Cornelia Funke tells stories of fairies and mud monsters, of adventurous girls, a gang of children in Venice ? and her stories somewhere between fantasy and adventure are Germany?s most successful literary export at the moment....
more
Elet es Irodalom | Nepszabadsag | The New Statesman | Al Ahram Weekly | Der Spiegel | The Guardian | Kommune | Outlook India | Reportajes | Le Point| The Spectator | Gazeta Wyborcza | Le Nouvel Observateur
Elet es Irodalom, 03.02.2006 (Hungary)
After its report on Istvan Szabo's collaboration with the secret police, ES magazine goes on to disclose information about the role other prominent Hungarians played as informers: Cardinal Laszlo Paski and filmmaker Zsolt Kezdi Kovacs. The young historian Krisztian Ungvary quotes from Cardinal Paskai's secret police file, and calls on the Hungarian Bishops' Conference to break its silence: "Everyone who drags his secret Stasi past along behind him is still a slave of the dictatorship, 15 years after the end of communism…. The terrible truth is now coming out that even those who collaborated only half-heartedly with the secret police also developed a kind of loyalty to the state over time, although they were debased and humiliated by it."
Zsolt Kezdi Kovacs tells how Istvan Szabo and he were picked up, interrogated, kicked and insulted by the secret police. He describes the moment he decided to write reports on his fellow students: "We took the elevator down into the depths of the jail, it was six months after the failed uprising and I felt this was a fundamentally unequal fight. I was never particularly courageous, but courage wouldn't have helped things much here anyway. I knew I wouldn't have the strength to bear the blows or give up everything I'd finally been able to achieve: being able to study at the film school… I could hardly imagine I could give the secret police information about my friends, my parents or anyone else I knew that could get them into trouble. The sole possible strategy was to wait it out and beat around in the bush."
Nepszabadsag, 02.02.2006 (Hungary)
Hungary is having a hard time facing up to its past, writes historian Robert Braun, who discovers parallels between how the country has treated the case of Istvan Szabo and how it dealt with the Holocaust: "Without wanting to equate the two totalitarian systems, one can at least state that both forms of dictatorship came as a decisive blow to moral values. Precisely for this reason it is hugely important to face up to the challenge of memory – both of the Holocaust and of socialism. More interesting than Istvan Szabo's life is for me the lack of gumption in many people's reactions. Silence is also no good, because silence is the flight from judgement. When remembering our past we should bear in mind a moral difference: in totalitarian regimes there were perpetrators, victims, resistance fighters and voyeurs. What we have to start talking about is who was what."
The New Statesman, 06.02.2006 (USA)
As an extra in a filming of a Henry James book, the author Siri Hustvedt
learned the pleasant and consciousness-altering effects of a corset.
She now knows the charms of the hoop skirt and a petticoat padded at
the hips. "No one can scrub floors in a hoop. If you're wearing one,
it's a sign that during the day you are never on your knees. It is
possible to arrange flowers in a hoop, lift a teacup, read a book, and
point out tasks to your servants. The hoop was a sign of class; its
restriction meant luxury. Like the Chinese aristocrat with fingernails
a yard long, it tells a story: "I do not work for money."
Al Ahram Weekly, 02.02.2006 (Egypt)
Gihan Shahine reports on the reactions in the Arab world to the caricatures of Mohammed and the apology published in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten.
Some people are demanding tougher boycotting and others, such as the
Islamic scholar Abdel-Sabour Shahine, are preaching tolerance in the
name of the prophet. "Mohammed was himself constantly the target of
hostilities and his reactions were so tolerant that even his enemies eventually became Muslims."
In an article on Steven Spielberg's
film "Munich" the political scientist Joseph Massad accuses Speilberg
of distorting the facts and points out that "the Palestinian violence
was a reaction to the Zionist conquest and murder." Spielberg gave the
Israeli terrorists a human face. "They laugh, love, cook, eat,
kill, regret." But the Palestinians seem to be completely unscrupulous.
"Unlike their Israeli counterparts, they shoot without crying."
