There is hardly a theatrical profession that has recently been so fostered, celebrated, loaded with prizes and grants as young dramatists....
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Die Weltwoche | The New York Review of Books | The New Yorker | Der Spiegel | The New York Times | The Economist | Nepszabadsag | Edge.org | Asharq al-Awsat | Magyar Hirlap | Figyelö | Gazeta Wyborcza
Die Weltwoche 19.07.2007 (Switzerland)
With a certain resignation to God's will, Eugen Sorg observes religion's return to Europe. "The Pope is enjoying audiences of an unprecedented scale. The grave of his Polish predecessor and miracle sites such as Lourdes are being visited by record numbers, the budget of the Holy Seat is enjoying unprecedented profits, the church collection income has doubled... Maybe postmodern Europe will go down in history as a brief, unique moment of free-spiritedness and frivolous godlessness. In part for demographic reasons: religious milieus generate children, while rich, agnostic societies such as Europe's tend to gentrify. And in part because skepticism and irony, the instruments of dissection preferred by intellectuals, don't warm most people's hearts. Just as little as the theory of the big bang or the discovery of protein molecules, which don't satisfy the need for meaning or provide a sense of collective identity or assuage our fear of death."
The New York Review of Books 16.08.2007 (USA)
Timothy Garton Ash has many good things to say about Günter Grass' "Peeling the Onion," but he can't leave out the affair of Grass' SS membership. He gives Grass a "half point" for his criticism of the FAZ but only half because Grass fails to meet his own moral standards in his silence on certain biographical details. Garton Ash concludes: "And time will pardon Günter Grass. For the German language lives through him, as it does, in different ways, through Christa Wolf, and through the poet he befriended in Paris while he was writing 'The Tin Drum,' Paul Celan. His staunchest defenders claim that his standing as a political and moral authority is also unaffected. That seems to me implausible, to put it mildly; but not all his activism is equally affected. Probably his most distinctive political contribution has been to German–Polish reconciliation." (see more on the Grass controversy here)
The New Yorker 30.07.2007 (USA)
David Remnick offers a portrait of the former Knesset president and director of the Jewish Agency Avraham Burg, who has created quite a stir with his more recent book "Defeating Hitler" and an interview he gave to Haaretz. Remnick quotes extensively from Burg in his explanation for the end of Zionism. "The Israeli reality is not exciting. People aren't willing to admit it, but Israel has reached the wall. Ask your friends if they are certain their children will live here. How many will say yes? At most fifty per cent. In other words, the Israeli elite has already parted with this place. And without an elite there is no nation."
Der Spiegel 23.07.2007 (Germany)
In an epic interview that is partly online, Alexander Solzhenitsyn speaks about the laborious working through of the Soviet past, his rejection of parties (inspired by Trotsky) and the "irresponsible" reformers Gorbachev and Yeltsin. And he explains why he has no problem with KGB man Vladimir Putin's
receiving of the Russian prize of the state. "Putin took over a country
that had been fully plundered and thrown completely off balance, with a
discouraged and poverty-stricken population. He set out to do what was
possible – and what was possible was a slow, step by step
reconstruction. These efforts were not noticed or honoured right away.
Can you think of one example from history, when an attempt to
reconstitute strong state leadership was received well by the outside
world."
The New York Times 22.07.2007 (USA)
Bernhard-Henri Levy admits that Nicolas Sarkozy is doing much right, including the recent American publication of his private-professional confessions, titled "Testimony". And yet, he could never have voted for Sarkozy – due to his pragmatic, almost cynical relationship to the past (Vichy, Algeria, 68). "Men usually have a memory. It can be complex, contradictory, paradoxical, confused. But it is their own. It has a great deal to do with the basis of who they are and the identities they choose for themselves. Sarkozy is an identity pirate, a mercenary of others' memories. He claims all memories, meaning that in the end he just might not have any. He is our first president without a memory. He is the first of our presidents willing to listen to all ideas, because for him they are literally indistinguishable. If there is a man in France today who embodies (or claims to embody) the famous end of all ideologies, which I cannot quite bring myself to believe in, it is indeed Mr Sarkozy, the sixth president of the Fifth Republic."
The Economist 20.07.2007 (UK)
This is how Berlin looks through the eyes of the Economist. "Selling Berlin as a world city is hard. It has lots of renovated museums, theatres and clubs, plus 400 contemporary-art galleries. Artists, filmmakers and some politicians have revived its big-city feel. But whereas London and Paris boast plenty of rich people, Berlin does not. One in two live on a pension or unemployment benefit; even those with jobs earn an average of only 32,600 euros a year. Well-heeled Germans pay the odd visit, but prefer to live in more opulent places like Munich or Hamburg. Berlin is also saddled with 61 billion euros of debt."
Nepszabadsag 20.07.2007 (Hungary)
With a series of referenda, the conservative right opposition party Fidesz wants to reverse government reforms, bring down the government and turn parliamentary into direct democracy. Come spring at the latest, the electorate should vote on the government's savings package. "Wanting to know the population's opinion is, in principal, a noble democratic idea but the practical details aren't exactly impressive," writes Eszter Babarczy. "The cases that the referenda will put to question – hidden premises, conclusions that weren't anticipated, silenced consequences squeezed into one sentence, double claims – are easy to cast doubt on by those who think analytically. The problem with the referenda is not that the populace can decide directly but rather that they can have the wool pulled over their eyes more than once."
