From Absurdistan to the Recockulous
Where is Absurdistan? That will be the question everyone asks who reads Gary Shteyngart's new novel, reviewed here in the New York Times. I'm always interested to hear about new Russian novelists and their take on the post-Soviet world, particularly when they venture into the former Soviet republics (of which Absurdistan appears to be a composite). Petrodollars, crazy dictators, international geopolitics, nouveau riche, security police ... everything is there for first-class satire:
"Compared with most young novelists his age, who tend toward cutesy involution, Shteyngart is a giant mounted on horseback. He ranges more widely, sees more sweepingly and gets where he's going with far more aplomb. His Absurdistan, to Americans, may seem amusingly far away at first, but the longer one spends there, hunkered down with Misha in a hotel room high above the rocket fire, the closer and more recognizable it gets. Absurdsvanï is far, but Absurdistan is near."
Via Arts & Letters Daily, comes a commentary piece from the Sunday Times which will doubtless have lessesne nodding vigorously in agreement, namely lousy BBC reporting on America. The writer, the inestimable Bryan Appleyard, notes:
"Justin Webb, a BBC Washington correspondent, provided even more conclusive evidence: America is often portrayed as an ignorant, unsophisticated sort of place, “full of Bible-bashers and ruled to a dangerous extent by trashy television, superstition and religious bigotry, a place lacking in respect for evidence-based knowledge. I know that is how it is portrayed because I have done my bit to paint that picture...” "
And it's not just America either; Appleyard despaired of the Beeb's recent coverage of the Parisien riots:
"I was watching the Paris riots on BBC and waiting for somebody to explain what was going on. I saw lots of shots of people shouting, lots of interviews with people about the violence, but no analysis whatsoever. Exasperated, I turned over to Sky, which, in spite of its mad, bad sets, does at least show some commitment to facts and analysis rather than interminable colour. When it comes to bird flu, of course, the BBC has gone completely insane. One report, after the swan was found, involved getting various foreign correspondents to stand next to cages full of birds and report gravely that, yes, people were very worried."
I have my criticisms of the BBC, namely the prima donna-ish antics of John Humphreys on the Today Programme, and also the absence of a radio station offering a balance of talk and music, that is not driven by an obsession with what's "in" and what's "out" (I'm talking about you Radios 1 & 2), but it's still worth defending against those mindless idiots on the left & right who think the BBC's job is to present "their" point of view, rather than what's news and what isn't. Then again, Appleyard's main criticism is that the BBC should be doing any current affairs at all, and should stick to producing grand projects i.e. presented by David Attenborough or written by Andrew Davis.
"Compared with most young novelists his age, who tend toward cutesy involution, Shteyngart is a giant mounted on horseback. He ranges more widely, sees more sweepingly and gets where he's going with far more aplomb. His Absurdistan, to Americans, may seem amusingly far away at first, but the longer one spends there, hunkered down with Misha in a hotel room high above the rocket fire, the closer and more recognizable it gets. Absurdsvanï is far, but Absurdistan is near."
Via Arts & Letters Daily, comes a commentary piece from the Sunday Times which will doubtless have lessesne nodding vigorously in agreement, namely lousy BBC reporting on America. The writer, the inestimable Bryan Appleyard, notes:
"Justin Webb, a BBC Washington correspondent, provided even more conclusive evidence: America is often portrayed as an ignorant, unsophisticated sort of place, “full of Bible-bashers and ruled to a dangerous extent by trashy television, superstition and religious bigotry, a place lacking in respect for evidence-based knowledge. I know that is how it is portrayed because I have done my bit to paint that picture...” "
And it's not just America either; Appleyard despaired of the Beeb's recent coverage of the Parisien riots:
"I was watching the Paris riots on BBC and waiting for somebody to explain what was going on. I saw lots of shots of people shouting, lots of interviews with people about the violence, but no analysis whatsoever. Exasperated, I turned over to Sky, which, in spite of its mad, bad sets, does at least show some commitment to facts and analysis rather than interminable colour. When it comes to bird flu, of course, the BBC has gone completely insane. One report, after the swan was found, involved getting various foreign correspondents to stand next to cages full of birds and report gravely that, yes, people were very worried."
I have my criticisms of the BBC, namely the prima donna-ish antics of John Humphreys on the Today Programme, and also the absence of a radio station offering a balance of talk and music, that is not driven by an obsession with what's "in" and what's "out" (I'm talking about you Radios 1 & 2), but it's still worth defending against those mindless idiots on the left & right who think the BBC's job is to present "their" point of view, rather than what's news and what isn't. Then again, Appleyard's main criticism is that the BBC should be doing any current affairs at all, and should stick to producing grand projects i.e. presented by David Attenborough or written by Andrew Davis.