Der Spiegel, 06.02.2006 (Germany)
The Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali demands in an interview that the offending caricatures show be shown "everywhere" in the west. There
is no need for apologies. "Not a day goes by when radical Imams do not
preach hatred in their mosques. They call Jews and Christians inferior,
and we always allow this as freedom of speech. When will the
Europeans realise that the Islamists do not grant this
right to their ciritics?"
The Guardian, 04.02.2006 (UK)
The Indian author Pankaj Mishra, looks back with a cold shudder at his
former love of the Soviet Union, which led him even to celebrate the
invasion of Afghanistan. "I remember being shocked by a picture of
Jimmy Carter in the White House with his feet on his desk. And later I
was equally shocked to know that Americans had elected a film actor as
their president. Could such men be trusted? In contrast, the pictures
of Soviet leaders radiated benign power and knowledge. I examined these
as closely as a Kremlinologist, but for signs and portents of my own
future. Those brows of Brezhnev; the melancholy of Gromyko; the steely
seriousness of Suslov - how eloquently they spoke of a selfless
dedication to social and economic justice!"
Kommune, 01.02.2006 (Germany)
Sonja Margolina describes how Russia, particularly in the wake of the Chechnyian war, is turning into a xenophobic ethnocracy,
with the active support of the Kremlin. "The fuelling of local
conflicts and provocations by the secret services were always among the
tried and tested instruments of the soviet secret service. Today the
politics of 'controlled instability' serves the self-enrichment and the
hold on power of the new 'security oligarchy', which with its eye on
2008, has launched 'Operation Successor'.
Whether the
Kremlin chooses to continue to control the xenophobia he has encouraged
or eventually loses its hold on the spirits he has unleashed, is a
crucial question of cynical power politics. In a multicultural society
like Russia, the only role nationalism can play for either the
majority or the minority, is a destructive one."
Outlook India, 13.02.2006 (India)
In the title story, Anjali Puri breaches the subject of private clinic tourism which is
increasingly beleaguering India, or should one say delighting? The hype
fuelled in the western media about the global health bazaar is
attracting patients from the USA, Canada and Britain, where a decent
heath insurance has by now become unattainable for many. "People from
the West will travel thousands of miles, to so-called cholera country,
for medical treatment—if the price is right, and the quality is right."
With an estimated 2.3 billion dollar turnover in private health care,
this represents a huge boom for the Indian economy. "So, after
incredible temples, incredible tigers and incredible yoga, it's now
going to be incredible doctors backed by incredible technology" in the tourist catalogues. One asks what the poorly provided for
Indian patients should do. Travel to the West?
Reportajes, 05.02.2006 (Chile)
The new Chilean president Michelle Bachelet spent time in exile in East Germany in
the seventies. The writer Roberto Ampuero speculates
on the
influence that Bachelet's experiences with the socialist "gerontocracy"
might have had on her unconventional and pragmatic style of
politics. Ampuero, who also spent some time in East Berlin as an exile,
illustrates the fundamental changes that have taken place since those
days. "The former East German office of the Chilean government which
was brought down in a putsch – the 'Oficina Chile
Antifascista' – is today a swinger club with the odd name of 'Pärchen
Contact' (couple contact) – the abbreviation of which has been sprayed
in red over the entrance: PC."
Le Point, 02.02.2006 (France)
A "bomb" is what Le Point calls "Journal atrabilaire" (published by Gallimard) by Jean Clair, current director of the Picasso Museum in Paris and curator of the very successful "Melancholie" exhibition at the Grand Palais. In his "caustic diary" Clair also settles scores with French cultural policy. Le Point prints an excerpt from the book, including Claire's views on "Museum Night", which takes place across Europe. "Yesterday evening the Picasso Museum received 4,633 culture zealots, not counting the prams. An unbearable ruckus and appalling heat. To prevent themselves from falling over, the visitors clung to the pictures. There were no attendants to stop them, for lack of money to pay overtime. (…) Here like everywhere else people do nothing but shamelessly squander the riches of the past. Without stopping to count the costs, we write a bill of exchange for the inheritance entrusted to us. We neither increase it, nor maintain it, nor protect it. A decadent sell-out."