Edge.org 18.07.2007 (USA)
Kevin Kelly, one of the heralds of the "third culture" explains the term that he coined: "technium" (more on Kelly's homepage). He understands it as all the converging and networked technological and scientific revolutions, particularly in genetics and the natural sciences, which could have frightening consequences and must be controlled. "I tend to think of the technium like a child of humanity. Our job will be to train the technium, to imbue it with certain principles because, at a certain level and at a certain age, it will basically become much more autonomous than it is now. It will leave us like a teenager who goes on to live alone: although he or she will continue to interact with us and will always be part of us, we have to let it go."
Asharq al-Awsat 18.07.2007 (Saudi Arabia / UK)
The magazine dedicates a long article to a new trend among Lebanese women singers. Increasingly their video clips show them beside dark-skinned children. This comes as something of a surprise in view of the widespread discrimination against black people in many Arab countries: "Black minorities have been living in Arab societies for centuries, yet with few exceptions they never appear in our media. Does this portend a sudden Arab awakening regarding their rights? Or is it simply a blind emulation of Western - or more precisely, American - fashion. In the US, black people have a high media presence, and often ever have the roles of stars." Although failing to provide an answer, the article does say that should black adults follow black children in finding a place in Arab media, "it would be one clear benefit of Western satellite TV and globalisation."
Magyar Hirlap (Hungary), 17.07.2007
Western Europeans don't understand the Kaczynski brothers' anger at Europe because they don't know Polish history, writes historian Miklos Kun. "All the world knows is that the Nazis unleashed a bloodbath in Poland during World War II. Less well-known is that the the Soviet secret service butchers murdered several thousand Polish officers and civilians in the Katyn massacre. Similarly, relatively few Westerners are aware of how the Soviet Union basely betrayed the Warsaw Uprising. Recent publications estimate that almost 1,5 million Polish citizens were deported to Soviet death camps, prisons or labour camps between 1939 and 1945.... Can you simply delete the past? Can you expect the conservative government in Poland just to look on as Poland gradually loses its status of mid-sized European power and the accompanying the feeling of security? Are the daily anti-Polish attacks on the part of Moscow driven by a feeling of guilt or of vengeance?"
Figyelö 19.07.2007 (Hungary)
In May of this year, a young woman was raped by policemen in Budapest. In June, the investigative journalist Iren Karman was brutally beaten. Last year the student Hedvig Malina was beaten up in Slovakia for telephoning in Hungarian on the street. In all three cases, the newspapers and other media were quick to report that the women staged the attacks themselves to make the headlines. Hajnalka Cseke asked several media specialists what they thought: "In the opinion of media researcher Peter Szolt, the press ignore their own ethical principles - the protection of victims and the innocent - when they publicly expose unmask the victims, although this evil can hardly be redressed in retrospect. The press declares a verdict without having the necessary information. And in so doing it compromises its own reputation... Control of the press is particularly desirable in cases where the police themselves are being investigated. This is because it is to be feared that they do not lead investigations against themselves in an objective way, says sociologist Zoltan Fleck. Several victims of such attacks have stated that the investigators themselves attempted to hush up the case, to save the honour of their colleagues."
Gazeta Wyborcza 23.07.2007 (Poland)
After taking the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Christian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" has now been shown to Polish audiences at the "Era New Horizons" festival in Wroclaw. The director talks with Pawel T. Felis about why as opposed to in Poland, so many films are being made about the recent past in today's Romania: "These aren't historical films. They're the very personal tales of the directors. All between 30 and 40, the young Romanian filmmakers don't scour books or newspapers for their stories - they tell what they've experienced themselves. We're at a time when people want to settle scores with the past - above all with the private past. I didn't shoot this film five or ten years ago, and I'm not planning to shoot another one like it."
RSS
In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
OpenDemocracy explains why a novel called "Paranoia" suddenly disappeared from Belarussian bookshops. Prospect fears that a ban on Islam4UK could undermine British democracy. The Gazeta Wyborcza explores Polish-Jewish relations. Le Monde diplomatique watches the carving up of Africa. In El Pais Semanal, maths whizz Marcus du Sautoy explains the sex appeal of suduko. And Gerhard Richter manages to surprise the Nation.
The New Yorker buries itself in the Arab novel. In Le Monde, Bernard-Henri Levy heaps scorn on the state-run caricature of a debate. Qantara points to the person responsible for all the misery in the Arab world: Daddy. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco takes a pin to the overblown daily paper. The Nation has earmarked 30 billion dollars to save journalism. In Tygodnik Powszechny, the writer Wojciech Albinski explains what makes Poland exotic. And the Spectator waves a tear-stained old hanky as shabby chic fades into the past.
