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Applebaum sets out her stall quickly. She refuses to entertain the revisionist view that the imposition of communism throughout Central and Eastern Europe after 1945 was a countermove to American policy at the start of what was to become the Cold War. No, the importation of a Soviet-style system was a deliberate ideolo... |
So far as Stalin was concerned there were also foreign policy advantages. The new communist satrapies acted as a buffer zone in a period of growing East West tension. More specifically, an independent Poland would clearly have been a major political embarrassment to the Soviets, doubtless demanding the return of those ... |
As always the road to hell begins with noble intentions. Alongside the cynical little Stalins, who had spent years licking the boots of their Master in Moscow, there were genuine idealists, people who believed in the lie. They came as self-perceived liberators, ready to free the working classes from capitalist exploita... |
The truth came quickly; the truth came in Poland. In 1946 the people decisively rejected a communist-backed referendum. Perplexed, the government rejected the people, concluding that they had acted in “some kind of incomprehensible spirit of resistance and complete ignorance.” |
Here I immediately fast forwarded to the events of June, 1953 in East Berlin, the first serious uprising against imposed communist rule. Bertolt Brecht, the playwright, had hitherto served as the German Democratic Republic’s tame intellectual and court poet. But even he had enough, offering comment on the worker state’... |
After the uprising of the 17th of June |
The Secretary of the Writers Union |
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee |
Stating that the people |
Had forfeited the confidence of the government |
And could win it back only |
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier |
In that case for the government |
To dissolve the people |
And elect another? |
That would seem to serve as the very definition of the so-called People’s Democracies. In the place of real people came a hollow cardboard illusion. |
Applebaum is splendid in her treatment of the high politics, in her description of the appalling stooges who reproduced the bleak apparatus of Stalinism in their respective spheres of influence: personality cults, purges, camps, bogus trials, the whole depressing paraphernalia. She also offers a description of the corr... |
Iron Curtain is a splendid piece of work, witty, perceptive, thoroughly researched and superbly written. I was impressed enough to consider it the most important book I’ve read this year, one that will make a lasting contribution to our understanding of this period in history, a tragedy on which the final curtain has t... |
Don’t let that bother you. The history we are given is first class, a journey into a heart of darkness. Iron Curtain is a book that is scholarly and accessible, free of all condescension while losing nothing in the telling. It’s a commendable achievement. I felt both exhilarated at deflated at the end, especially after... |
1. Concerning jokes in communism, there is a nice documentary on sovjet humor. It is called the 'The Hammer and the Tickle'. |
Here is an into: |
It is not amazing, but definitely an entertaining watch. |
1. Thanks, dear Penguin. :-) I've written here in the past about humour from the Eastern Bloc. Have a look at this. |
2. I wish I could agree that we have seen the final collapse of the Iron Curtain, but I fear it merely became redundant as the key elements of its purpose leached across and became woven into the fabric of the International Socialist EUSSR. Time will tell . . . |
1. Fair comment, Calvin. That's also something I've written about. The one comfort is that it's still possible to laugh at the ridiculous Pee Wee Herman Rumpay van Pumpy. :-) |
3. Appelbaum's history of bolshevizm without origin of bolshevizm form New York and history of east-european soviet bloc without Yalta treaty of Roosvelt, Curchill and Stalin is none, void |
1. Laszlo, this isn't a history of Bolshevism. I can't quite grasp the point you are trying to make. |
Puerto Rico |
Case Study: |
Colonial Genocides |
Date range of image: |
1509 to 1552 |
Puerto Rico is one of the world’s oldest colonies, having been under some form of military occupation or protectorate status since 1508. On November 19, 1493, during his second voyage, Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico. The indigenous Taíno culture dominated the island.[1] The Taíno called the island Borikén ... |
While governor of the Hispaniolan province of Higüey, Juan Ponce de León, a former lieutenant under Christopher Columbus, heard rumors regarding the wealth of gold on Boriquen; and on June 15, 1508, Nicolás de Ovando, the viceroy of Española (Hispaniola), granted Ponce de León the privilege to explore and subjugate the... |
Ponce de León |
The encomienda system, a version of the European feudal trusteeship labor institution, reduced the Spanish-conquered American indigenous populations to a corvée (forced labor) class subject to the Conquistadors. In Puerto Rico, the Taíno primarily worked in the gold mines. As early as 1511, Fray Antonio de Montesinos a... |
