Living alone for months in a European forest taught Mette Jakobsen a lesson to carry through the pandemic: to look at something beautiful every dayIn 2019 I travelled to a remote part of Finland to finish a novel.I was worn out. Three years in academia…
Moonbound review – a mish-mash of folkloric hijinks as kids take trip to the moon
This German-Austrian animation aimed at younger children borrows from vaguely familiar sourcesBased on a well-known German book for children from 1915, this derivative but adequate animated feature fuses together an assortment of vaguely familiar chara…
‘Fake crying’ doesn’t mean a baby is lying | Letter
Behaviours such as ‘fake crying’ and hiding disliked food do not necessarily indicate an intention to deceive, says Anthony MarcelKathryn Hughes begins her review (28 July) of The Truth About Lies by Aja Raden thus: “At about the age of 18 months babie…
通州事件、尖閣諸島戦時遭難事件… 昭和史に埋もれていた「事件」に光を当てる
＜戦争が終わり、時間の経過と共に忘れられていったのではなく、元より埋没してしまっていた重大事件がある。当事者たちの証言をもとに、それらの事件から昭和の大戦を読み解く＞ 第二次大戦の終結から76年がたつ。徐々に歴史の彼方へと追いやられようとしている。だがそれ以前に、敗戦国となった日本で長らく埋もれてしまっていた数々の重大事件があると、ノンフィクション作家の早坂隆氏は言う。 このたび『大東亜戦争の事件簿――隠された昭和史の真実』（育鵬社）を上梓した早坂氏が、その「事件簿」の一部を特別に寄稿する。 ◇ ◇…
‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey
The writer has turned a Greek tragedy about a marooned soldier into an all-women play for the Covid era. They reveal how its creation mirrored their own journey‘These stories can be intimidating for so many reasons,” Kae Tempest says of the classical G…
米作家ピート・ハミルの死から1年、妻・青木冨貴子がつづるハミルの声と「真実」
＜昨年8月5日、米著名作家でジャーナリストのピート・ハミルが惜しまれつつ他界した。彼が探し続けた「真実」と今に生きる遺産とは──ハミルの愛したニューヨークから、妻でジャーナリストの青木冨貴子がつづる＞ ピートに初めて会ったのは、彼が初来日した1984年3月6日、月刊誌「諸君！」の連載でインタビューしたときのことだった。短編集『ニューヨーク・スケッチブック』（82年、邦訳・河出書房新社）で注目を集め、自伝的小説『ブルックリン物語』（83年、筑摩書房）が出たところだったが、何より映画『幸福（しあわせ）の…
Mel Brooks announces his first memoir at the age of 95
All About Me!, to be published on 30 November, will cover everything from the film director’s military service to his long comedic partnership with Carl ReinerAt the age of 95, the comedian and film-maker Mel Brooks has written his first memoir. All Ab…
The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah review – extraordinarily dynamic
A sensitive and honest collection of interviews explores freedom and sexuality beyond every conceivable stereotypeHere is a book like none you will have read before. It draws on interviews conducted over six years by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah – a Ghanaian …
Rupert bare: how the Oz obscenity trial inspired a generation of protest art
When a lewd cartoon of Rupert Bear landed the editors of the 60s counterculture paper in court, David Hockney, John Lennon, Robert Crumb and more made some of their most urgent art in response“What do you suppose is the effect intended to be of equippi…
Billy Summers by Stephen King review – his best book in years
The monsters are all too human in this noir tale of an assassin on one last job No matter what he writes, Stephen King will always be considered a horror novelist. It’s unavoidable now; he is responsible for too many of the fantastical nightmares that …