The Spectator, 04.02.2006 (UK)
Daniel Wolf misses open censorship as it was still practised in England in the 1960s, writing in a commentary that not only was it more truthful, it also showed better taste. "To think that we have reached new heights of freedom, and therefore
perfection, because we have lost a measure of restraint is a classic
error. Free speech today, in the absence of censorship, is as
thoroughly policed as it was in the days before the rise of
television and the internet, perhaps more so. As the government
exploits public indifference towards the essential principles of a free
society, controversial views are classified as 'unacceptable' and
'inappropriate' by a host of interest groups."
Gazeta Wyborcza, 04.02.2006 (Poland)
"Poland is a country of neuroses and tragicomedies. But I like that, literature thrives on it," says writer Andrzej Stasiuk in an interview with the Polish newspaper. He tells how his origins from Praga, the poor district in Warsaw on the right bank of the Vistula have made him who he is: "Moldovia, Albania and Romania are to a certain extent also on the wrong banks of Europe. I try to equalise this role of second-best. I can't say which bank is better, or which is worse. I can only say what fascinates me about the far side: its incompetence, shyness, humility and hopelessness. The better side of Europe couldn't exist without its distorted image."
Le Nouvel Observateur, 02.02.2006 (France)
The English author Jonathan Coe writes on the "Blair Years", which are also the topic of his most recent novel "The Closed Circle". For Coe, Blair is "both the symptom and the motor of his epoch…. He appeared as a charismatic beacon, one who seduced the electorate as no Labour politician had done before him. And when the old Leftists in the party recognised which way his policies were heading, they reacted like spurned lovers." The worst was that Blair lied about the reasons for the Iraq War, writes Coe. But "that has now been forgotten. None of those in positions of power deigned to stand by their mistakes. It is astonishing that the most eloquent resistance to this war came from the political Right. You come to the end of rousing opinion pieces that you can only applaud, and find the name of a former minister in Thatcher's government!"
RSS
In Eurozine the 69-year-old Catalan philosopher Xavier Rubert de Ventos admits to his growing radicality. In Nepszabadsag the 75-year-old writer György Konrad declares: remembering is rebellion. In Artforum the 84-year-old philosopher Artur C. Danto thinks about art and revolution. In The New Republic Anne Applebaum takes a hammer to Nicholson Baker's pacifist polemic "Human Smoke". In Folio Christian Demand sends out a distress signal for art criticism. And the Spectator portrays the Anglican Church's only openly gay Bishop.
In the TLS, tenor Ian Bostridge writes about music under totalitarianism. The New Yorker introduces the millionaire-nerd-led group "Intellectual Ventures". Caffe Europe describes Aldo Moro's attempt to reconcile Church and communism. Nepszabadsag and Elet es Irodalom analyse the frequently misundertood concept of "competition" in Hungary. The London Review of Books explains Thabo Mbeki's motivations for backing Mugabe. And in the Weltwoche, violinist Julia Fischer demonstrates how to put up a wall.
Literaturen searches in the giant haystack of literature on '68 for a book on equal rights. The TLS rediscovers the man who sexed the English language. In Outlook India, political scientist Kishore Mahbubani closes the lid on Western cultural dominance. The New York Review of Books looks at the dominance of the national conservatives in Putin's Russia. Le Monde des livres reports on a clash of historians over the role of Islam in the Middle Ages. The Economist fears for freedom of the press in Eastern Europe. And the New York Times portrays Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswan.
In the Weltwoche, Tom Ford makes the case for full, natural pubic hair. Vanity Fair blames Bill Keller for the diminishing Timesness of the New York Times. In Espresso, Umberto Eco mourns the diminishing importance of the newpapers all together. The Times waves its fork about over the English breakfast. In L'Express, über ad-man Maurice Levy wants to give the industry a complete rehaul. The LRB experiences the joy of French painting, the TLS the joy of German Romanticism, the Economist the joy of Japanese "infantile capitalism and Al Ahram, the joy of Russian photography. The New Yorker conquers English with Li Yang.
Elet es Irodolam knows that 'minor literature' doesn't have to be political to be political. World Affairs defends Hirsi Ali, Bruckner and Berman against Buruma, Garton Ash und Ramadan. Rue 89 works through a black book of censorship. In the TLS professor of geriatric medicine, Raymond Tallis, argues that too much brain is the death of literary criticism. Hector Abad speaks out against literary protectionism in Semana. Outlook India is thoroughly put out: revolution is simply not cricket. And Vanity Fair plunges into icy water with the Russians. 
