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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
The New York Times investigates the new hunger for reality. In Salon, Andrzej Stasiuk sees only individual realities. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, the ethnologist Tomasz Rakowski describes the reality of the Polish poor mines. Sometimes you can turn reality on its head, El Pais reads in the Financial Times. Le Monde diplomatique gives the low-down on the ACTA talks. And the New Yorker dreams of less polish and a bit more grit.
In Magyar Narancs Agnes Heller demands more civil courage of the Hungarians. Mohammed Ali Atassi explains in Qantara, why conservatives in Egypt see women as candy: either wrapped or covered in flies. Oliver Roy outlines in Resetdoc, why's there not so much as a hair's breadth between the Christian right and the secular left. In Magazin, the philosopher Ludwig Haslar tells the Swiss that if they want mediocrity today, they cannot expect the superman tomorrow. Jonathan Safran Foer tells Prospect why he neither wants a chicken in his bed nor on his plate. The NYT embarks on a human-flesh search and finds a kitten killer.
The New Yorker tells the story of how corrupt podiatrists almost brought down the US health system. In Polityka, the Kapuscinski biographer Artur Domoslawski explains how he thinks the legendary reporter should be read. In Tygodnik, Zygmunt Bauman calls for more understanding for Kapuscinski. Magyar Narancs celebrates the ban on Holocaust denial in Hungary. In Le Point, Jorge Semprun asks whether Claude Lanzmann is the only person who's allowed to talk about the Holocaust. Wired describes how Google learned how to tell the difference between a hot dog and a poached pooch.
In Eurozine, the Transylvanian-Hungarian-Armenian writer Kinga Kali tells the story of a "virgjinesha". Prospect celebrates the next art superstar, Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. The Gazeta Wyborcza explains how young people use the web. The New Yorker sends out a message to the depressed: stay away from psychiatric literature. Outlook Indian learns to play Carnatic music online. The London Review swims with the salmon sages.
The Atlantic finds out why the Chinese are not enemy number one in cyberspace. Elet es Irodalom asks why no one in Hungary is interested in former informers. In New Statesman, Tariq Ramadan can't tell us what a moderate Muslim is. The Guardian hearkens to the ticking bomb in Emily Dickinson's bosom and links it to the shards of crockery on the floor. And if it can't smoke, El Pais Semanal wants everything painted black.
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.