Twenty-five years after his cult TV series, Kir Royal, director Helmut Dietl has now come released a sort of ?sequel? for the big screen. Zettl focuses on the high-flying career of a ruthless media man in Berlin. As satire, however, the frigid figures in Zettl fail to warm up to viewers. ...
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The London Review of Books has an idea why Hannah Arendt's critique of careerism is being ignored. In ScienceGuide, Frits van Oostrom wonders why the Dutch have no Churchills, Walesas or Mandelas. Literaturen dwells on Islam as the religion of the servant class. The Economist describes the French as the true conversation artists. In Le Point, Kenzabure Oe wishes Japan would adopt the French model of cultural hybridisation. In Elet es Irodalom, Peter Nadas ponders the nature of the European identity. And in New Yorker, Julian Barnes explains how the last dregs of his faith were driven out of him.
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Prospect wonders whether capitalism needs democracy. Writer Jerzy Pilch claims in Tygodnik Powszechny that happy people don't write books. Revista de Libros celebrates the Chilean Boswell, Adolfo Bioy Caseres. Gazeta Wyborcza fears that Cuba post Castro might borrow a leaf from Pinochet's Chile. In Le Point, Bernard-Henri Levy fears that Castro may follow Pinochet: yet another dictator allowed to die peacefully in bed. Magyar Hirlap recalls the famine that Ukraine was subjected to by Stalin. The TLS tells how Margaret Thatcher was charmed by a Spanish foreign minister. Die Weltwoche was kidnapped by the Taliban.
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In Lettre International, Bora Cosic describes the decadence of culture in Belgrade. The Economist points its finger at the machismo of the German press. In Vanity Fair, Christopher Hitchens ponders why women can never make him laugh. Asharq al-Awsat reports on the debates in the Arab Writer's Union. In Figaro, Pascal Bruckner demands a culture of courage in the West. The London Review of Books looks at an example of bio-sentimentality. And Tygodnik quips that the Pope nearly converted to Islam in Istanbul.
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Folio looks for freedom - in China, Russia, the Arab world and jail. Nepszabadsag bows before monsters in skirts and proud fairies - and before Magda Szabo, whose stories deal with both. In Gazeta Wyborcza, Dorota Maslowska says why drama is like maths. The TLS reads Thomas Pynchon's new novel as a protest against the experience of being obliterated. In DU, Felicitas Hoppe admits she can't swim before being baptised at the Equator. Wired wonders how it's possible to sell Meow Mix with exploding cats. In Elet es Irodalom, Laszlo Földenyi celebrates the shadowy paintings of Attila Szücs. And The New York Times tells the CIA to develop mob intelligence.
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Merkur testifies to the eccentricity of Europeans. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco reads the Koran and Tertullian. The Weltwoche interviews Ahmed Scheikh of Al Jazeera. In Figaro, Alain Finkielkraut protects Robert Redeker from his "Yes, but..." defenders. The TLS is fed up with political moral apostles and Literaturen, with writings from the new politics of values. The British are buying Bulgaria, says Przekroj. And Nepszabadsag longs for capitalism with a human face.
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Die Weltwoche visits the jubilant Taliban. Author Hector Abad Faciolince writes in Semana that at least the Colombians seem to be fed up with killing. Prospect knows what would make England happy: Scottish independence. The New York Review of Books portrays Barack Obama, possibly the next president of the United States. Jonathan Israel summons NRC Handelsblad readers: Remember Spinoza! And Elet es Irodalom tells why Hungary is a nascent democracy.
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Historian Irfan Habib criticises the colonialists in Outlook India, while the Guardian limits itself to the bad colonialists. In Nepszabadsag, György Konrad sees the spirit of vendetta passing through south-east Europe. Elet es Irodalom sings praises of the Sulzbergers. Folio goes shopping. And in Le point, Bernhard-Henri Levy defends the Saddam trial.