In Merkur, art historian Wolfgang Ullrich defines a new type of artist: the contractor. In Nepszabadsag, writer Peter Nadas considers the crisis in Hungary and how it might end. In NouvelObs, Francis Ford Coppola explains why DVDs should be free. Eurozine introduces Lithuanian literature. In the New York Review of Books, Wyatt Manson asks why Pleiade is omitting Celine's anti-Semitic trilogy from the collected works. In Express, Philippe Gavi reminds us that Mohammed was not a crazed killer. A Californian marvels in NZZ Folio, at the reincarnation of an Indian factory worker. And confronted with the recent proliferation of literary cuddling, the New York Times yearns for a bit of Philip Roth.
Wired tracks James Cameron's 32-year quest to out-Lucas Lucas. In Nouvel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut and Alain Badiou tear each other apart over immigration and national identity. Tygodnik Powszechny introduces the pioneering artist Miroslaw Balka. Andras Bozoki asks why Hungarians are undermining democracy. In The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry explains why the bombing of Coventry was an inspiration to the British Air Staff.
Vanity Fair goes in search of a superpartner. Elet es Irodalom reads a new collection of essays by Imre Keresz. Outlook India complains about journalistic corruption. The New Yorker reads a new Koestler biography. Nepszabadsag foresees the next French revolution. Rue89 wonders about the provenance of prawns. And in the New Republic, Moshe Halberthal celebrates the sublime humility of Amartya Sen.
In Wilson Quarterly, the economist Tyler Cowen sings an ode to multitasking. Prospect has seen the monsters of the left. The Boston Globe follows James C. Scott to the new Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. Weltwoche is up in arms about the criticism of Switzerland's anti-minaret vote. In the Novel Obs, Pierre Nora applies his mind to the bestseller. New Criterion knows why the Pop art bubble won't pop. NZZ Folio examines the chicken nugget. Al Ahram asks what political Islam wants. The Walrus mourns for the first victim of the C-58. In Resetdoc, Joseph Massad explains why Arab homosexuals are an invention of the West.
Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak argues for a fusion of cultures in Eurozine. Umberto Eco agrees in Le Monde. The Nation portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, who himself explains in Babelia why 200 years after independence there's nothing to celebrate in a number of Latin American countries. Polityka lies Poland down on the couch. La vie des idees reads a book on Jews and the resistance in France. Americans read more than Europeans, writes historian Peter Baldwin in Merkur. And in The New York Review of Books Robert Darnton makes two bold proposals for a new Book Settlement.
The New Yorker searches for the ultimate difference between male and female. Elet es Irodalom comments on the Imre Kertesz interview in die Welt. Prospect assesses the development of Swedish crime writing. Walrus finds out from the conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin why it's sometimes necessary to get a little rough with the score. In Polityka, the historian Jerzy W.Borejsza remembers the assimilators, accommodators and collaborators in Poland's history. In the Guardian, Zadie Smith defends the novel against the essay.
In OpenDemocracy, the Moscow poet Tatiana Sherbina tears her hair out over Russia's obsession with Stalin. Polityka celebrates a film where it's okay not to be heroic. The London Review of Books cements its friendship with Roland Barthes. In Espresso, Umberto Eco suggests removing Christ from classroom crucifixes. In the New York Review of Books, Timothy Garton Ash talks velvet and guillotines. Magyar Narancs talks candidly about the Roma. The New Yorker eats in secret with a Michelin inspector. In Letras Libras, writer Cesar Aira explains why people shouldn't be forced to read. And Newsweek sings a swansong to America, the land of innovation.
In Open Democracy, Neal Ascherson wishes that the 1989 had had more French revolutionary zeal. Tygodnik remembers that Polish dissidents wanted German unity as far back as 1954. In Newsweek, Niall Ferguson argues that 1989 was not a patch on 1979. Laszlo Borhi hurls a rotten egg at Austrian's Social Democrats in Eurozine. Outlook India travels to Arunachal. Wired visits the Henry Ford of the information age. The New Republic embarks on a Peter Zumthor pilgrimage.
OpenDemocracy tells of the Russian waves which are doing away with the Iranian sparrows. The London Review reads new books on honour killings. The Nation goes in search of the last Yugoslav, Dusan Makavejev. The Walrus weeps for the printed book. The Guardian navigates its way through Michael Haneke's oeuvre. Polityka tells the Poles that you can have ethics without Catholicism, or even God. In Dawn, Arundhati Roy defends the Maoist guerillas in India. In Frontline, the Maoist guerilla leader, Koteswa Rao, chats about revolutionary executions. In Le Monde, Vaclav Havel is still fascinated by his critics. And HVG explains why the Hungarians think capitalism comes from the communists.
When Karadzic goes on trial in The Hague, the Hungarian plague will be tried alongside him, says the Magyar Narancs. The New Yorker explains why robots are better than husbands. In the New Republic, Enrique Krauze asks why Gabriel Garcia Marquez had such a thing for dictators. Europe has a sure footing in Turkey, Orhan Pamuk assures the Nouvel Obs. History is no recipe for how to live our lives today, the historian Karol Modzelewski tells Tygodnik Powszechny. N+1 tracks the rise of the neuronovel, and the TLS reads new Trotsky biographies.