James Metcalf on the fictionality of the latest archaeological page-turners
Stephen Puddicombe looks at the unusual appeal of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Ciaran Rafferty investigates the science of book classification
A bit of bedtime reading
Salman Rushdie will be serving up bedtime reading for guests at the luxury New York Standard hotel next week. The hotel will be hosting many events of the PEN World Voices festival, founded by Rushdie, who is also chair of this year’s event. As part of the festivities, Rushdie has chosen a series of classic American books to adorn the bedside tables of guests at the hotel. No longer will they have to make do with a dog eared copy of The Bible, as Rushdie’s selection ranges from F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. The PEN festival will run from April 25 to May 1 in New York and will feature a host of international writers from 40 nations. Here at The Yorker Culture, we’re just jealous that we can’t afford to stay in that hotel and have Rushdie as our personal book maid…
A moan for Amis
Controversial and moany novelist Martin Amis has been at it again, with a rant in French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur against England’s “moral decrepitude”. In an interview about his next novel, State of England, Amis stated that he “would prefer not to be English”, citing its “superficiality”, celebrity culture and “philistine” Royal Family as reasons for England’s decline. The novel, he hopes, will be considered as “the final insult” to his country. It tells the story of a violent criminal, Lionel Asbo, who wins the lottery. Apparently it's “a metaphor which translates well, I think, our state of moral decrepitude: a huge reward for no effort”. Amis is currently preparing to leave England to move to the US. Where, obviously, there is no celebrity obsessed culture at all. A nation mourns.
A blaze in Barcelona
Anton Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona has been damaged after a local man set fire to some of the architect’s original work. 1,500 tourists were quickly evacuated as the man reportedly walked into the sacristy, sprayed it with a flammable liquid and set fire to the priests’ robes stored there. The robes and the furniture in the sacristy were lost in the blaze. The arsonist has been caught, apparently by a group of tourists, and handed over to the police. Joan Rigol, the president of the society in charge of building the unfinished temple, claimed that the man had mental health problems. Gaudi’s basilica has long been an emblem of the city, despite being unfinished after the famous architect was run over by a tram in 1926. Plans for Easter services in the basilica will continue.
Famous faces fight for Lowry
The artist LS Lowry’s northern, industrially influenced paintings are being fought for by celebrities such as Ian McKellen and Noel Gallagher. Joined by leading figures in the art world, they have questioned why the Tate continues to exclude them from its London gallery and keep them in storage. They argue that if the Tate has no plans to exhibit them, they should either put the collection up for sale or pass it on to another gallery.
Ian McKellen has questioned whether the Tate is discriminating against Lowry because he is too northern and provincial in a new programme for ITV about Lowry’s “exclusion” from the art world. Noel Gallagher, meanwhile, has summed it up in his usual blunt fashion by saying “They're not considered Tateworthy. Or is it just because he is a northerner?” The Tate has denied any discrimination against “northern-ness”. Ay oop, by gum, what a story eh?
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