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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Outlook India | The New York Review of Books | Le Nouvel Observateur | Folio | Nepszabadsag | The Guardian | The Economist | Plus - Minus | Die Weltwoche | The New Statesman | The New York Times
Outlook India 14.01.2008
The magazine's authors look back on 2007 and tell their "India Story." Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who while living in exile in Calcutta has been forced underground by a number of death threats, gives a litany of complaint: "Where am I? I am certain no one will believe mfeee if I say I have no answer to this apparently straightforward question, but the truth is I just do not know. And if I were to be asked how I am, I would again answer: I don't know. I am like the living dead: benumbed; robbed of the pleasure of existence and experience; unable to move beyond the claustrophobic confines of my room. Day and night, night and day. Yes, this is how I have been surviving. This nightmare did not begin when I was suddenly bundled out of Calcutta—it has been going on for a while. It is like a slow and lingering death, like sipping delicately from a cupful of slow-acting poison that is gradually killing all my faculties. This is a conspiracy to murder my very essence, my being, once so brave, playful."
The New York Review of Books 17.01.2008
Michael Massing praises the American McClatchy newspaper group, which has established a unique type of blog: "About a year ago, it set up a blog exclusively for contributions from its Iraqi staff. 'Inside Iraq,' it's called, and several times a week the Iraqi staff members post on it about their experiences and impressions. 'It's an opportunity for Iraqis to talk directly to an American audience,' says Leila Fadel, the current bureau chief, whose father is from Lebanon and whose mother is from Michigan, who grew up in Saudi Arabia, and who is all of twenty-six years old. As such, the blog fills a major gap in the coverage… 'There are too few reports that include Iraqi citizens - not Green Zone politicians but regular folks,' one TV journalist said. 'We need to hear their voices.' 'The coverage has been ethnocentric,' a newspaper correspondent commented. 'There is not enough attention to the plight of the Iraqis.'"
Further articles: Max Rodenbeck recounts a visit to Tehran. Ian Buruma presents two masterpieces to American readers: Alfred Döblin's novel "Berlin Alexanderplatz," whose English translation leaves much to be desired, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's adaptation of the work for television, which is now available on DVD. Books reviewed include J.M. Coetzee's newly released "Diary of a Bad Year."
Le Nouvel Observateur 03.01.2008
French feminists are up in arms at the current edition of the Nouvel Obs, which features a dossier on Simone de Beauvoir 100 years after her birth, and shows a naked photo of her on the cover. Two longer articles by Agathe Logeart and Aude Lancelin praise the philosopher as "Simone the scandalous," asking whether a renaissance of interest in her works is underway. In a series of short pieces, artists and authors such as Philippe Sollers, Juliette Greco, Arielle Dombasle and Catherine Millet air their views on the author of "The Second Sex." Millet writes: "Above all I was interested in de Beauvoir's agreement with Sartre on sexual freedom, even if such a pact would be out of the question for me. This freedom has always been tacitly accepted between me and my partner Jacques. I can't help it, this imperative of absolute openness has something very bourgeois about it: always being honest in life, always saying what you think. I personally don't see the shame in hypocrisy. As strange as it may seem, de Beauvoir was always a very erotic figure for me. Like one of Klossowski's heroines: cold, intellectual, with tightly pulled back hair."
Folio 07.01.2008
The January edition is dedicated to young Jewish life. Yves Kugelmann, chief editor of the Swiss weekly magazine Tachles, reveals that a second Jewish land is in the planning: "It's a new version of an old idea, this time secular, this time not as victims or as a covert homeland in the Diaspora, but an omnipresent one": "The stakes are doubled for half the risk, and perhaps complete happiness: somewhere on this planet 'Judea' will soon be founded. Sure, it's nothing new, the Kingdom of Judea existed before Christ, until the Romans annexed it in the year 70. This is a new attempt. To bolster Israel, confuse the anti-Semites, get the philo-Semites off our backs and prepare a small pleasure for Iran's Ahmadinejad. Because what could be better than destroying one Jewish state? Right! Destroying two."
Writer Doron Rabinovici describes how Jews are just as bitterly at odds over the Jewish identity as their adversaries. Bruno Kreisky, for example, maintained that as the Jews were not a people, he could not be a Jew: "He said, 'I'll tell you a Jewish joke. An orthodox Jew with sidelocks, a kaftan and kippah walks down the street in 1938. A policeman stops him and says: You'd better not go any further, because there's a group of Nazis over there and they'll make mincemeat of you. The Jew answers: Thank you, Herr Inspector! But don't worry, I won't disclose my identity. And you see,' Kreisky concludes, 'that's how it is with me too at times.'"
Nepszabadsag 05.01.2008
The Piarist padre György Bulanyi is an uncomfortable opposition figure for the Socialist regime in Hungary – and for the Church as well. He admits he finds it difficult to maintain his optimism in his old age: "It's difficult to accept that humanity is not able to change the course of history. Almost nine decades of my life have gone by, and I still have to face the fact that not only does the world not want to believe Jesus – I could live with that – but it doesn't even want to believe Bulanyi."
The Guardian 05.01.2008
It has long been a commonplace that reading makes us emotionally stronger. But as Blake Morrison reports, new bibliotherapy groups are showing that Shakespeare is more effective than Prozac, and that a growing number of hospitals are assigning patients to reading groups to ease pain and mental disorder: "Medical staff tell stories of the remarkable successes they've seen: the neurological patient who sat in a group saying nothing for months, then after a reading of George Herbert's poem 'The Flower' ('Who would have thought my shrivelled heart/Could have recovered greenness?') launched into a 10-minute monologue at the end of which he announced 'I feel great.'"