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The magazines are worried about the state of democracy. In Gazeta Wyborcza, democracy in Poland reminds philosopher Leszek Koczanowicz of a sucked egg. The New York Times complains of Bush's intellectual dishonesty. In Elet es Irodalom, Janos Kis sees Hungary in a dead end. Outlook India describes the headscarf as a symbol of compromise. In Asharq al-Awsat, Algerian intellectuals are outraged at French hypocrisy. Al Ahram wants to have done with historical guilt. And in Die Weltwoche, Mario Vargas Llosa figures out what his Mexican-American cleaning lady must be making.
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The New Republic encourages Europeans to embrace unlimited freedom of speech – including Holocaust denial. Bernard-Henri Levy opposes this view, in Le Point: negation is part of the crime itself. Outlook India takes a look at beauty salons in slums. Der Merkur describes the connection between the cultural arrogance of Islam and economic breakdown. In the NRC Handelsblad, reporter Vik Franke explains how he shot back in Afghanistan. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, Adam Michnik writes about differences between the Polish and Hungarian revolutions.
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Atlantic Monthly marvels at Hillary Clinton's talent for manipulation. In Outlook India, Arundhati Roy protests the death sentence for Mohammed Afzal. In Al Ahram, Elias Khoury interprets the Nobel Prize for Orhan Pamuk as the text's revenge against its author. Bernard-Henri Levy wants Anna Politkovskya to be Putin's pang of conscience. In Elet es Irodalom, Peter Nadas and Peter Esterhazy reflect on the Uprising of 1956. Gazeta Wyborcza reminds us that 1956 also saw a revolution in Poland. And The New York Times Magazine documents the rise of the Taliban.
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In the NRC Handelsblad, Ian Buruma looks at the whining Neocons and asks: "Where is the debate?In the Gazeta Wyborcza, Neocon Norman Podhoretz says Islamic fundamentalism is the new totalitarianism. In Asharq Al-Awsat, historian Abdesselam Cheddadi demands that the Arab world re-read their Ibn Khaldun. The Spectator sees South Africa in grave difficulties. L'Express introduces a new philosophy which is an old one. The New Yorker sings the praises of the German universities of the 19th century. Die Weltwoche calls the West's reaction to North Korea resolutely perplexed. And The New York Times Magazine portrays Wang Hui, leader of China's New Left.
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Vanity Fair investigates the Haditha massacre. Asharq Al-Awsat is amazed that intellectual Muslim women are defining the image of Islam in America. Outlook India could care less about fiction's camouflage. Der Spiegel knows what Putin wants to buy in Germany. In Semana, Hector Abad Faciolince calls American suburbs a forecourt to hell. DU is dedicated to Rebecca Horn. And Lorenzo de Medici explains in Die Weltwoche why it's okay for his family to die out.
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Literaturen pays tribute to Joachim Fest's father. The New York Review of Books knows something that's hotter than GoogleBooks: Espresso Printing! Outlook India is concerned about Pervez Musharraf. The TLS thinks it knows why Günter Grass was so quiet for so long about his SS membership. Lettre prints the best literary reportage in the world. In Gazeta Wyborcza, Salman Rushdie pays respect to artists in Islamic countries. And Express is embarrassed to be French.
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In Outlook India, Vikram Seth asks if bisexuality is a crime. In Nepszabadsag, Peter Esterhazy and Peter Nadas defend their Prime Minister Gyurcsany - even if he did lie. In the New York Review of Books, Timothy Garton Ash reflects on Islam in Europe. In the Nouvel Obs, Julian Barnes writes "Madame Bovary" anew. Al Ahram grumbles about the Pope's speech in Regensburg and Le Point grumbles about intellectual terrorism.
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Outlook India remembers the 65,000 Indian soldiers who died in WWI. Die Weltwoche describes the new Internet boom as a sort of giant sing-along. In the London Review of Books, Tony Judt searches for the American liberals and finds only a service class. Il Foglio portrays the Social Democrat Euro MP Lilli Gruber. Elet es Irodalom visits the garden of Budapest's Dohany Synagogue, a memorial to Hungarian embarrassment. The TLS wades its way through 2000 years of medical misadventure. In Le Figaro, philosopher Philippe Raynaud analyses France's extreme Left. The New York Times hails in the age of satire.
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