pullman has been splenetic in his denigration of the Catholic church (most recently in a Guardian interview) and surely drew for his fictional universe on the most toxic gossip about the organisation that so appals him.
But generating fictional entities is surely not quite that easy.
No sentient adult, surely, thinks they "literally are" a fictional character.
