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London Review of Books
Just when I was about to cancel my subscription to London Review of Books (or, more accurately, simply not renew), the editors publish a very, very good issue. I am impressed. I have not had time to read much of it so I do not know how much the London folks are still obsessed with the Trump election/presidency, but at first glance, they have moved on to a great extent.
It appears that I will enjoy many, many of the articles. The very first article is how the EU has really impacted Britain. Cadbury, the chocolate company that everyone associates with England, moved to Poland "recently." It's quite a sad story for the Brits; and a great story for the Poles. But that's the EU, picking winners and losers, I guess. Most essays in the London Review average about three to four very dense pages, I suppose. This essay goes on and on and on, six full pages or thereabouts, and one has to turn six pages (13 single pages) to get from the beginning to the end. That's a bit over the top, even for a story on Cadbury, I would think. And it was an essay, with nothing to do with any book review.
The second story is on Trump's border wall, and a review of a book, so that's okay. It's a wash: anti-Trump, but a book review.
Then an essay (no book review) on Fritz Lang. Awesome. I look forward to reading it.
My favorite essay / book review will probably be Peter Green's review of "class war" and the history of ancient Greece. There are few things that the Brits are more focused on than Trump and one of them would be classical Greece.
Then an essay on the "Bensons in Victorian Britain: a very queer family indeed, being the subtext. I can hardly wait. The Brits are also obsessed with homosexuality and one certainly wonders if this essay will be all about that.
I have no idea what "Slammed by Hurricanes" by Jenny Turner will be about. Then an essay on Michelangelo and Sebastiano. Okay. I am familiar with one of the two. The next essay, "I'll Have To Kill You," by J. Robert Lennon is a book review/essay and hopefully nothing to do with US politics or the recent election.
And this would have been a great essay / book review -- a review of politics as Shakespeare staged his plays, but a quick glance suggests the writer does not know the "real" Shakespeare and thus whatever he/she says (in this case, a "he": Blair Worden, assuming Blair is a man's name) will fall short of what he/she could have said about the subject. Knowing the "real" Shakespeare will help connect a lot of dots that Blair most likely missed.
I don't plan on reading a review of Deaths of the Poets but it's always possible. I enjoy almost any subject if the writing is good.
Julian Barnes' diary is very long this time. The opening does not interest me, but again, who knows. I may find that I enjoy it.
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