What do you think?
Rate this book
Granta: The Magazine of New Writing #137
Granta 137
When does a movement become a cult? In this issue we focus on faith, on the appeal of surrendering oneself to a higher power, of becoming a follower. What's the difference between conviction, groupthink and madness?
Miriam Toews, Matilda Gustavsson, Ken Follett and Lauren Hough on growing up in sects
Emmanuel Carrère and Darcy Padilla
New fiction from John Connell, Luke Kennard, Adam Thorpe and Padma Viswanathan
The diary of Ivan Chistyakov, a Gulag prison guard
Aatish Taseer meets the Brahmins of Varanasi
Miriam Toews, Matilda Gustavsson, Ken Follett and Lauren Hough on growing up in sects
Emmanuel Carrère and Darcy Padilla
New fiction from John Connell, Luke Kennard, Adam Thorpe and Padma Viswanathan
The diary of Ivan Chistyakov, a Gulag prison guard
Aatish Taseer meets the Brahmins of Varanasi
248 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2016
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Sigrid Rausing
45 books52 followersSigrid Rausing is Editor and Publisher of Granta magazine and Publisher of Granta and Portobello Books. She is the author of History, Memory and Identity in Post-Soviet Estonia: The End of a Collective Farm and Everything is Wonderful, which has been translated into four different languages.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 2, 2017
The draft title for the Autumn 2016 edition of Granta was "Followers". The poems, stories, and photographs cover (mostly) those who follow religious and political sects. Typically of Granta's internationalism, the writers and artists originate from Russia, India, Sweden, South Korea, Ireland, and the US. The quality of writing is uneven, but there are two pieces that haunt me: Miriam Toews' autobiographical story about the unintended consequences of Mennonite theology. Also, the photographs taken by Toms van Houtry from a drone showing unsuspecting US civilians. The collection is titled "Gray Skies" after an Afghan child, orphaned in a drone strike, said "I no longer love blue skies. In fact, I prefer gray skies. The drones do not fly when skies are gray." The photographs are eerie, capturing vulnerability from an unexpected angle. I was so taken by them, I remembered the blue sea where surfers paddled; the lush green where families picnicked. Returning to the photographs after a few days, I was surprised to see they are in black and white.
November 27, 2016
Yet another fine, disturbing, provocative issue. In the US, given recent election results and fear and trembling, much here to consider in light of those results. However, the issue stands alone and hope is a thing with feathers.
I was most struck by the memoir pieces - The Brethren, Amway, the diary of a Gulag prison guard, the Swedish cult- as well as the fiction, especially "The Transition" by Luke Kennard and Adam Thorpe's "My Angel." With fierce poetry and photographs of S. Korean students (whose suicide rate is rocketing) and of a twenty-year relationship between photographer and subject that ends the issue, there is much to "fall into." I finished "Julie's Life" this morning as rain peppered the windows of the bedroom. So much to think about regarding artists and subjects, form and content, truth and fancy, devotion and abandonment.
Is poverty of body and soul the key to wanting? To giving up? To persevering? Is there an angel waiting for all of us if we can only see? Or are too many doomed to finding the quicker fix in God, money, possessions, children, ecstasy, sex and drink and drugs?
Hope is a thing with feathers. There must be hope of freedom to/from/for in order for there to be flight that holds.
I was most struck by the memoir pieces - The Brethren, Amway, the diary of a Gulag prison guard, the Swedish cult- as well as the fiction, especially "The Transition" by Luke Kennard and Adam Thorpe's "My Angel." With fierce poetry and photographs of S. Korean students (whose suicide rate is rocketing) and of a twenty-year relationship between photographer and subject that ends the issue, there is much to "fall into." I finished "Julie's Life" this morning as rain peppered the windows of the bedroom. So much to think about regarding artists and subjects, form and content, truth and fancy, devotion and abandonment.
Is poverty of body and soul the key to wanting? To giving up? To persevering? Is there an angel waiting for all of us if we can only see? Or are too many doomed to finding the quicker fix in God, money, possessions, children, ecstasy, sex and drink and drugs?
Hope is a thing with feathers. There must be hope of freedom to/from/for in order for there to be flight that holds.
