Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 6/05/2024
Robert wrote: "The Guardian ran several photos of the Kremlin's May 9 march. Putin will never let go of the Second World War.Once my Russian friend and I were talking about the choice of dates. The Germans sign..."
the pint-sized goblin has really dined out on "Victory Day", i would imagine a lot of green paint was used and many Potemkin missiles rumbled along yesterday
If only the russians had never reached Berlin....
Gift links to dueling reviews of Never Say You've Had a Lucky Life: Especially If You've Had a Lucky Life and Familiarity Breeds Content: New and Selected Essays.From Michael Dirda:
Epstein feels utter contempt for our nation’s “radical change from a traditionally moral culture to a therapeutic one.” As he explains: “Our parents’ culture and that which came long before them was about the formation of character; the therapeutic culture was about achieving happiness. The former was about courage and honor, the latter about self-esteem and freedom from stress.” This view of America’s current ethos may come across as curmudgeonly and reductionist, but many readers — whatever their political and cultural leanings — would agree with it. Still, such comments have sometimes made their author the focus of nearly histrionic vilification.
https://wapo.st/3wsXrQq
And Dwight Garner:
He grew up in Chicago, where his father manufactured costume jewelry. The young Epstein was popular and, in high school, lettered in tennis. His title refers to being lucky, and a big part of that luck, in his estimation, was to grow up back when kids could be kids, before “the therapeutic culture” took over.
This complaint sets the tone of the book. His own story is set next to a rolling series of cultural grievances. He’s against casual dress, the prohibition of the word “Negro,” grade inflation, the Beat Generation, most of what occurred during the 1960s, standards slipping everywhere, de-Westernizing college curriculums, D.E.I. programs, you name it. His politics aren’t the problem. We can argue about those. American culture needs more well-read conservatives. The problem is that in his search for teachable moments, his memoir acquires the cardboard tone of a middling opinion column.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/22/bo...
I read the NYRB article on what does a jew look like and the Tom of Finland article tooAs for regarding what a jew looks like, i think the amazing blend of genes over 2000 odd years, on contact with europe is a huge factor. The majority ashkenazi seem to resemble the whole spectrum of european ethnicity, while the Mizrahi(arab jews) and sephardi(spanish-portugese jews) are less diverse. But i think outside an insane Nazi guidebook, its very hard to define what a jew looks like.
As for Tom of Finland, i'm not familiar with his work or his world but the fetishization of Nazi imagery and uniforms seems incredibly naive, as there would be no place for the encounters he draws in Nazi society, without the most severe repercussions.
Bill wrote: "Gift links to dueling reviews of Never Say You've Had a Lucky Life: Especially If You've Had a Lucky Life and Familiarity Breeds Content: New and Selected Essays...."
I never heard of Joseph Epstein until now, so didn't have particular opinion on him or his views. After the briefest of glances at his wikipedia article, my impression is that I wouldn't be in line with most of his views.
I think it's one thing to question some of the excesses of American-style identity politics and the tunnel-vision it often seems to encourage but it's another thing entirely to deny or ignore the very real discrimination, racism, sexism, etc that is at the bottom of those politics. Perhaps I'm wrong but my impression is that Epstein is tending a little too far in that direction for me.
AB76 wrote: "is he accessible or quite tricky to read? sometimes the victorian style of essayists can be tricky. I love the non-fiction of Dickens but as yet havent explored Arnold, Ruskin or Carlyle. I loathed JS Mill as i had to study too much of him at uni but i was a younger, more rebellious soul then. I remember Hazlitt(non victorian) really dissapointed me, i eagerly started a volume of his and never finished it, that was only a few years ago but i loved Addisson and Steele from roughly 60-70 years earlier"It's been a while but my memory is that Carlyle is very entertaining while Ruskin very intelligent and insightful but not always an easy read. Mill I haven't read much and that little was decades ago, so I don't really have an opinion on him right now.
