All the members of the European Union espouse the common value of fair and efficient cooperation, which in turn involves smooth communication on as equal a footing as possible in business, politics, the arts and the EU institutions. The large linguistic communities, whose languages are often learned as foreign languages, also have particular interests....
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Nepszabadsag | Commentary | Il Foglio | The Economist | L'Espresso |Vanity Fair | Elet es Irodalom | Le point | The New York Times
Nepszabadsag 11.11.2007 (Hungary)
The image Hungary's journalists give of their country is even bleaker than the reality, sociologist Elemer Hankiss writes: "In today's critical situation, evil must be exposed, those responsible must be denounced, and lies and corruption must be uncovered. If the press did all this in an objective, disciplined, investigative way, with serious analyses and no clap-trap, much would be accomplished. But that's not how journalists work here in Hungary, and when they try they get stuck half-way. They sketch the ills facing us, then hand the problem over to their readers. They see just the problems, but have a hard time pointing to solutions. After all, they say, that's the politicians' job. But such an allocation of roles is wrong even in countries where politicians recognise the tasks facing them and manage to accomplish them. Even there, it's also the business of the press - along with all other rational citizens, communities and organisations - to offer solutions to problems and have a hand in shaping the future. In a country where the politicians aren't efficient, this applies all the more. Of course it's not a question of promising readers a rosy future. But the presentation of problems should always be accompanied by the search for solutions. And in view of the indolence of politicians, it's up to the press and society to stop bellyaching and - no matter how hackneyed it may sound - shape the future. Because alongside the limitless difficulties we face, there are also countless possibilities. These must be championed with a new energy, serious work and a good dose of civil courage."
Commentary 12.11.2007 (USA)
Terry Teachout remembers the music critic and cricket reporter at The Guardian, Neville Cardus, whose autobiography would not be forgotten "in a better-regulated world", where it would stand alongside H.L. Mencken's "Newspaper Days" and A.J. Liebling's "Between Meals." As Teachout doesn't forget to mention, Cardus, the son of a part-time prostitute, went to school for just four and a half years: "When he writes that Arturo Toscanini's conducting of Brahms sounds like a sort of gigantic musical wheel revolving in a ruthless groove,' or that Fritz Kreisler's violin playing 'reminds me of a beautiful face that would be even more beautiful if it were lined or wrinkled,' you take his point at once, and relate it effortlessly to your own memories of the performer in question. No doubt, Cardus wrote that way not only because he could but because he had to. His musical training consisted of a year's worth of voice lessons, and the flipness with which he dismissed 'score-reading critics' leads the attentive reader to suspect that his own abilities in that line were severely limited."
Il Foglio 10.11.2007 (Italy)
Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni, chairman of the centre-left Democratic Party, has successfully used the glamour of the Rome Film Festival for his own personal advancement. Yet his cultural ambitions are dividing the left, writes Marianna Rizzini. "Rome has clear-cut adversaries: Massimo Cacciari, the mayor of Venice who fulminated against the rebellious Rome, Felice Laudadio (director of the Taormina Festival), who complained about the distribution of subsidies in Rome's favour, and finally Francesco Rutelli, the culture minister who attempted to remain neutral but in fact backed Venice. It's clear when one considers the three festivals of Venice, Rome and Turin in the context of the cities' three mayors, Cacciari, Veltroni and Chiamparino, that the confrontation is not over by a long shot."
Maurizio Stefanini sets great hopes by Egyptian media entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris, who hopes to give the top dog Al Jazeera a run for its money with his allegedly more tolerant Otv. "If a film is unacceptable because of its costumes, or because of how it deals with tradition, we don't broadcast it,' he assures. 'But once we do decide to show it, we can't then turn around and start censoring it.' A very different position from that of most broadcasters in the Middle East, which cut Western films to the point of being unrecognisable. Sawiris also promises to reduce drastically the 'high dose' of religious content."
The Economist 09.11.2007 (UK)
The magazine reviews a book by Gregory Rodriguez on the history and growing importance of Latinos in the USA. "By 2001 Latinos, most of them Mexicans or descended from Mexicans, had become the second-biggest ethnic group in America. This worried African-Americans, who were thus relegated to third place. It also alarmed some whites, who felt that Latinos were failing to conform to American mores. In an influential book 'Who Are We?' published in 2004, Samuel Huntington, a Harvard University professor, argued that Mexicans threatened Anglo-Protestant traditions. 'Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds' is a much shrewder, less paranoid work. Yet, in some ways, it reaches a similar conclusion."
