Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, the novel, made a nice little splash in my reading circles when it came …
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Greenland Ice Sheet Melting Fast
New research shows that 2010 set new records for the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, expected to be a …
Egyptian, Tunisian, Lebanese and other Arabic Authors
Once again, convulsions in distant places are teaching us geography. It is also a good time to learn about the …
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War
I’ve been reading — actually, listening to– Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War for a week, during commute times, …
Midaq Alley — A Novel from Egypt, Naguib Mahfouz
I came to this novel, Midaq Alley, (1947) from the film, El Callejon del los Milagros, which was made from …
Caramel – A Film from Lebanon
Caramel, Nadine Labaki’s 2007 film from Lebanon, is about as close a film from the Arab world to those Western …
A Prophet — A Film from France
Wheww! You want to see a very tough prison film, don’t slow up with Dead Man Walking, or The Green …
GOP Wants to Withdraw from Climate Panel
The Republican Study Committee last week released a list of proposed budget cuts totaling $2.5 trillion, including a recommendation to withdraw …
The Blue Sky — A Novel from the Tuvan People by Galsan Tschinag
The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag, of the high Altai mountains in Mongolia , is one of the most engaging, …
Teddy Roosevelt: More on His Racial Theories
I’ve been amazed in reading James Bradley’s Imperial Cruise to discover how pervasive racial theories dominated political thought and action …
El Callejon de los Milagros
El Callejon de los Milagros is a Mexican movie, with the marvelous Salma Hayek in the lead role, based on …
Pantaleon y Las Visitadoras – a Film from Peru based on a Vargas Llosa Novel
I’m not usually one for mild-mannered sex farces in which cleavage and booty seem to be the main draw but …