Return of the living dead

[selenak]

Nah, it's not that bad. But the Frankfurt Book Fair can be pretty exhausting. I stil get a kick out of it each time, even when I feel like a zombie once it's finished. (For me. There's still one more day to go for my fellow bees in this particular nest.) Some scattered observations:

- Hall 8, with the Americans in it, is still the only one which demands security checks; mind you, everyone could smuggle pretty much everything through
them

- Peter Olson (head of Random House International and hence of the world's second largest media giant) has gotten rid of his beard which makes him
look like a kindly teacher again; Mr. "I fired him" is anything but

- switching from RL to fannish life, I got into a fierce debate with a Tolkien purist about Peter Jackson's films; a valiant battle was vigourously waged,
with quotes and paraphrases flung left and right (but what can you do if someone starts the conversation with comparing Jackson's oeuvre with
the massacre committed on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Also, this was another Glorfindel fanatic)

- a new edition of Wuthering Heights is titled "W.H - the story which inspired the MTV movie"

- the only time I got online in the last three or four days was for ten minutes which were enoug to discover hmpf has read American Gods and
hobsonphile finished the Five Things for Vir - and that I have a lot of mail to answer

- will I ever catch up with all the entries?

- in 15 minutes, Susan Sontag will be receiving the Friedenspreis des Internationalen Buchhandels (=Peace award of the international publishing
business), and according to a journalist I chatted with, the American ambassador won't be there when one of the most distinguished awards is given to
an America citizen who also happens a major literary figure

Lastly: Icon courtesy of butterfly. Will watch Sontag on TV now, and then answer the mail.

Comments

[kitsune76.livejournal.com]

OK, whatis the *point* in Glorfindal? He's just a cypher!

Glorfindel fanaticism

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...if my opponent is anything to go by, is apparently based on his backstory of having braved a Balrog once. And being a pal of Elrond's. Which is totally irrelevant to LotR. Now some of Jackson's changes one can argue about, no doubt (am still in two minds about Theoden exorcism), but substituting Arwen for Glorfindel was neat, efficient and 100% the right thing to do.

Oh, and would you believe the guy I argued with claimed he doesn't know a single Tolkien fan who approves those "Hollywood changes"?

Doubtlessly according to this person's definitons you can only be a true fan if...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

you are a Glorfindel fanatic. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Glorfindel has a fanatic! Good grief. I thought it was a stroke of genius on Peter Jackson's part to change a rather boring Elf lord for Arwen, as it instantly gives her more character and more of a part in the main plot. Unless you want to argue endlessly (and I admit some people do) about whether Glorfindel was really the guy that died in Gondolin, or whether Tolkien made a mistake by using the same name twice, there doesn't seem much point to Glorfindel.

Kathy

[andraste]

But what can you do if someone starts the conversation with comparing Jackson's oeuvre with the massacre committed on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?

Nothing. That would only be a valid coparison if Jackson had Aragorn kill the Nazgul instead of Eowyn, or something.

Also, this was another Glorfindel fanatic)

I do not understand such people. What's so cool about some random elf? Jackson was sensible to consolidate the cast of thousands and give Arwen something to do. If we're talking minor characters, I always had a little soft spot for Fredegar Bolger ... but the movies don't have space for superfluous hobbits either.

Also, I watched Improbable Cause and The Die is Cast while you were gone. No doubt we shall discuss this via e-mail, but a summary of my reaction would be eeeethatwassocoolpoorGarak!

[scarlettfish.livejournal.com]

a new edition of Wuthering Heights is titled "W.H - the story which inspired the MTV movie"

There are no words to describe the wrongness of that title.

Quite.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Which is why it's burned in my mind with fiery letters, I suppose.

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

no words as well ... just wanted to join in your wordless cry out ;-))

Welcome back, my dear

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

I'm developing a Quark-fic concept now. *g*

That's great news!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I'll comment on your last two Vir ones, and will reply to the B5/DS9 religious themes post, and... time really flies.

Susan Sontag

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Great to have you back, Selena :-)

I just read about the American ambassador's absence in the online version of the German news magazine Der Spiegel http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/0,1518,269480,00.html

Tells you a lot about how much the US government under Bush appreciates freedom of thought, critical journalism and personal integrity. Argh...

Susan Sontag

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

Thanks, bimo for posting the link. I've just heard it in the news.

In a way it is fitting; but it is unbelievable how narrow minded a great nation and its officials can be.

Susan Sontag deserves the price. Especially today.