June 6, 2017
What drew me to this issue was Aatish Taseer's powerful piece about hindu nationalists in India. I also enjoyed a few other stories, including Ken Follett's Bad Faith, Vladimir in Love by Lara Vapnyar, and Going Diamond by Sarah Gerard. Faith was the theme of this issue. Overall, this was sub-par for Granta
Read
March 14, 2017Bad Faith
I read with pleasure the memoir of Ken Follett, it is written in first person and it is very personal, he speaks of his childhood, a truly nightmare.
"I was not allowed to go to movies as a child. There was a cinema in Cowbridge Road, Cardiff, not far from my home..."
Kennett explains his point of view and the reasons of this privation, where he passed his free time in a library rather than in the cinema.
In this short story, the author tells us that he was a member of the "Plymouth Brethren" a protestant sect.
From his pen emerges the life of his father a "victim" of this sect, a repulsion for the world, contaminated by the sins, to be absolutely avoided.
There were also a "war" between sects, at page 56 (Granta 137), he said: "My uncle Ken was not allowed to attend the funeral, even though she was his sister, because it was a service of rival sect."
Fortunately, for Ken his "way out" was a book, that changed his world, the title was "Father and Son" written by Edmund Grosse, the story of a young man who rejects the Plymouth Brethren.
Surprisingly he did not become a staunch atheist, but he said that "he chose philosophy in the hope that it would help me resolve my doubts about the existence of God" but he become an atheist after his graduation.
The title of this short novel is not linked to his childhood but by a phrase of Sartre an existentialist.
"If you hand moral responsibility to another authority - the Bible, or a priest or the Pope - you may simplify your life, but you lose a part of your humanity.
This what Sartre calls 'Bad Faith' " In my opinion the sects are extremely dangerous, for those people, that can be steer by others towards the radicalism and fundamentalism.
Ken tells us that his best character is "Prior Philip, a monk who cares for the spiritual and material welfare of his people here on earth" after this experience, Follet describes himself as a "lapsed atheist" who does not take the communion, but he likes going to the church as a member of the local choral.
Recently I finished to read "The Philosopher's pupil" of Iris Murdoch and, in my opinion the Prior Philip and Father Jacoby, believe in a Spiritual God, rather than a Personalised God.
I read with pleasure the memoir of Ken Follett, it is written in first person and it is very personal, he speaks of his childhood, a truly nightmare.
"I was not allowed to go to movies as a child. There was a cinema in Cowbridge Road, Cardiff, not far from my home..."
Kennett explains his point of view and the reasons of this privation, where he passed his free time in a library rather than in the cinema.
In this short story, the author tells us that he was a member of the "Plymouth Brethren" a protestant sect.
From his pen emerges the life of his father a "victim" of this sect, a repulsion for the world, contaminated by the sins, to be absolutely avoided.
There were also a "war" between sects, at page 56 (Granta 137), he said: "My uncle Ken was not allowed to attend the funeral, even though she was his sister, because it was a service of rival sect."
Fortunately, for Ken his "way out" was a book, that changed his world, the title was "Father and Son" written by Edmund Grosse, the story of a young man who rejects the Plymouth Brethren.
Surprisingly he did not become a staunch atheist, but he said that "he chose philosophy in the hope that it would help me resolve my doubts about the existence of God" but he become an atheist after his graduation.
The title of this short novel is not linked to his childhood but by a phrase of Sartre an existentialist.
"If you hand moral responsibility to another authority - the Bible, or a priest or the Pope - you may simplify your life, but you lose a part of your humanity.
This what Sartre calls 'Bad Faith' " In my opinion the sects are extremely dangerous, for those people, that can be steer by others towards the radicalism and fundamentalism.
Ken tells us that his best character is "Prior Philip, a monk who cares for the spiritual and material welfare of his people here on earth" after this experience, Follet describes himself as a "lapsed atheist" who does not take the communion, but he likes going to the church as a member of the local choral.
Recently I finished to read "The Philosopher's pupil" of Iris Murdoch and, in my opinion the Prior Philip and Father Jacoby, believe in a Spiritual God, rather than a Personalised God.