Further articles: on the occasion of a Wim Wenders retrospective in London, filmmaker and critic Chris Petit praises Wenders' early films, particularly "Alice in the Cities." Oliver James' study "The Selfish Capitalist" is named book of the week. In it, James maintains that it's not we who suffer from affluenza, but others who suffer from our wealth.
The Economist 03.01.2008 (UK)
The magazine reviews a book by American sociologist Sudhir Ventakesh, "Gang-Leader for a Day," in which the Columbia professor describes his field studies in the – now demolished – Robert Taylor social housing project in Chicago. "The project had its own economy. In the building where he centred his research, there was crack dealing, of course - and it was a well-oiled operation. Then there was a host of more informal businesses, from trading among mothers - you take care of my kids for two days, I'll feed you for five - to the squatters who did repairs. The building had its own tax system; J.T. and the building's tenant leader, Ms Bailey, took a cut of most business."
The Economist also recommends economist Thomas Sowell's book on "Economic Facts and Fallacies." While many people will be infuriated by Sowell's free-market radicalism, "there is not a chapter in which he does not produce a statistic that both surprises and overturns received wisdom." For example that "today, never-married, childless, university-educated American women of between 40 and 64 earn 7,000 USD a year more than similar men."
Plus - Minus 05.01.2008 (Poland)
With a pinch of political salt Anna Nowacka-Isaksson reports from Stockholm on the "Spoils of War" exhibition in the Royal Armoury. "Had we not raided the royal treasury in Warsaw, no one today would be able to admire the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, the Swedish argue. (Not forgetting of course that the thing was previously taken from Moscow by the Polish). "No other country has so systematically amassed cultural goods over such a long period of time as Sweden. Which is why it still has so much left." Many of the exhibits were plundered during the Thirty Years War from the Czech Republic or from Poland during the First Northern War. "After 350 years the Swedes believe that they have an ancestral claim to these treasures. This is more a question of morals and good will than of rights."
Die Weltwoche 07.01.2008 (Switzerland)
In an interview with Urs Gehringer the commander of the US army in Iraq General David H. Petraeus describes the situation there. In the last six months there has been a "striking" drop in violence and terror, which Petraeus attributes to his new strategy and to the fact the Sunnis have started to lose patience with al-Qaeda as much as the Shiites. "According to the latest rumours, al-Qaeda is no longer only forbidding people to smoke but cutting fingers off people who do. This is unbelievable, especially in a society of passionate cigarette consumers. It is utterly bizarre how these fanatics behave, with enforced marriages etc. Dislike of this regime is everywhere."
Alix Sharkey remembers a meeting with Carla Bruni in which the model openly admitted to being predatory and avaricious. Which is she can only recommend her marrying Nicolas Sarkozy. "Let's be honest. In these cheerless star-cult times, what would be more glamorous, scandalous, ludicrous and fitting?!"
The New Statesman 03.01.2008 (UK)
Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov was invited to give a reading in the little Arctic Norwegian town of Kirkenes and was taken aback by the large numbers of Russians he encountered, and in particular Russian women. "In fact, of the 3,900 people who live in Kirkenes, more than 400 are the Russian wives of Norwegian men. I didn't ask the local men why so many of them ignored their own womenfolk, but the pattern is clear. Many Norwegian men consider marriage only when they are approaching 40. The more adventurous head for Murmansk or Arkhangelsk and the lazier ones pop over to Nikel to choose a dependable bride. Not that Norwegian women are any less dependable; they just take life a bit more seriously than Russian women do and they are generally more demanding of their menfolk."
The New York Times 06.01.2008 (USA)
The Sunday Book Review contains a special edition of reviews and essays on Islam. In it the author Lorraine Adams complains that the majority of literature by Muslim men and women remains veiled by the book industry. "Many Americans fail to understand that Muslims can be Arab, African or Asian, not to mention European or American. ... Lost too is the full spectrum of Islam in the lives of authors and their characters. There are secular Muslims, culturally influenced but non-practising; moderate Muslims, practising but tolerant; and radical fundamentalists, murderous and anti-Western. But one generalization holds true: much of contemporary Muslim literature remains unpublished in English translation."
The reform-oriented Islam preacher Tariq Ramadan explains what it means to read the Koran and stresses the plurality of possible readings and interpretations. "Just as we can read the work of a human author, from Marx to Keynes, in closed-minded and rigid fashion, we can approach divine revelation in a similar manner. Instead, we should be at once critical, open-minded and incisive."
The publicist, former politician and political advisor Ayaan Hirsi Ali reviews Lee Harris' almost apocalyptic future prognosis, "The Suicide of Reason." In it Harris argues that with its belief in reason, the West cannot understand the expansive fanaticism which is the basic principle of Islam, and that it will therefore be destroyed by it. Hirsi Ali sees herself as an example which contradicts Harris' argument that those who are raised within Islam are condemned to fanaticism. "I was not born in the West. I was raised with the code of Islam, and from birth I was indoctrinated into a tribal mind-set. Yet I have changed, I have adopted the values of the Enlightenment. ... Why have I done so? Because in a tribal society, life is cruel and terrible."
Further articles: Fouad Ajami, Professor of Middle East Studies admits that although he fought them for a long time, Samuel Huntington's ideas in "Clash of Civilisations" now look worryingly plausible. There is also a review of John Kelsey's study on the "just war" in Islam and the book "American Crescent" by USA-based Shiite preacher Hassan Qazwini. The Magazine also features an article on the subject. Nicholas Schmidle describes the growing influence of the Taliban particularly among the younger generation of Islamists in Pakistan.
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.