The New Left Review introduces China's most influential intellectual magazine, Dushu. Outlook India would be embarrassed to be embarrassed by the Dalai Lama. "Generation 1,000 Euro" has made into Italian cinemas, Caffe Europa reports. In Nepszabadsag, philosopher Gaspar Miklos Tama declares an end to the days of anti-Semitic journalism. Folio is bowled over by the musical compositions of electronic engineer William Sethares. The New York Times is transported back to the founding of Liberia. And Vanity Fair picks apart Monsanto.
In the Blätter Jürgen Habermas joins the debate launched by signandsight.com and Perlentaucher about Islam in Europe. Merkur reveals how Adorno pinned his hopes on the Nazis and had them dashed. In La vie des idees philospher Philippe Lacour celebrates the true DJ of digital knowledge. In Literaturen Micha Brumlik reviews the new Carl Schmitt biography by Christian Lindner. Nepszabadsag takes the pulse of the unconscious body of Hungary. In Edge.org evolutionary biologist Iain Couzin explains the importance of one mormon cricket wanting to bite another in the rear. And New Republic puts its favourite Democrat on the cover.
Le debat explains why the press is on its way out. The New York Times is starting to look like the next victim of a hostile takeover by Murdoch, fears Howell Raines in Portfolio. The New Yorker sees the end in sight for the entire American newspaper industry. ResetDoc examines the role of immigrants in the Italian election campaign. In Europa, Leszek Kolakowski philosophises on success. Aharon Applefeld tells Rue89 what he will be writing about when he turns 268. And Die Weltwoche asks whether anyone in German literature is still taking risks.
Vanity Fair exposes a scandalously covert, Bush-approved operation in the Middle East. In the NYRB, Nicholson Baker extols the virtues of the Wiki vandal. Edwy Plenel announces the launch of a new independent online paper Mediapart. L'Espresso sniffs out the diabolicalness of cheese. Expert Sibir sounds out the Siberian art market. And the Economist inspects the tumorous bureaucracy in the belly of the tiger.
The London Review of Books is concerned about second-hand journalism in Britain. Prospect fills us in on the Chinese intellectual scene. Al Ahram explains why Egyptians prefer their flags made in China. Caffe Europa asks: where was Tariq Ramadan when Milan Kundera's book was banned at the Cairo Book Fair. And Gazeta Wyborcza examines the self-confidence of the Polish worker.
A healthy selection this week! Nigerian women should be punished, because they've only got oil on the brain, The Atlantic discovers. Nepszabadsag is amazed: Jan T. Gross has avoided offending the Turkishness of the Poles by the skin of his teeth. Columbian Hector Abad Faciolince sees the human face of Swiss conservatism. The precariat is today's working class, Telerama announces. Al Ahram introduces the first beauty salon for veiled women. And Denis Johnson discovers Paul Wolfowitz's wet dream in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The New York Review of Books sees the future of America in a Harlem hairdressers. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, Serbian historian Slavenko Terzic declares Kosovo's independence illegal. The London Review of Books considers the links between Modernism and liberalism, or the lack thereof. In the Novel Obs, Edgar Morin explains how he became a radical anti-Stalinist. Zanan is dead, long live Zanan! cries Al Ahram. The New York Times portrays the Turkish-Kurdish politician Abdullah Demirbas who wanted to ease the pressure on the Kurds and Armenians to assimilate in Turkey.
Why do Germans like Nicolas Gomez Davila, asks Semana. Le Monde diplomatique goes on a cruise with some Park Avenue ladies. The Spectator buries Venice. Nepszabadsag looks for real Hungarian liberal democrats. In Edge.org, Kevin Kelly looks to the future of the culture industry in the internet. And Portfolio has seen the nemesis of the culture industry in the internet.
The Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik warns about Google the monster snoop. Merkur has a transcendental experience with Gerhard Richter and Swarovski. Prospect worries about traditional book reviewing. In Nepszabadsag, historian Dusan Kovac looks into the likelihood of Hungarian-Slovakian reconciliation. And the New Statesman searches for the mild Anglican God.