This issue gives a special focus on the growing significance of technology in India and China. Topics covered include e-business in China, the growing popularity of mobile phones (coupled with a reserve toward PCs) in India, and the - to many - unexpected backwardness of the Indian and Chinese economies.
L'Espresso 09.11.2007 (Italy)
Umberto Eco's books have been translated into twenty languages. Heartened by their success, his Chinese publisher is putting together a collection of his Businte di Minerva columns from the year 2000. But there are problems of understanding, and the translator is bombarding him with questions, Eco reports. For example, who on earth are Tiscordi and Zozzogno (a corruption of music publisher Ricordi e Sozogno by the comedian Toto)? "I have the feeling that in this globalised world where it's so easy to get the impression that everyone sees the same films and eats the same food, there are still profound abysses and insurmountable gaps between individual cultures. And how are two cultures ever supposed to understand each other if one of them doesn't know someone like Toto?"
Vanity Fair 12.11.2007 (USA)
Not since Herbert Hoover led America into the Great Depression has a US president impacted the economy as catastrophically as George Bush, economist Joseph Stiglitz writes woefully. "A tax code that has become hideously biased in favor of the rich; a national debt that will probably have grown 70 percent by the time this president leaves Washington; a swelling cascade of mortgage defaults; a record near-850 billion dollar trade deficit; oil prices that are higher than they have ever been; and a dollar so weak that for an American to buy a cup of coffee in London or Paris -or even the Yukon - becomes a venture in high finance. And it gets worse. After almost seven years of this president, the United States is less prepared than ever to face the future. We have not been educating enough engineers and scientists, people with the skills we will need to compete with China and India. We have not been investing in the kinds of basic research that made us the technological powerhouse of the late 20th century."
Elet es Irodalom 09.11.2007 (Hungary)
In recent months Hungary has been caught up in the so-called "little critical debate" (after the "big" one in 1996) which is a spin-off of the blogosphere "explosion". Literary bloggers and also a number of young authors and publicists are accusing mainstream criticism of talking only about itself, wallowing in jargon and of losing sight of its readers – who in turn are losing interest due to the inability of the critics to deliver clear value judgements – and who now, thanks to the blogosphere, are having their say. Critic Tibor Barny sees in this debate a chance to redefine the duties of contemporary literary criticism. "A very real problem in literary criticism is, for example, ... that no real critical debates are taking place: critics do a solid job, journalists present interesting interpretations, but there is no comparison of the rival standpoints. And it is here that the Internet public could help the situation – but for this to happen the texts in the literary blogs would have to function as quality criticism of the newspapers, and the critics would have to respond to the commentaries which reference their reviews."
Eva Cs. Gyimesi, a literary academic living in Transylvania has discovered the Romanian magazine Foaia Transilvana which started last year to focus on everything European in Transylvanian history, its ethnic diversity and its unique culture. At the same time she is surprised that the magazine has found such little currency among the Hungarian minority in Romania. "As if the image of the enemy created in the Funar era (more) was more important to us. The Hungarian magazines give the impression that the horizon of the Hungarian public has not moved a finger width. For decades suspicion and frustration and the contempt for the Romanian people have resulted in an isolation with which Hungarians in Transylvania cut themselves off from a greater whole and send themselves off the map. And to think that in the past so many Transylvanians were hugely proud of their cultural diversity and religious freedom, which is precisely what this Romanian magazine addresses."
Le point 08.11.2007 (France)
This is a book that may one day be studied as we study Plato's "Republic" today, predicts Le Point. "L'Avenement de la democratie" is the book in question, by philosopher Marcel Gauchet, the first two volumes of which ("La Revolution moderne" and "La Crise du liberalisme, 1880-1914") were published by Grasset this week. In an interview the author responds to the question of whether he has at last shed light on the secret of democracy. "Let us say that I am attempting to decode the genome of this strange organism named democracy and to determine the true substance of its dynamics. To some extent I am taking up Tocqueville's question and extending and refining it. However social equality is only one aspect of the phenomenon. The thing that distinguishes it most completely is the 'end of religion'. Not that of religious belief, but a more general shift in the organisation of the human and social world through the break with the form given to it by religion."