Although remaining subject to the same obligations sustained by the other indigenous vassals, the Complementary Declaration of July 28th, 1513, established that those natives who were clothed, Christian, and capable could live their own lives.[3] A royal decree that collectively emancipated the remaining Taíno populati... |
As part of the early colonization process, African slaves were introduced to the island in 1513 and institutional slavery would not be abolished until 1873. By 1540 the gold reserves on the island were nearly exhausted. However, the farms originally established to supply cattle, grain, fruits, and vegetables to the min... |
~Russell Schimmer, GSP, Yale University |
[1] Rouse, Irving, The Tainos : Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1992. |
[2] Alegría, Ricardo E., Historia y cultura de Puerto Rico : desde la época pre-colombina hasta nuestros días. Editores, Ricardo E. Alegría, Eladio Rivera Quiñones. Fundación Francisco Carvajal, San Juan, P.R., 1999. |
[3] Figueroa, Doña Loida, History of Puerto Rico Tainos de Boriken: Translation of an extract from La Colonizacion De Puerto Rico. Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Genealogía. |
[4] Ibid. |
[5] Ibid. |
The Reader Cries Uncle |
wind-cries-mary-erika-grey-paperback-cover-artLike any other hazardous object, The Wind Cries Mary should have a warning label. Something along the lines of “reader is advised to wear neck brace to prevent injuries cause by abrupt changes of topic” or perhaps a more catchall “abandon all hope ye who enter.” This, gentl... |
The description provided on Amazon might lead the unsuspecting to believe this book is about the murder of Mary Mount. That’s just one of the many, many murders given the once over here. The narrative careens from Mary’s disappearance to the nearby disappearances of other girls, to the murders of three teenagers to hal... |
But that drive-by style is preferable to the treatment given to the case of John Rice, Jr., who murdered most of his family in the throes of a psychotic break. Grey is convinced that Rice also killed Mary Mount. Why? Well, he lived in the same town. That’s pretty much the whole case. Rice was found guilty by reason of ... |
The most disturbing thing about this book isn’t the murder of Mary Mount, it’s the casual way Grey implies that Rice killed everyone from Mary to Molly Bish. If anyone within a 50 mile radius of Rice dies, he did it. Why? Well, he was there and he did have that nasty case of acne when he was a teen. Rice’s crimes were ... |
The writing is somewhere between a 5th grade book report and Nigerian 419 scam email. Sometimes everything looks fine, if plodding, other times something isn’t quite right as in “Greenwich, the first town one enters after leaving New York.” Sure, it’s the first town if you’re entering Connecticut or I-95 but there are ... |
This book wasn’t a total loss. I read it for free from Amazon Prime and I did learn that “Police salaries are paid by the tax dollars of their town or city.” Up until now I’d just assume it was bake sales and car washes that kept the cruisers rolling. |
Amid the confusion and bad vibes |
This is the book equivalent of a survey course, covering crime, politics, music, movies, literature, sports and major events of the year 1969. It is relentlessly US-Centric - you won’t hear a peep about any other country unless it’s Vietnam. At it’s best, this survey approach introduces the reader to lesser known top... |
That was part of the fascination for me. 1969 is a triumph of secondary research. Kirkpatrick read many a book and magazine article, fearlessly watched DVDs of documentaries and most challenging of all, watched a few movies and listened to a few albums. It’s a shame he didn’t actually talk to anyone who was there. It’s... |
The once-over-lightly feel means nothing really gets its due but in fairness this is a way to whet your appetite, not satisfy it. Still, events like My Lai and Chappaquiddick are no less horrific with the passage of time. Fortunately events like the moon landing, Earth Day and the Jets winning the Super Bowl retain the... |
Oddly enough, 1969 isn’t the only year that everything changed. Apparently everything changed in 1959 too. Maybe 1979 was the year that didn’t change much of anything. |
• Content count |
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• Last visited |
About Harris-Stone |
• Rank |
Previous Fields |
• Occupation |
Computer Programmer |
• Favorite movies |
Andrei Rublev, Wings of Desire, Fanny and Alexander, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Tortorro, The New World, Children of Men, The Big Lebowski, Night of the Shooting Stars, Baron Von Munchausen, etc. |
• Favorite music |
Over the Rhine, Vigilantes of Love, U2, Tom Waits, Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Buddy & Julie Miller, Mark Heard, Nick Cave, Bach, Coltrane, Monk, Phil Keaggy, Sibelius, Mahler, Pat Metheny, etc. |
• Favorite creative writing |
Tim Winton, Mark Helprin, Annie Dillard, CS Lewis, George MacDonald, Madeleine L'Engle, Dostoevsky, Tolkien, Tolstoy, Ian McEwan, Denis Johnson, Ron Hansen, Isak Dinesen, Chesterton, TS Eliot, Czeslaw Milosz |
• Favorite visual art |
Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Gaugain, Picasso, Chagall, Monet |
1. new user Genroxbro posted spam in the film makers forum. The point of his/her post is the link, not the stupid broadside against British film that is absolutely meaningless. |
2. J.K. Rowling isn't just trying to make your children want to be witches. She's trying to make your children want to be alcoholic witches. The books give the impression that Butterbeer is NON-ALCOHOLIC and is kind of a kid's drink. I don't remember Hagrid drinking any. From Wikipedia... Butterbeer Butterbeer is the... |
3. , when Dumbledore has in fact already and ? , when Dumbledore has in fact already and ? I'm wondering if it's to get confirmation on the , or just act as final confirmation. I can't remember what the book says about this (if anything).... This is what I think too. Like any scientist or engineer, Dumbledore seeks c... |
4. LOL (Also very enjoyable blog post about technology in films Peter. Too true. |
5. Speaking of which, transparent aluminum is now real! (Sort of. Looks like after all these years they're finally working out the dynamics of the matrix...) Strange and interesting. It doesn't sound very stable. Stuff like this makes me look at my son and wonder what sort of world he'll come of age in! |
6. As a computer programmer, I second this. A "virus," or any other kind of malware, is a computer program like any other computer program. That means it utilizes the operating system to run. You cannot create one without knowledge of the OS. I think saying "There is no mathematical approach to malware applications t... |
7. A very good point. I'm also like you and SDG, when I'm reading I sink into the story. As an aspiring writer myself though, I also tend to look at from a technical point of view as well, just to see what I can learn about writing, etc. In this case, SDG's objections inspired me to look closer. In response as to why... |
8. Thanks Peter. I think it's fair to point out that all of the detail I mentioned was setup by the author for her purposes. Aesthetically, this won't be everyone's cup of tea. But it certainly suits her desire to entertain, and many readers desire to be entertained, to have Harry go through the whole triwizard thing... |
9. , but that . There are at least two ways to object to the plot of the story. One is aesthetic. For example there are plenty of people with good literary taste who simply don't like The Lord of the Rings. (I'm not one of them.) They try to read it because they've heard its good and bog down somewhere. The other is ... |
10. Good point. But I think pilgrimscrybe asks a good question. And I am pretty sure we could take almost any book or movie and ask, "Well, why didn't they just do this?" and have the story completed in 50 words or less. Well, as an aspiring fiction writer myself, let me say writers do THINK about such things and usu... |
11. . (Wikipedia also confirms what I had been wondering re: the opening attack on the Millennium Bridge: the book takes place about two years before construction began on the bridge in real life, so it would seem the movies have updated the events of the books to "today".) FWIW, in the book, the new Minister of Magi... |
12. I would love, love, love to go back. Every year about this time I get get his lump in my throat when I realize I can't go. "Ever" is a big word. Right now, with effectively no job, a 20 month old and a new baby coming in December, it's pretty unlikely. But maybe in 4 or 5 years! |
13. Up |
That was the one thing about the film...the shortness of the journey...heck, what journey? It was more like a joyride. I live in Mexico. Maybe most of y'all above the border...here we call it "the other side," don't realize it, but most maps make the countries down here look much, much smaller than they actually ar... |
14. Sara... I loved Sweethearts and am really looking forward to sinking into this! When I was a Christian teen back in the late 70's, Campus Life was a great magazine. They are where I first heard about Mark Heard. They always seemed more in touch with life and issues and less subculturay if you know what I mean. Th... |
15. Breath by Tim Winton. A dark story, but amazingly written. Also, if you haven't read it, Cloudstreet by the same writer is a serious classic -- a must read. Saturday and Atonement by Ian McEwan are also both very, very good. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, which was discussed in a thread here, is really excellent... |
Thursday, June 27, 2013 |
Minimalism in a Maximal Culture |
Early 20th century quilt |
Late 19th-century parlor |
One of the contradictions in quilt history is that women who decorated their homes and children to visual excess also made quilts that are exemplars of minimalism. |
(Do notice the hooked rug on the floor in the photo. It's has an Oddfellows theme with the heart in hand and the letters FLT---but I digress.) |
Quilt from about 1910 |
Quilt from ? |
Quilt from about 1890 |
Of course, there are plenty of surviving examples of late Victorian romantic clutter. |
But how two such different styles coexisted is an interesting puzzle. |
Above and Below about 1900 |
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