I like Hazlitt, though, so our tastes may differ in this area. I will say that he can be hit and miss, but when he's at his best, he's great.
Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "is he accessible or quite tricky to read? sometimes the victorian style of essayists can be tricky. I love the non-fiction of Dickens but as yet havent explored Arnold, Ruskin or Carly..."I guess i expected too much of Hazlitt, i liked the first few essays i read but then i became less and less motivated.
I should return and read some more Mill
Berkley wrote: "I never heard of Joseph Epstein until now, so didn't have particular opinion on him or his views. After the briefest of glances at his wikipedia article, my impression is that I wouldn't be in line with most of his views."I read one book of essays by Epstein, In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage, which I enjoyed very much, but I can’t say that I felt that his critical convictions arose out of an idiosyncratic personal taste, which is what makes a truly engaging critic.
His dislikes, as with Mortimer Adler, seemed personal rather than aesthetic. The writers he most favored: Jane Austen, Henry James, Marcel Proust, were extremely conventional choices, and he didn’t end up selling me on reading more or, in the case of the Frenchman, any of their work.
I don't recall that any of the essays in that collection were explicitly or implicitly political.
AB76 wrote: "As for Tom of Finland, i'm not familiar with his work or his world but the fetishization of Nazi imagery and uniforms seems incredibly naive, as there would be no place for the encounters he draws in Nazi society, without the most severe repercussions."Well, from the biographical material in the article, Tom (real name Touko Laaksonen) did have sexual encounters with actual Nazis
After the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939, the nineteen-year-old Laaksonen was called to basic training and eventually put in charge of an antiaircraft crew. He remembered being disappointed by the loose-fitting Finnish uniforms, especially when contrasted with those of the Nazi soldiers, who arrived during Finland’s military alignment with Germany against the Soviets. Laaksonen began having anonymous public sex with Wehrmacht soldiers. “The whole Nazi philosophy, the racism and all that, is hateful to me, but of course I drew them anyway,” he later said. “They had the sexiest uniforms!” Hooven gingerly notes, “Many years later, Tom’s honesty in portraying his response to the powerful imagery of Nazism got him into trouble.” What his engagement with Nazi aesthetics means for our understanding of his art and its influence on contemporary queer identity remains a tangled question.Of course, the Nazi or quasi-Nazi figures in the drawings which brought him fame and notoriety are fantasy figures. The extent to which they stand for actual Nazis and their worldview depends to a great extent on the viewer's own reading of the image and, perhaps, the extent to which he shares or does not share the artist's sexual orientation and Tom's particular kinks and fetishes.
Berkley wrote: "it seems that it was the Reform Act of 1867 that gave most male citizens the vote, regardless of their social or economic status.."I'm not a historian, so am entirely dependent on what I can find online. According to Wikipedia:
... the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act, is an act of the British Parliament that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first time. It took effect in stages over the next two years, culminating in full commencement on 1 January 1869.[2][3]
Before the act, one million of the seven million adult men in England and Wales could vote; the act immediately doubled that number. Further, by the end of 1868 all male heads of household could vote...
...The bill enfranchised most men who lived in urban areas. The final proposals were as follows: a borough franchise for all who paid rates in person..., men who paid more than £10 rent per year,[9] and extra votes for graduates, professionals and those with over £50 savings. These last "fancy franchises" were seen by Conservatives as a weapon against a mass electorate.
The overall intent was to help the Conservative Party, Benjamin Disraeli expecting a reward for his sudden and sweeping backing of the reforms discussed, yet it resulted in their loss of the 1868 general election.
From the second paragraph, we can see that the electorate doubled approximately from 1 million to 2 million. I think we can safely assume that the working classes - or at least the poorer ones (!) were mainly to be found in the remaining 5 million men who could not vote. (Unless I have misunderstood something.)
Also, it seems that the Reform Act in its final form arose from the usual horse trading and political manoeuvring, with Disraeli using it as a means to split the opposition between pro- and anti-reform Liberals. But - alas and alack! - it didn't work as planned, and Disraeli lost the next election.
