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| October
2001 |
A
New Light on Lithuanian Literature
Lithuania has been made a partner in the 2002 Frankfurt Book
Fair. Frankfurt's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
believes this may bring Lithuania's rich literary tradition
a new, and long-overdue, recognition. 
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East, London
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September
2001
Available
Only in the Print Edition:
A
Disaster Foretold: 'The Quiet American' | The Bulletin,
Sydney
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August
2001
 |
| Haruki
Murakami in 1996 (Photo: AFP) |
The
Elusive Murakami
“He has been made the subject of breathless comparisons:
Auster, Salinger, Chandler, Borges. His books sell in millions
to under-30s in Japan; now he is gaining large readerships worldwide.
One day, his growing legions of supporters insist, he will win
the Nobel Prize. Magazine editors hunt him down in vain. It
seems that everyone wants a piece of Haruki Murakami.
“No wonder, as this elusive man tells me in a rare interview,
he wants to hang on to himself: 'I’m looking for my own
story...and descending to my own soul.' This kind of introspection
is the key to his work, and the inner journey may also be the
source of his appeal for young Japanese readers. Economic woes
have transformed a country once famous for its discipline and
formality. Young people no longer want to buy into all that.
Murakami hopes that 'my books can offer them a sense of freedom—freedom
from the real world.'”
Matt Thompson, writing for London's liberal Guardian, interviews
the reclusive Japanese novelist. |
| At
a Glance: |
Following
the Money Trail—to Citibank
“For
corrupt Mexican politicians and drug traffickers, Citibank was
the bank of choice.
“On the morning of March 1, 1995, there was panic on the
17th floor of the Citicorp-Citibank building in New York City.
Alarmed Citibank executives read the top story on the front
pages of that day’s newspapers: Raúl Salinas de
Gortari [brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas
de Gortari] had been arrested the day before in Mexico. They
knew it was only a matter of time before investigators would
arrive and begin to ask questions about the deposits made by
Raúl Salinas at Citibank....
Antonio Jáquez, Proceso (liberal newsmagazine),
Mexico City, March 25, 2001. From the June 2001 issue of World
Press Review (VOL. 48, No. 6).
In Saramago’s ‘Cave’
“José Saramago (born in Azinhaga, Portugal, in 1922)
has not hesitated to shoot poison darts at the so-called human
condition or, better put, the state of humanity. La Caverna
(The Cave) is more than a novel: It is an ax that breaks
through the frozen ocean of our consciousness. And this is the
only thing that Saramago intends to accomplish in his works:
to awaken the consciousness of his readers and force them to
react to the world’s problems. For the last 10 years, Saramago
has managed to create a gigantic x-ray that reveals not just
what we are, but also what we are becoming. Saramago is faithful
to his ironclad—and at times polemical—intellectual
convictions and never misses an opportunity to denounce the
injustices being committed as part of the fiesta of neoliberal
globalization.”
—Pablo Gámez,
Arena (cultural supplement of Excélsior),
Mexico City, Mexico, Feb. 25, 2001. From the May 2001 issue
of World Press Review (VOL.48, No.5).
Stanislaw Lem's Dark Vision
“ ‘An ocean of information is engulfing us.
When I wrote my books as a young man, I was, of course, filled
with illusions about the splendor of man’s rational nature.
Now I have fewer of these illusions,’ says science-fiction
author Stanislaw Lem. For years he had been a fervent champion
of technological advances, a futurologist, an author of fulfilled
prophecies, but now when he is asked about the future of our
civilization, he presents a pessimistic vision.”
—Jacek Borowski, Wprost
(weekly newsmagazine), Warsaw, Poland, December 24, 2000. From
the March 2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL. 48,
No.3).
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Eighteen
Years in Hell
“In the early 1980’s, news began to circulate in the
French press. Little by little, we found out what had happened
at the prison camp at Tazmamart, despite the total secrecy that
surrounded the act of royal vengeance. The 58 condemned men,
divided into two groups, were thrown into tiny, dark cells,
without beds or care. They were given only the bare minimum
of water and starchy food to keep them from dying of hunger
or thirst.”
— Pierre Lepape, Le
Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Jan. 5, 2001. From the April
2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL.48, No.4).
Afghan Oppressions
“While the Taliban relentlessly extend their stranglehold on
Afghanistan and their unprecedented repression against women,
Spôjmaď Zariâb has become both a symbol of resistance and a
major figure in Afghan literature. In France, she began to come
to public attention in 1988 with La Plaine de Caďn (The
Plain of Cain), then with Portrait de ville sur fond mauve
(City Portrait against a Violet Backdrop), an adaptation for
the stage presented at the Avignon Festival in 1991.”
—Agnès Devictor,
Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Dec. 22, 2000. From the
March 2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL.48, No.3).
Colima's Pioneer of Gay Fiction
“A pioneer of gay fiction in the state of Colima in southwestern
Mexico, writer Salvador Márquez Gileta did not live to
see the publication of his novel La más exquisita agonía
(The Most Exquisite Agony). The book re-creates the drama of
an adolescent awakening to his homosexuality in his school and
church environment in Colima. More than 15 years ago, Márquez
Gileta tried to publish it in installments in the Diario
de Colima, the city’s daily, but because of protests from
certain conservative sectors, he did not succeed.”
—Pedro Zamora, Proceso
(liberal newsmagazine), Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 7, 2001.
From the April 2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL.48,
No.4).
A
Man of the People
“The great Nigerian novelist and essayist Chinua Achebe, one
of the founders of African literature, celebrates his 70th birthday
on Nov. 16. Out of his multifaceted work, the novels of his
African Trilogy, written between 1958 and 1966, especially stand
out. The first, Things Fall Apart, has sold almost 10
million copies worldwide and has become Africa’s best-known
novel.”
—Detlev Gohrbandt, Neue
Zürcher Zeitung (conservative), Zurich, Switzerland,
Nov. 15, 2000. From the February 2001 issue of World Press
Review (VOL.48, No.2).
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