The New York Times 12.11.2007 (USA)
In the Book Review Neil Genzlinger presents Aine Collier's history of the condom, which he concludes, "if nothing else, will make all you condom users appreciate what a wonderful time this is to be alive. If this were ancient Rome, you might find yourself wearing a fur condom made from the mane of a she-mule. In the Islamic world around the turn of the first millennium, your device might have been fashioned of tar or liquid lead.... Birth control, a minor annoyance these days, was for centuries more akin to torture. 'You want to have sex using that?' either partner might well have said way back when. 'Are you kidding me? That thing's made of tree bark. I'd rather just have a baby.'"
Other reviews: for Richard Brookhiser Christopher Hitchens' book on Thomas Paine is actually a discussion about two books, Paine's "Rights of Man" and Edmund Burke's "Reflections of the Revolution in France". Jed Pearl reviews the third and penultimate volume of John Richardson's Picasso biography which covers the years 1917 to 1932. Jay McInerney introduces Pierre Baynard's book on how to speak about books you've not read.
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The Internet is changing our brains, philosopher Joaquin Rodriguez Lopez explains in the French magazine, Books. David Hockney shows his new iPhone drawings to the Spectator. In the New York Review of Books, historian Timothy Snyder calls for a new understanding of the Holocaust, that begins not in Auschwitz, but deep in the forests of Eastern Europe. In Literaturen, Aleksandar Hemon remembers an empty reading that turned out to be a success. Dawn introduces Michael Jackson as internalised by the Pakistanis. In the Weltwoche, pedagogy professor Georg Feuser calls for a ban on Ritalin for kids. The NYT witnesses the end of the black middle class in Detroit.
The Economist is impressed the by the hybrid of old and new media in the coverage of events in Iran. Outlook India looks at racism at home. In Le Point, Bernard-Henri Levy rallies support for the Iranian opposition. In Salon.eu.sk, Zygmunt Bauman continues his thoughts on the effects of totalitarianism in Poland. In the Guardian, Wallace Shawn explains why sex is still shocking. Al Ahram sings the praises of the Pakistanis who chased the Taliban out of their villages. In Nepszabadsag, Lajos Parti Nagy explains why he doesn't want to be Hungarian. And the TLS holds its nose in Versailles.
MicroMega wants nothing to do with the ritual of 1000 women – especially if it involves Gaddafi. Outlook India explains how Berthold Brecht put the fun into Hindu theatre. Polish author Pawel Huelle savours his vote while riding his bike. The Guardian learns from Abbas Kiarostami where to find the beauty in art. In Nouvel Obs Breyten Breytenbach wonders what went wrong in South Africa. Elet es Irodalom is irked by intellectuals who won't go to the theatre. The NYRB reads books about Darfur, the Nation reads books about Cuba. And the New York Times is very excited indeed about the new Grand Paris.
Al Ahram asks what the Arabs can do for Obama. Outlook India says the US president should have talked to non-Arab Muslims instead. Charlie Kaufman's film "Synecdoche, New York" plunged the London Review into a thick fog of existential questions. Polityka discovers a republic of soloists in Poland. The Economist loses itself in the life of an American dreamer who is pinned down by a 483,000 dollar debt. In Clarin, Beatriz Sarlo asks: What does Buenos Aires want to be? In Elet es Irodalom, Ignac Romsics describes the difference between the Western and Eastern European right. NZZ Folio travels the coast of the Black Sea. And in the Guardian, sculptor Alexander Stoddart reaches for his pistol. 
Al Ahram witnesses Tunisians hitting the roof at the Arab Theatre Festival in Cairo. Alaa Al Aswany assures the Observer that democracy is coming to Egypt soon. Polityka complains about the grumblers who have rained on the June 4 parade. The New Statesman, Prospect and The Nation discuss China. In Nouvel Obs, Michel Pastoureau describes the fine line between man and pig. In Salon.eu.sk Zygmunt Bauman criticises Slavoj Zizek for not looking "beyond the barbed wire". Bookforum is excited by the boom in African literature.
Wired explains what Google really is: an auction house. The New York Review of Books sees Pakistan near the brink of anarchy. Elet es Irodalom introduces a new Hungarian magazine about culture on the periphery. The Nation turns to the Kundera Affair. In Literaturen, novelist Barbara Vinken compares sex stories by children. The LRB is impressed by a wiki. In El Espectador, Hector Abad describes the potentially fatal consequences of reading. Espresso portrays the fascists of the third millennium.