Robert wrote: "The Guardian ran several photos of the Kremlin's May 9 march. Putin will never let go of the Second World War.Once my Russian friend and I were talking about the choice of dates. The Germans sign..."
This is interesting, as it differs from the explanation given in Wikipedia*:
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official end of World War II in Europe in the Eastern Front, with the last known shots fired on 11 May.
Russia and some former Soviet countries celebrate on 9 May, as Germany's unconditional surrender entered into force at 23:01 on 8 May Central European Summer Time; this corresponded with 00:01 on 9 May in Moscow Time.
Whatever the truth of the matter, we were in France on 8 May, when VE Day is celebrated as a national holiday. (The British don't bother, rolling it up with Remembrance Day no doubt as a cunning ploy to avoid giving the shiftless working classes an extra day off!)
*Edit: Looking at a fuller version of events in the French Wikipedia, it seems as if Robert's account is correct, or closer to the full story:
1. 7 May 1945 - capitulation of German army on Western front to the allies, signed by general Jodl;
2. 8-9 May: this does not satisfy Stalin, who wants a surrender signed in Berlin (occupied by the Soviets) - hence the second signing in Berlin-Karlshorst by Keitel and von Friedeburg.
I suppose it's a signpost to what would come afterwards in terms of tension between the West and the Soviet Union that they could not even agree on the date of the end of WW2!
scarletnoir wrote: "Berkley wrote: "it seems that it was the Reform Act of 1867 that gave most male citizens the vote, regardless of their social or economic status.."I'm not a historian, so am entirely dependent on..."
Disraeli managed to transform the Tory Party from a protest group of landed gentry to a party that could fight and win much more democratic elections.
Bill wrote: "Gift links to dueling reviews of Never Say You've Had a Lucky Life: Especially If You've Had a Lucky Life and Familiarity Breeds Content: New and Selected Essays...."
Like Berkey, I had never heard of Epstein before, and also like him - based on these extracts - I feel disinclined to read any more.
Epstein seems to fall into the trap of the "Golden Era fallacy" (I made that up, but it may well have been used by others in the past!) whereby some period in the past - either in the author's youth, or even before that (think 'Victorian values') is deemed to have been so much better than the present.
The author then seeks evidence to support his assertion (it's usually a 'he' so let's not quibble about pronouns!) and assiduously ignores any inconvenient facts which point in the opposite direction. For example, in Victorian times, we didn't have universal suffrage and women were particularly badly done by the laws wrt their husbands; the British Empire acted as a means to transfer wealth from elsewhere more than anything else - hardly a 'moral' purpose... and so on. Of course great strides were made in science and technology, but politically the UK was still in the dark ages.
Only the most blinkered or ignorant reader of the Telegraph or the Mail could fail to concede those points.
Robert wrote: "Disraeli managed to transform the Tory Party from a protest group of landed gentry to a party that could fight and win much more democratic elections."No denying that this was the long term consequence; however, in the short term - and at the time - Disraeli's intention was simply to outmanoeuvre his hated rival Gladstone by splitting the Liberal party on the issue. According to Wikipedia, the version of the Reform act ended up being far more radical than he intended as a result of the horse trading!
I don't think we can assume the level of sagacity you imply in your comment from what little I've read. Of course, it may be that Disraeli's papers indicate a very far-seeing plan, for all I know.
scarletnoir wrote: "Berkley wrote: "it seems that it was the Reform Act of 1867 that gave most male citizens the vote, regardless of their social or economic status.."I'm not a historian, so am entirely dependent on..."
its a good question Scarlet about how many of the working class were voting. As i said before i would imagine the skilled working class may have been the ones to benefit most from the reform act, however the statistics are not clear at all, in an age before in depth analysis of voting became a feature of elections
i suspect in cities where the working class were strong, there would be a much larger skilled working class cohort, which may have gained the vote, Manchester could be an example.
The next city the Briggs studies is Leeds and it is clear that it is an older place than Manchester, with a more varied class make-up, strong middle class and even more non-conformist than Manchester. In the 1840-80 period a much smaller Irish community, although it was also a lot smaller than Manchester (172,000 vs around 300,000 in the 1850s).
Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Berkley wrote: "it seems that it was the Reform Act of 1867 that gave most male citizens the vote, regardless of their social or economic status.."I'm not a historian, so am e..."
his novels of the 1840s and 1850s are brilliant on the vision that he developed, the "two nations" of Sybil and his portrait of Manchester in Conigsby. Dizzy, the developing politician as novelist.
His transformative effect on the Tories was a sign of a canny political mind, though he didnt actually spend much time in office as PM, just over 7 years
One thing my reading of the superb WF Hermans novel A Guardian Angel Recalls has enlightened me on is the brave defiance of the Dutch army during the 7 day invasion of the Netherlands.,Alongside the novel i have been looking at dutch translated sources online of the short conflict and the Dutch managed at almost every level, to fustrate and delay the German advances. Paratroops seized airfields only to be fought off and isolated in the early days of the invasion, the complex water based Dutch defence system was obsolete due to the German air superiority but they held many crucial positions along dams and dikes, preventing the Germans from thwir objectives
The French and British were unable to assist in any large way as they were now fighting in Belgium and France. Torpedo boats were deployed on the Zuider Zee, where the Germans never suceeded in taking the dijk fortications in that area.
Sadly facing an enemy who were happy to level urban areas to gain victory, the Dutch realised they simply could not continue fighting like this and the Rotterdam tragedy ended in surrender.
An odd event was that during the surrender process, Para General Kurt Student was badly wounded by a stray bullet, causing anger among the Germa paras present. He nearly died if it wasnt for the dutch medics wo operated on him.(Dutch sources say it was a german bullet that hit him accidentally)
Some forces fought on in coastal Zeeland(near the Belgian border) but the 7 day conflict was over, the Dutch now faced 5 terrible years, ending in the devastating "Hongerwinter"
Mod
I read one book of essays by Epstein, In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage, which I enjoyed very much,..."
I’ve come across Epstein quite often in the press (mainly the WSJ) and have read another book of his Biographical Essays, which was really enjoyable. It has about 40 entries on people ranging from the Founding Fathers to more modern American figures such as Ralph Ellison, Henry Luce, Saul Bellow, AJ Liebling and Susan Sontag (a dissection) and, further afield, Hugh Trevor-Roper, Isaiah Berlin and Xenophon. I found it all very bright and entertaining. But, apart from Sontag, they were all men. I don’t recall the essays having a specifically political angle, though they do come from a conservative perspective. His rough equivalent in English terms might be Paul Johnson.
Mod
I guess i expected too much of Hazlitt, i liked the first few essays i read but then i became less and less motivated.
I should return and read some more Mill..."
I’ve read some of Ruskin and can highly recommend The Stones of Venice, which embodies a philosophy that lauds the spirit of the individual artist-craftsman of old over what he saw as the factory-machine culture of his own day. You feel he really captures what it was like to be alive and working as an artist in early Renaissance times.
I struggled with Unto This Last, which urges us all rather too sermon-like to be moral and labour for the social good. It seems to have been vastly influential in late Victorian England.
Hazlitt I dip into occasionally, when I’m prompted to look at a particular essay, and find him quite rewarding.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "is he accessible or quite tricky to read? sometimes the victorian style of essayists can be tricky. I love the non-fiction of Dickens but as yet havent exp..."thanks logger24.
i just found a collection of english essays i found in oxfam before xmas, relevant to victorian essaysists and later
Mod
I'm not a historian, so am entirely dependent on..."
its a good question Scarlet about how many of the working class were voting. ..."
Just as important for the franchise might have come five years later, when Gladstone’s government enacted the Ballot Act, which did not give the vote to any additional segment of the population but freed those working men who already had the vote, especially in rural areas, from the tyranny of being watched as they voted by their landlords and employers.
Mod
Those Penguin collections are great. I’m working through their collection of 20th century essays. What a trove of pleasure.
Logger24 wrote: "I’ve come across Epstein quite often in the press (mainly the WSJ) and have read another book of his Biographical Essays, which was really enjoyable."Reading the review of Epstein's memoir reminded me of Norman Podhoretz, another name non-US members probably don't know. I really enjoyed his memoir Making It without much liking the man himself.
Both were Jewish street kids who "got religion", first in the form of a liberal education (though it seems Epstein was pretty much an adult when this happened to him) and then conservative politics. Both maintained a whiff of the street in their truculent advocacy of their political ideas (though Podhoretz is more strident in this activity).
What particularly appealed to me in Podhoretz' memoir was his account of his Liza Doolittle-like transformation at the hands of an English teacher into a persona acceptable to be received in intellectual circles.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i just found a collection of english essays i found in oxfam before xmas... Those Penguin collections are great. I’m working through their collection of 20th century essays. What a t..."
i can get them for just £1 in my local Oxfam, secondhand, love finding these Pelican and Penguin collections
alongside my research on he German invasion of Holland, i have also dug out my second hand copy of The Flames of Calais by Airey Neave, covering the Siege of Calais, 1940Neave took part in the battle and was captured as he lay wounded on a stretcher and taken to hospital by the Germans. Calais was famously left to hold out to the end by Churchill as the Dunkirk evacuation plans were put into motion in late May.
3,000 British and 800 French soldiers fought in hellish conditions for 4 days, until they surrendered on May 26th. Calais was a ruin, but Churchill felt the resistance of Calais bought time for the evacuation at Dunkirk.
Neave became a Tory MP and was assasinated by the IRA in 1979
Mod
"Those Penguin collections are great. I’m working through their collection of 20th century..."
love finding these Pelican and Penguin collections..."
In Photos, I've just posted a shot of a top shelf with Pelicans from my school and university days: Elites and Society, Culture and Society, What is History, In Defence of Politics and more.
I'm not reading print or e books for now as I've had cataract surgery and am trying to avoid eye- strain .I'm listening to Mick Heron's Real Lions on audio and finding it very good.
Mod
"Those Penguin collections are great..."
In Photos, I've just posted a shot of a top shelf with Pelicans from my school and university days
Nice pic, GP. I suspect a lot of us still have a stack of those blue covers – overlapping too.
What a debt we all owe to Penguin, for the fantastic range and quality of their titles. I feel I owe a large part of my general education as a student and after to their list - the classic and modern fiction as well as the immense non-fiction catalogue.
Once, in the mid-70s, I was taken to visit a lady who had been part of the management team at Penguin since its founding. The walls of her house in Lewes were lined top to bottom with bending bookshelves, because she had her own copy of every single book they published.
Greenfairy wrote: "I'm not reading print or e books for now as I've had cataract surgery and am trying to avoid eye- strain .I'm listening to Mick Heron's Real Lions on audio and finding it very good."
Hope it went/goes well for you.
AB76 wrote: "alongside my research on he German invasion of Holland, i have also dug out my second hand copy of The Flames of Calais by Airey Neave, covering the Siege of Calais, 1940Neave took part in the b..."
Neave escaped from Colditz, the Germans' formidable POW camp. He later worked for British intelligence, debriefing other escapees, gathering information on their experiences and the equipment most helpful in an escape.
After the end of the war, Neave was one of the officers assigned to research the Krupp archives.
As an MP, Neave put his conspiratorial skills to work on behalf of Mrs. Thatcher in her revolt against Heath. Neave confided to friends "My filly is going to win."
scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Guardian ran several photos of the Kremlin's May 9 march. Putin will never let go of the Second World War.Once my Russian friend and I were talking about the choice of dates. T..."
Eisenhower insisted that Jodl sign a surrender document drafted by Ike's legal staff, calling for surrender on all fronts. Jodl was allowed to call Doenitz's headquarters in Denmark. After arguing until the wee hours, the Germans realized that Eisenhower did not intend to negotiate, or even speak to them directly. Instead, Jodl faced Ike's hard-as-nails deputy, Bedell Smith, who insisted on a signature. Hobson's choice, but finally the Germans signed. Bedell Smith, a British marshal, and a Russian general signed too. The Russian signed before contacting Moscow, which got him into serious trouble later.
This account appears in Ian Kershaw's The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945.
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "In 
Victorian Cities by Asa Briggs,l the chapter on Manchester from 1830-1880 has been fascinating.Brigg..."
Carlyle had a very individual style. I suspect that he wrote like he spoke; in the closing lines of his French Revolution, Carlyle refers to himself as "a voice" heard by his readers.
Mod
Now I'm reading about the development of newspapers, how they were produced, how they were distributed and of course their content, through the example of the weekly Mercurius Politicus, edited by Marchamont Nedham, with 16 pages and a two-pence cover price.
Humour and satire were to be its methods. 'It must be written in a jocular way,' he explained; to sway the opinions of the 'multitude' required not dense disputation, but amusement and 'phantasie' that would delight and charm.Nedham didn't just want to make people laugh, he "sought to set new standards in the range and accuracy of his reporting. He got access to the 'best Intelligence of State' and had his own network of foreign correspondents, half of each issue being made up of international news. He soon got an international readership.
I find this fascinating.
Apart from the worthy Femina which I shall come back to i have gobbled up a few books while trying to be patient. Towards the end I gave up on Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead when yet another ‘locked room’ puzzle reared up out of the pages and I felt exhausted of patience. Maybe I do the book an injustice, it’s clever but the characters are so flat and boring one learns not to care. I always find with these mysteries that there is often an sudden extra clue that appears to solve the problem and, in some way I always feel cheated.
Two in quick succession by Arnaldur Indridason The Darkness Knows and The Girl by the Bridge . These are long drawn out investigations by a retired Icelandic policeman which plod along but suited my mood. Now I am trying The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg which is the first in a series ( and it shows) but it’s , like the Indridason, undemanding and it doesn’t matter if I fall asleep.
Mod
I've bought a copy on ABE.
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i just found a collection of english essays i found in oxfam before xmas..." "Those Penguin collections are great. I’m working through their collection ..."
oh good, thanks GP, been away, busy weekend of little ones, lovely weather too, it seemed to be 25c but i felt comfortable, i guess spring sunshine and cool breezes help
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "alongside my research on he German invasion of Holland, i have also dug out my second hand copy of The Flames of Calais by Airey Neave, covering the Siege of Calais, 1940Neave took p..."
his book on Calais has started well, as the weather in UK matches that bright warm late spring weather of 1940, any accounts of that few weeks has a haunting character, a few i have read include:
Dutch troops cycling to and fro under perfect sun as paratroops start landing
The crew of a Bristol Blenheim drying clothes in the kite as they fly low over France, the weather hot and cloudless
The BEF retreat towards Dunkirk under blue skies.
(Many think of Dunkirk as gloomy skies and cold beaches but it was a heatwave, the weather was very muggy and warm through early June. It had been warm since Mid May. I wonder if the Germans would have had such smooth success in wet, muddy conditions, certainly the muggy weather limited German flying over Dunkirk according to the Luftwaffe Diaries)
Greenfairy wrote: "I'm not reading print or e books for now as I've had cataract surgery and am trying to avoid eye- strain .I'm listening to Mick Heron's Real Lions on audio and finding it very good."
so glad you can get enjoyment from books without needing to strain your eye
Do the NYRB readers here think they're likely to read Joanna Biggs' review of Madonna: A Rebel Life in the latest issue? FWIW, I just did, though my only experience of her in performance was a viewing of Dick Tracy during its initial release.I recall when her book Sex was released to, naturally, much controversy. My only thought on the matter at the time was that Mae West created a scandal in the 1920s by presenting a play with the same title.
Biggs is a fan, and what she's found in Madonna's music (that is to say, the lyrics and videos: there's no discussion of purely musical elements) reminds me a lot of things I've recently read praising Taylor Swift: it provides an supportive and empowering message that young women are drawn to.
Bill wrote: "Do the NYRB readers here think they're likely to read Joanna Biggs' review of Madonna: A Rebel Life in the latest issue? FWIW, I just did, though my only experience of her in perfor..."I'm not much of a fan of Madonna, but I do appreciate where she she was coming from, to some extent. I think that it is worthwhile to have a look at the film that set her up for an early degree of fame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despera... and analyse her career from there. I really liked the film, and yes it is a about female empowerment. The fame and the resultant indulgences that she was so keen on, were the aftermath, of that fame to me. I don't know if she wrote her own music of not, but she was a strong and powerful woman who wanted to go her own way, at least at the beginning of career. the film is worth seeing, at least to me...
Tam wrote: "I don't know if she wrote her own music of not, but she was a strong and powerful woman who wanted to go her own way, at least at the beginning of career."From the article, it would seem that she worked with co-writers or had songs written for her, at least for those Biggs mentioned.
Coming from a lifetime of listening primarily to classical music, I tend to forget that the appeal of popular music is often centered on the personality and sometimes the biography of the performer and the song tends to be a vehicle for expressing these rather than a self-contained end in itself.
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Guardian ran several photos of the Kremlin's May 9 march. Putin will never let go of the Second World War.Once my Russian friend and I were talking about the choice of dates. T..."
When I visited Moscow in spring 2000, Putin had the troops and police out, rehearsing for the 55th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Mod
Giuliano da Empoli's Le Mage du Kremlin / The Wizard of the Kremlin is proving an interesting read. Before the book begins we can read:
Ce roman est inspiré de faits et personnages réels, à qui l'auteur a prêté une vie privée et des propos imaginaires. Il s'agit néanmoins d'une véritable histoire russe. / This novel is based on real facts and characters, to whom the author has given an imaginary private life and words. Nevertheless, it is a true Russian story.I'm about halfway through. Putin is president, on his first visit to the UN, and Baranov (the political adviser / spin doctor) reminds us that it's not so easy to go from being top dog at home to the new arrival on the global stage.
This book is also making me remember Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère which I wrote about here when I read it.
Sobering reading last night, as Neave describes the state of the Territorial Units deployed at haste to Calais, as the Germans closed in, during May 1940Shipped from their camps in Hampshire and Kent, they travelled at short notice, lacking rifles, guns and in one motorcyle division, incredibly, lacking motorcyles. These men were then pitched into corridor defences around the city, many were killed and the rest spent 5 years in POW camps. This level of planning incompetence is alarming and Neave blames the interwar appeasement atmosphere where the British army was not invested in
It makes me wonder if Putin invaded noawadays, how choatic our tiny, underfunded modern army would respond and in sympathy for any military planners, i would suggest that May 1940 was a time of utter chaos for everyone as the Allied front collapsed so quickly
Tam wrote: "I'm not much of a fan of Madonna, but I do appreciate where she she was coming from, to some extent. I think that it is worthwhile to have a look at the film that set her up for an early degree of fame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despera... and analyse her career from there. I really liked the film, and yes it is a about female empowerment. The fame and the resultant indulgences that she was so keen on, were the aftermath, of that fame to me. I don't know if she wrote her own music of not, but she was a strong and powerful woman who wanted to go her own way, at least at the beginning of career. the film is worth seeing, at least to me."
I feel much the same. I do like pop music, though my awareness of it has become more and more patchy as the decades go by. This process that had already begun for me in the 1980s and while I do remember several of Madonna's hits from that decade nothing I heard ever made me a fan of music. I do think she deserves a lot of respect for how she took charge of her own career and made herself such a success. But her star power, whether as a singer or an actress, never worked on me personally.
I will add Desperately Seeking Susan to my films-to-watch list though, just because I've never seen it and it's such an iconic pop culture artefact of its era.
Mod
I will add Desperately Seeking Susan to my films-to-watch list
Not a particular fan of Madonna, but it's a film I really liked and have seen more than once, especially for Rosanna Arquette.
Gpfr wrote: "Berkley wrote: "Tam wrote: "I'm not much of a fan of Madonna, but I do appreciate where she she was coming from, to some extent. I think that it is worthwhile to have a look at the film that set he..."That has set up, in my mind, a different, but quite entertaining category of films. One's that are surprisingly entertaining!... I would include in this list 'The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' with Kate Winslet. 'The Science of Sleep' with Charlotte Gainsborough and though I really don't like most of Woody Allens films I make an exception for 'Midnight in Paris'... and 'Pleasantville'. Have any others got their own list in this 'category' of films?
Mod
That has set up, in my mind, a different, but quite entertaining category of films. One's that are surprisingly entertaining!"
This should maybe be in the film /TV thread, but can you explain why "surprisingly entertaining"?
Logger24 wrote: "...the Ballot Act... freed those working men who already had the vote, especially in rural areas, from the tyranny of being watched as they voted by their landlords and employers.Haha! It's interesting how society has so often proceeded by a 'two steps forward, one step back' method. Also, to note how politicians try to fiddle the rules governing 'democratic' elections to suit their own (assumed) voters. The latest attempt in the UK has been the insistence on 'photo ID' to allow voters to cast their vote (copied, I think, from the US Republicans - is that right?) despite the evidence showing that electoral fraud or impersonation is a minute problem. I suppose the theory had it that the feckless working classes would struggle to provide photo ID and thereby be disenfranchised.
But - alas and alack! (again) - one of the first to be caught out by the process was former Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson! He turned up with zero acceptable photo ID (he offered a copy of Prospect magazine in lieu...) - and he was not the only one - Tory MP Tom Hunt had to ask on social media for a local Tory to step forward and provide a proxy vote, as he had apparently lost his passport (as we all have done at one time, of course - I really did, no joking - but just before an election? Pull the other one!) So, another wizard scheme bites the dust.
Bill wrote: "What particularly appealed to me in Podhoretz' memoir was his account of his Liza Doolittle-like transformation at the hands of an English teacher into a persona acceptable to be received in intellectual circles."As you rightly surmise, the name has not made it across the Atlantic - or not to me, at any rate.
I have two reactions to your summary - firstly, as a former teacher, I am delighted that anyone coming from a disadvantaged background manages to achieve and thereby to show that ability can succeed even when up against the odds... and secondly, to wonder at the way in which some (not all) of these individuals react by embracing right-wing politics.
It smacks of - "If I can do it, why can't you?" arrogance, without regard to differing abilities and different sheer luck in meeting those who assist the process. (We have our own examples in the UK, of course.)
I think everyone deserves a certain minimum standard of living, regardless of the particular job they do - or even if they are not capable of working for whatever reason.
(As I know so little about the subject, my speculations may not be a fair reflection of his views... bear that in mind. They are 'general' comments.)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Lincoln in the Bardo (other topics)Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain (other topics)
Dr. No (other topics)
The Instant Enemy (other topics)
Frankenstein (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen Breyer (other topics)Stephen Breyer (other topics)
Norman Podhoretz (other topics)
Briggs follows the m..."
is he accessible or quite tricky to read? sometimes the victorian style of essayists can be tricky. I love the non-fiction of Dickens but as yet havent explored Arnold, Ruskin or Carlyle. I loathed JS Mill as i had to study too much of him at uni but i was a younger, more rebellious soul then. I remember Hazlitt(non victorian) really dissapointed me, i eagerly started a volume of his and never finished it, that was only a few years ago but i loved Addisson and Steele from roughly 60-70 years earlier