With children’s books dominating a recent British poll of most-loved literature, one critic wonders if this means we’re in a Golden Age for young fiction. – The Telegraph (UK)
Tag: 03.14.00
OUT OF PRINT?
The venerable Canadian literary magazine “Books in Canada” is in precarious condition. Writers and editors haven’t been paid, and top staff left. The publication’s “slow burn raises intriguing questions about the value of literary institutions in the Internet era. For some, the 28-year-old magazine – a fixture of Canadian letters and sponsor of a once prestigious first novel award – seems to be worth more dead than alive. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
RIDDLES AND ANSWERS
When Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire” was published in 1962, reviewers wrote that it could be enjoyed at face value, but that it obviously hid many levels of complexity. Nabokov thought “the unravelling of a riddle is the purest and most basic act of the human mind.” He probably would have enjoyed one of the most remarkable academic books of this season, Nabokov’s Pale Fire: The Magic of Artistic Discovery (Princeton) by Brian Boyd, an attempt to unravel the riddles Nabokov embedded in “Pale Fire.” – National Post (Canada)
FIRST E-BOOK CLUB —
— for electronic books gets underway. – Wired
SCORE ONE FOR THE HOME TEAM
When the South Korean government relaxed rules controlling what foreign films could enter the country, many thought American movies would flood the market. But surprise – a wave of interesting and innovative Korean movies has been produced. – New York Times 03/14/00
PIXEL-ARTED
- Internet art is everywhere these days. Is this the beginning of a whole new genre of art? “In a way, you can say the Internet has fundamentally changed how audiences access art. But I don’t think you’ll ever be able to replace the visceral experience of being in the room with a piece.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch 03/14/00
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY —
— goes online. – CBC
BROADWAY BOX OFFICE —
— makes big jump last week. – Variety
CZECH BULLDOZERS DIG UP A CONTROVERSY
A medieval Jewish cemetery in the center of Prague has become a battleground between Orthodox rabbis and a local insurance company that would like to build a garage and offices above the 13th-century burial ground. – Washington Post
HIGH AND LOW
What’s the different between “high” culture and “low” culture, anyway? Between Mozart and Madonna, Picasso and the World Wide Wrestling Federation? Is one superior to the other? Not necessarily. The old cultural arbiters, whose job was to decide what was `good’ in the sense of `valuable,’ have largely been replaced by a new type of arbiter, whose skill was to define “good” in terms of “popular.” Ignore them at your peril. – Chicago Tribune