F.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

To be fair, do you think a member of a liberal American administration would attend an awards ceremony in which a conservative writer was receiving a prize? Probably not.

As I recall, President Clinton refused to attend the national Boy Scout jamboree because his administration disagreed with the Boy Scout policy on homosexual scout masters. The President of the United States is the leader of his party as well as the nation, and it's rather ridiculous to expect a party leader to attend a function honoring an individual from the opposing party.

There's a difference between declining to attend an awards ceremony and quashing freedom of expression. We have to be very careful to appreciate that difference.

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

JMO, but I feel that once elected, the President is the President of all the people, not just the people who donated to his campaign. In my opinion, that's the biggest problem with this administration -- they are not representing the public interest as they are supposed to, but rather the interests of the large corporate donors who gave lots of money.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

JMO, but I feel that once elected, the President is the President of all the people, not just the people who donated to his campaign.

I appreciate the idealism of this statement, but the reality of politics- a reality that applies to both Democrats and Republicans- demands that people in power strike a balance between partisanship and bipartisanship. If you wish to be re-elected, you have to remain faithful to your base- in other words, your campaign donors- while you attempt to capture the swing vote- a difficult task, to be sure.

Leadership demands some close-mindedness. Otherwise, to the voter, you appear to be an unprincipled politician who is married to the public opinion polls, someone who refuses to take a stand on anything without checking Gallup.

Whether the current American administration is striking that balance is a subject for debate. And that is a debate I prefer to avoid, not because I don't have opinions- sometimes very strong ones- on these subjects, but because I've learned over time to keep my cards close to my vest on the subject in the interest of keeping friends.

I felt compelled to speak up in this instance because freedom of expression is a topic of considerable interest to me, and I've found over the years that a lot of misconceptions are floating around out there on the subject, the most irritating of these being the criticism/lack-of-praise = censorship misconception.

Well...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...I see your point about the inevitability of partisanship.

However. Daniel Coates, the American ambassador here in Germany, doesn't just represent the Bush administration. He's supposed to be the representative of the American people in Germany. Susan Sontag is an American citizen. Who received a major, major award here in Germany yesterday. And Coates declined to attend as soon as her name was announced, in June. Imo, he failed his diplomatic duty here.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

Well, believing that the statement was undiplomatic or in poor taste is a different animal. My objection was to bimo's assertion that such a statement was in any way limiting freedom of expression. That is categorically not the case.

Consider also that many Americans- possibly a majority- disagree with Sontag. Does not the American ambassador have a duty to represent their views as well?

Agreed on...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

the freedom of expression.

I'm quite aware a majority of Americans disagrees with Sontag. So is she (she mentioned it in her speech). But that's still irrelevant to the point.

Unfortunately, I can't think of a major literary figure in Germany who thought the Iraq war was a good thing, but let's invent her for the purpose of the exercise and call her Susanne Montag. If Susanne Montag had received a major, major award in Washington, D.C., I would have expected our ambassador to attend, regardless of the fact that the majority of Germans, as well as the present government disagrees with Susanne Montag.

(Actually, since I happen to have met the present German ambassador, Wolfgang Ischinger, I'm sure he would have attended. He struck me as a diplomat.)

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

If Susanne Montag had received a major, major award in Washington, D.C., I would have expected our ambassador to attend, regardless of the fact that the majority of Germans, as well as the present government disagrees with Susanne Montag.

I applaud you on your magnanimity. However, I must disagree that the opinions of the majority of Americans, or the majority of Germans for that matter, are irrelevant to the duties of the American and German ambassadors respectively. An ambassador is supposed to represent his people, and if most of his people feel a certain way about an issue, he is obligated to show decent respect to that opinion. Polls are not the be-all and end-all of leadership, but neither are they unimportant.

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

To be fair, do you think a member of a liberal American administration would attend an awards ceremony in which a conservative writer was receiving a prize?

At least I hope so. I do not think this would damage the political reputation of one elected for other political views. He / She does not, all of a sudden, have to _praise_ the opinion of the award winner, but could honor the achievement.

I do not think that not attending limits the freedom of expression though. It is a political statement nevertheless, and imho a poor one. But as I said before, it is fitting and in accordance with the overall style of government of the Bush administration, it does not really surprise me.

F.

> will I ever catch up with all the entries?

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Hehe, how do I think *I* feel? I'm in a pretty similar situation: been offline almost completely for the better part of six weeks or so, and can't get online for very long at the moment, due to exorbitant British phone and internet rates...