A snippet from Robin Sloan’s always-good newsletter:
Too often… the creative cover story that goes “I’m interested in these deeply flawed characters … I like writing about broken people” is simply an excuse to revel in depictions of violence — physical or moral or both. I believe it is time, instead, for creative investigations of decency, virtue, and goodness.
Of modern-day books I’ve read recently, maybe Ruth Ozeki (mixed with a lot of non-goodness) and Jon Fosse’s Septology come to mind, though I don’t think either quite fits what Sloan is aiming for.