Oman, cellphone novels, Beyond the Burka, Carver and Lish, Gods Behaving Badly

We just returned from a week in [the Sultanate of] Oman, a very civilized desert kingdom on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Only recently opened up to tourism since the forward-looking Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970, it has a fascinating history, striking, unspoilt landscapes and a remarkably modernized infrastructure. You can read more about our trip in the Spring edition of Town And Country Travel.
Here goes the articles which caught my eye the past month:
1.“Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular” - on the front page of today’s New York Times – about the super-burgeoning genre of 'cellphone novels', which are coming to dominate the best-seller list: “Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels [in Japan], five were originally cell-phone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels.”
2.“Beyond the Burka. Muslim women are being heard. But which ones?” by Lorraine Adams in the excellent “Islam” edition of The New York Times Book Review (Jan 6) – about how perception of Muslim literature remains distorted since much of contemporary literature remains unpublished in English translation: “Literature in translation, regardless of origin, has trouble finding American publishers. The languages of Islam, unlike European languages… are not often spoken by American editors. “When you have a book proposal, you have to have at least two chapters and a synopsis in English,” explained Nahid Mozaffari, an Iranian historian… “But there’s no money to pay for translation…”” The piece concluded with a thought-provoking quote by Dedi Felman, a book editor in New York and an editor of Words Without Borders, an Internet magazine that publishes literature in translation (in fact I will be their guest blogger starting next month): “In essence, we are asking people to recognize the Other not for what they want it to be or anticipate it to be, but for what it is. And as with all attempts to negotiate divides, that is neither an easy not a simple place in which to put oneself.”
3. “Rough Crossing: Raymond Carver’s letters to Gordon Lish and unedited versions of Carver’s stories reveal an extraordinary battle of wills between an author and his editor.” by Paul Rudnick in The New Yorker ((Dec 24 and 31). This exposé was followed by the unedited version of Carver’s Story 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love' (which Carver originally titled 'Beginners'). I drastically prefer Carver’s original version. I always thought 'What We Talk About' lacking in some way and Carver’s far longer, more developed version is so much richer and more moving. I particularly don’t understand why Lish chopped Carver’s original ending. It’s so wonderfully haunting and poignant: “…I stood at the window and waited. I knew I had to keep still a while longer, keep my eyes out there, outside the house, as long as there was something left to see.”
3. More briefly: “Guinea-Pigging: Healthy human subjects for drug-safety trials are in demand. But is it a living” by Carl Elliott in The New Yorker (Jan 7) – a disturbing chronicle of the risky tests many people subject their bodies too for the sake of quick and easy cash. “Gone Missing: ‘The Orphanage’” – Anthony Lane’s superbly-written review of the young Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona’s film. The review was a treat to read, with some wonderful similes eg “A team of paranormal inquirers come to the orphanage, led by a figure clad in black, as slender as a child’s stick drawing”, “Aurora’s pupils gleam hotly in the jungle-colored darkness, like those of a nocturnal leopard, caught by a naturalist’s camera as it slinks to a watering hole.” He also makes the astute point: “A scary movie...is meant to be infested with implausibilities, and what counts is whether we allow them to nip and needle us throughout or whether… we learn to relish their powers of suggestion”.
4. I’m keen to read Marie Phillips’ first novel 'Gods Behaving Badly', in which Greek Gods have taken up residence in modern-day London. It received a good review by Alexandra Jacobs in The New York Times Book Review (Jan 13): “But for the most part her nonchalant transposition of the ancients into post-postmodern life is seamless, amusing and blessedly unpretentious. It may not be ambrosia, but it’s some pretty good trail mix.”
See you soon!