May 30, 2017
As usual from Granta, an eclectic mix of brilliant short stories that take you around the world, allowing you to delve into cultures and see life from many different angles. That is perhaps what I like most about Granta, not only are the stories so well written, but they also cover a diverse range of issues and life experiences, some fictional, some movingly and more soberingly non-fiction, like the very last story about Julie, a woman born into poverty and contracting HIV early in her life, a life that struggled to pull itself out of the gutter, and yet a life which has made a lasting impact.
January 1, 2018
Ken Follett grew up in a cult. Who knew? As of today, you and I, that's who. A pretty, pretty, pretty good collection here. If you are vicariously fascinated by cults, the first person accounts are gripping.
A fanciful tale of V. Putin's childhood is a hoot. Excerpts from a Gulag prison guard's diary are compelling, as is the tale of the photojournalist and her down and out subjects. Mr. Thorpe's tale of the monastic life is amusing if a bit on the nose.
A fanciful tale of V. Putin's childhood is a hoot. Excerpts from a Gulag prison guard's diary are compelling, as is the tale of the photojournalist and her down and out subjects. Mr. Thorpe's tale of the monastic life is amusing if a bit on the nose.
December 28, 2018
The best part of this book is a photo essay by Emmanuel Carrere( Julie's Life)
April 11, 2019
Best: The Interpreters
The one I liked the least: My Angel (what was the purpose?)
A good collection but not as great as "Canada".
The one I liked the least: My Angel (what was the purpose?)
A good collection but not as great as "Canada".
March 2, 2017
Essays were all captivating particularly those of Miriam Toews ad Ken Follett. My favorite piece was Julie's Life by Emmanuel Carrère on Darcy Padilla.
Read
December 8, 2016While this Granta isn't overtly titled as other issues are, many of the pieces are sharply focussed on the group or the community or sect. The accounts of life within small religious groups, (and the Amway Marketing group) and the futuristic story, The Transition, reveal intolerance, charlatanism, and our quest for fulfillment. Stories like Adam Thorpe's My Angel which is set within a monastery and contemplates a monk's struggle with his past experience in the face of his new existence, Aatish Taseer's The Interpreters, or even, Emmanuel Carrére's essay and Darcy Padilla's beautiful, harrowing, photography documenting a life in poverty, with HIV/AIDS explore the human bonds we form, rebel against, break.
Tomas Van Houtryve's drone photography brought me a new, uncomfortable awareness of that new technology.
The Diary Of A Gulag Prison Guard is a valuable historical document.
Lara Vapynar's contribution is an enjoyable imagining of a particular world leader in love.
I didn't find the poetry in this issue so compelling, but after writing this review, I think I have a sharper lens to reread them through.
Tomas Van Houtryve's drone photography brought me a new, uncomfortable awareness of that new technology.
The Diary Of A Gulag Prison Guard is a valuable historical document.
Lara Vapynar's contribution is an enjoyable imagining of a particular world leader in love.
I didn't find the poetry in this issue so compelling, but after writing this review, I think I have a sharper lens to reread them through.
December 30, 2016
fascinating focus on religious fringe groups and cults. Also loved the timely takedown of Amway. I'm sure Betsy DeVos will bring all the scams, pyramid schemes, hucksterism of Amway to our federal government as Sec. of Education; can't wait for that fraud to begin. Maybe we all be able to "Go Diamond" for all that's worth. Luke Kennard's piece, The Transition, also was intriguing and profoundly on point; I look forward to reading the novel when it becomes available in the US. And, the profound sadness and humanity of the story behind Darcy Padilla's photo essay is not to be missed. Also I was struck by the photos by Francoise Huguier of the South Korean Healing Center. When you realize what the photos involve, it is both eerie and startlingly hopeful.
February 6, 2017
Some exquisite work here. Particularly loved the memoir pieces, 'Diary of a Gulag Prison Guard,' and 'The Interpreters' (by Aatish Taseer - fabulous writer) & the photos and stories accompanying 'Julie's life' - v poignant.
Read
December 13, 2016Always good reading
February 6, 2017
uneven. some of these pieces are great. some are...not.
March 25, 2017
The theme of this issue (cults) wasn't particularly interesting for me, and nothing jumped out. Usually, each issue of Granta has one or two stories/essays/poems I will reread, but this one doesn't. Looking forward to the next issue...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews