The Flight of the Intellectuals
A fascinating article in Slate about a forthcoming book by Paul Berman, called The Flight of the Intellectuals. The debate is new to me, but it centres around the figure of Anaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalian author whose life is currently under threat (along with a number of other intellectuals and - for example - Danish cartoonists). Academics, it seems, are now regularly physically imperilled. Side-sniping (the kind that has been directed at Ali) is condemned and analysed, in this instance in relation to the reaction to the Rushdie affair of the 80's.
Mill on the Floss
Parallels between GH Lewes's (George Eliot's) real life and her novel Mill on the Floss, and Ian McEwan's narrative in Atonement? Quote from The Guardian:
'And so the ending, when it comes, is rushed and breathless. A terrible tidal flood has marooned Tom in the mill and, in a reversal of the usual rescue plot, Maggie rows out from the town to save her elder brother. On the way back a piece of flotsam breaks off and heads towards their small boat. "'It is coming, Maggie!' Tom said, in a deep, hoarse voice, loosing the oars, and clasping her." The boat sinks, taking Tom and Maggie down in that final embrace. In real life this reunion of brother and sister never took place. Instead, Isaac and Mary Ann Evans spent their adult lives apart, he on the Warwickshire family farm, she as an increasingly successful and fêted author in London.'
Crash Bang Wollop
Nice, only 1,500 or so nukes to go (assuming the bubbling senate pass this). It's going to be a whole different story when we get down to the last hundread or so, assuming that ever happens. And check out this brilliantly evil quote from the North Koreans: 'Those who seek to bring down the system, whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the nuclear strikes of an invincible army'. Gulp.
Messi'd up
Loved reading this on Lionel Messi. Knowing and caring little about football, it's articles like these that can crack open the game and reveal its true worth. Humbling too to learn that Messi is 22 years old. Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lionel-messi-magic-in-his-feet-1928768.html
Hello Miyamoto
A great article rightly celebrating Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto - designer of Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, and the rest. Bafta recently awarded him an Academy Fellowship - the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.Link here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/nintendos-biggest-brain-1925938.html