The New York Times writes about a nearly nine hour TV movie version of a superb Russian novel, Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita. “For the Soviet or Russian person, meeting with Bulgakov’s novel in 1966 was a taste of freedom,” states the director. The book can be read on many levels, one of which details how people “disappear” into the basements of the KGB. Other elements are more fantastic, such as the Devil setting up shop in Moscow. The novel is a hallmark of wit and elebance, but devilishly difficult to adapt to the screen. I seriously hope this gats translated and shown outside Russia one day.
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I heard about the case of Orhan Pamuk‘s trial on NPR driving home today. The trial begins on December 16. Here is a country’s most famous novelist on trial for saying something that insults the national character. Apparently, by discussing the verboten subject of over one million alleged Armenian deaths in Turkey in 1915, Pamuk stepped on the toes of Turkish national honor. It’s a shame that so many of his countryfolk hate him for daring to speak his mind, but Turkish children are taught at an early age to venerate all things Turkish, and that means no criticism of the government view. Whether or not one million Armenians died should be investigated fully, not swept under the carpet.
Wally Conger passes on some positive comments from a pre-screening report of V for Vendatta in Austin, Texas recently. Interestingly, the guys at Ain’t It Cool News, which posted the comments, wrote early on about disturbing changes to the script. Either the movie changed, or the opinions did, but regardless this does appear positive. The posters are superb.
The death of book publishing? Perhaps. Certainly the device mentioned in this article makes the case well, and merges more than just a book reader into the package. Imagine curling up on a sofa reading a favorite author while listening to music from the same small gadget. Oh yeah!
Edward Cline’s Sparrowhawk books seem like a compelling series. Book five now available via Laissez Faire Books.
F. Paul Wilson’s new Repairman Jack novel, Harbingers, inches closer to publication. Gauntlet Press released a teaser page with the book cover, a stunning work of art. They begin taking orders on January 1, 2006, and their limited edition probably will sell out before the publication date of June. Mass market hardcover follows later in the year, but hard-core fans will want their copy early.
Over at lewrockwell.com, a libertarian site that also at times embraces confederacy southron culture and its implied racism and agrarian aristocracy, Gail Jarvis present a Christmas list of southern American fiction.
Meanwhile, a different sort of culture emerges in Tom Palmer’s reading of Ole Edvart Rølvaag’s novel Giants of the Earth. According to Palmer, Giants in the Earth “is about accomplishment, rivalry (of various sorts), the joy of productive work, family, love, religion, common sense, and, above all else, striving.”
All this is a far cry from the so-called Southern scenario, where on a frivolous level “beautiful women [are] eagerly sought after by men,” and “young Southern aristocrats [try] to win the affection of their true loves during Charleston’s holiday season.” Also discussed are more serious issues in the “agrarian South” of ” conflicts arising when urbanism creeps into rural communities,” and where there are “strange yet kindly master[s].”
Both Rølvang and the southern authors mentioned by Jarvis deal with non-urban settings, but in terms of cultural ideas it seems you have to look to a Norwegian to express the ideas of true American values. Jarvis fails to mention my all-time favorite novel, and a book written by a person from the south Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Perhaps this book is too famous, or contains the wrong values, as Jarvis seeks to highlight works that “avoid the stereotypical Hollywood clichés about the region.”
Available now, the latest James Hogan collection
Eric S. Raymond is spurred to further reading on Kipling by a comment on his essay that I reprinted in Prometheus. I have to admit that it’s been a long time since I read Kipling, and then it mostly was his Indian tales. I’ve pulled down my Kipling sf collection and hope to read the stories again, given the comments by both Raymond and William Stoddard, who caused Raymond to re-think some of the ideas in his original essay.
I’m travelling this week, hence the lack of posts. I had hoped to post a couple of book reviews, but these are still in process. In the meantime, as I’m sorting through my luggage preparing for my return flight, I notice a strange card. It appears the Transportation Security Aministration’s minions opened my checked in luggage, pawed through the contents, and left me a card explaining what they did. There’s no indication why, although I did put part of my keychain in this bag, since it includes a tiny Swiss Army knife, and I did not want it confiscated. Next time I’ll leave that implement in the car, and carry the extra luggage on the plane. And I used to like airports and flying. No more. I’m tired of the long lines, the bored yet superior attitude of the screeners, and the waste and fraud the accompany any federalized operation.