What makes us happy?, the Atlantic asks. Outlook India celebrates the victory of secular politics in India. The Spectactor finds itself in the hour of the medievalist. The Economist explains why Perlentaucher is essential reading. Magyar Narancs asks what happened to May 8th in Hungary. In ResetDoc, Nasr Abu-Zayd explains why Afghan marriage laws have nothing to do with the Qur'an. And jazz is fading into the background in Poland.
The Nouvel Obs features an interview with Imre Kertesz about survival after survival. The New York Review of Books celebrates the affluent and brilliant Madame de Stael. Tygodnik Powszechny welcomes the first film of a Stasiuk book. In the Guardian, Elaine Showalter asks why America's women writers are so notoriously underrated. Le Point profiles Dieudonne, who has declared his anti-Semitism as art. Rue89 asks whether it's left-wing to block Internet access. And in the New Republic, John Banville reads Samuel Beckett's letters.
The Nation portrays Bulgarian mafioso and author Georgi Stoev, who met the same death as many a victim in his books. In Nepszabadsag, poet Akos Szilagyi explains why outlawing Holocaust denial would not restrict freedom of speech. The New Yorker wants to see more command responsibility. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, Roza Thun wants to see more Polish passion for the EU. Andrew Orlowski in the New Statesman has lost his belief in Long Tails on the Net. And in the New Yorker, Russell Shorto explains the difference between the Dutch and the Americans.
In Merkur Ralf Dahrendorf speaks out for the stakeholder. In the Guardian, Kazua Ishiguro warns writers not to "fart about" in their thirties. In Literaturen, Peter Sloterkijk tells it like it is: you have to put in at least 10,000 hours of practice to become even a passable craftsman or musician. The London Review explains the appeal of sharia-compliant banks. In Le Monde, philosopher and theologian Mezri Haddad talks about the vampirisation of Islam. The NYT fathoms the sub culture of drug smuggling.
In Espresso, Suketu Mehta calls upon his fellow writers to save the world from the banksters! In the Guardian, Julian Barnes reads the only poem Arthur Hugh Clough ever received a penny for. The Polish language does nothing but express distrust, Tygodnik Powszechny complains. In Commonweal, Terry Eagleton describes the clash of culture and civilization. Observator Cultural throws a spotlight on Norman Manea. And Google's clairvoyant, the Economist discovers.
In Eurozine, Serbian artists refuse to be reminded of their past. La vie des idees shows how the skirt has become a symbol of emancipation in France. In the Boston Review, Evgeny Morozov tells cyber-utopians that bloggers can be as anti-democratic as anyone else. The Spectator wants a "muscular Christianity" on its side. In Beszelö, the poet Akos Györffy sees a new Golem approaching. Paper money is confetti, Dr. Doom tells the NZZ Folio. And Douglas Adams cries on his bed in the Guardian.
Google Street View provides the London Review with the key to understanding, finally, Stendhal's description of realism. Le Figaro reads Cioran's juvenilia. Outlook India salivates over food blogs. Babelia observes the divorcees in the Teatro Colon. Vanity Fair gloats over the promiscuous micturition in the Bohemian Club.
In the Spectator, John Cleese tells a critic what a critic is. In Tygodnik Powszechny, philosopher Jean-Luc Marion has no problem proving the existence of God. In Prospect, Hanif Kureishi wishes authors had more balls. In the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh outlines the sort of sophisticated diplomacy that the Obama team needs. Espresso watches the Calabrian mafia using PTT. Wired visits a prison to hear the tale of the world's biggest diamond heist. n+1 is glad that the weirdness has been put back into German sex. The Gazeta Wyborcza drowned in the earnestness of a Berlin production of Dorota Maslowska's new play. And in the NYT, Freeman Dyson heats up the climate.
Lettre International prints Bela Hamvas' 1960 essay on direct morality and bad conscience. The Nation demands state subsidies for old media. In El Pais Semanal, Javier Cercas waits for a novel about Hitler's moustache hair. In the Guardian, Mary Beard dispels all hopes for a good death. In Novel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut does not mention the Kundera Affair. In the New York Review of Books, John Gray learns all about debt from Margaret Atwood. Elet es Irodalom dwells on otherness. The TLS celebrates Josef Skvorecky. Umberto Eco eyes up the bodies of Mussolini and Berlusconi for L'Espresso. And Carlos Fernando Chamorro sheepishly tells the New York Times how he opposed his mother.