Varvalia Lodenko (Excerpt)

A brief excerpt from Jordan Stump's translation of MINOR ANGELS by Antoine Volodine.

12.

Varvalia Lodenko

Varvalia Lodenko laid down her rifle, took a deep breath, and said:
'Oh mindless men! Oh spineless women!'
'Before us lies the land of the poor, a land whose riches belong only to the rich, a planet of flayed earth, of forests bled ash-dry, a planet of filth, a vast expanse of filth, oceans that only the rich can cross, deserts polluted by the playthings and blunders of the rich, we see before us cities whose keys lie in the hands of the multinational mafia, circuses whose clowns are controlled by the rich, televisions devised for their entertainment and our stultification, we see before us their great men standing high atop a pedestal that is nothing other than a barrel of bloody sweat shed by the poor, or yet to be shed, we see before us the glorious stars and all-knowing celebrities, who, for all their much-vaunted dissidence, never once express any opinion that might in any way undermine the long-term strategies of the rich, we see before us their democratic values conceived for their own eternal preservation and our eternal inaction, we see before us the targets they have singled out for our loathing, always subtly, with an intelligence far beyond our folk-understanding and with a gift for duplicitous language that obliterates our poor-folk wisdom, we see before us their fight against poverty, their assistance to the poor, their emergency aid programs, we see before us their free distribution of dollars to keep us poor and them rich, their dismissive economic theories and their ethic of hard labor and their promise of universal riches to come, in twenty generations or twenty thousand years, we see before us their omnipresent organizations and their agents of influence, their spontaneous propagandists, their infinitely expanding media, their heads of family scrupulously faithful to the most luminous principles of social justice as long as their children have a guaranteed place on the right side of the scales, we see before us a cynicism so well oiled that the merest allusion to its existence, condemns you to a place of invisible marginality, close to madness, far from any drum, far from any follower, I stand before all this, in an empty land, speaking words that expose me to insults and condemnation, we stand before all this, which by rights should stir up a worldwide tempest of rage, a pitiless surge of extremism, ten decades at least of pitiless reorganization and reconstruction by our own rules, free of all religious logic, free of the financial logic of the rich, outside their political philosophies, without a second thought for the howling of their final watchdogs, before all this we have stood for hundreds of years, and still we have not found the way to plant insurrection, at the same time and on the same date, in the minds of all the billions of poor folk to whom it has never yet occurred, how to make it take root and finally flower. Let us find the way to do this, then, and let us do it.'
Here ended Varvalia Lodenko's speech.

Minor Angels
Antoine Volodine
Translated and with a preface by Jordan Stump
Published by University of Nebraska Press
Hardcover
2004. 166 pp.
978-0-8032-4672-0

The Children of Men - Dir: Alfonso Cuarón

Earlier today I read this exchange between Richard Posner and David Cole about contemporary interpretations of American civil liberties. Then, this evening, I saw The Children of Men. It is currently only playing in one theater in Boston right now but deserves a much larger audience. As J. Hoberman points out in his Village Voice review, the film does not deserve this fate. It says so much about our time that I am still trying to process it all. The film is gorgeous to look at as the screen is filled with cool blues, greys and greens. It maintains this serious mood throughout the film, with little time for jokes (it was funny noticing the former political cartoonist's work as being actually done by Steve Bell, who does cartoons for the Guardian UK newspaper). The audience sat in silence through most of it and actually applauded the film at the end. I haven't seen that happen in a commercial theatre in quite a while. So many aspects of the film recall -- not specifically other films (with the exception, possibly, of Barry Hinds "Threads") but actual news stories, recent events. This is probably why there is little advance notice of this film here. So many images recall political demonstrations in the Middle East and the tortures of Abu Ghraib or Gitmo. The story serves as a sharp reminder of what a society with sharp curbs on civil liberties looks like. [in progress]

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Note: Time Out London's interview with the director is quite illuminating.

The Children of Men Dir: Alfonso Cuarón - advance notice

Details: 2006, UK/USA/Rest of the world, Drama/Adventure/Thriller/Sci-fi, cert 15, 114 mins, Dir: Alfonso Cuarón
With: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
Summary: London, 2027. The last human child was born 18 years ago and amid a race war, humankind's survival depends on protecting a woman who has become miraculously pregnant. (source material: novel by P.D. James)

I've anticipated this film since I read Guardian UK film reviewer, Peter Bradshaw's comment on it back in early September. In the opening paragraphs he references Barry Hines' "Threads" and the 70s TV programme "Survivors" (not to mention Roy Andersson's "Songs of the Seventh Floor")-- two of the more frightening and realistic interpretations of a post-apocalyptic future. The look and the content of "The Children of Men" are certainly bracing enough, as a depiction of present fears of society. Phillip French, in his review goes on to recall Volker Schlondorff's vision of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", as scripted by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter. This can only be a good sign. I've been waiting for a film like this for quite a while. Something that will contextualize the direction Western society may go if current policies maintain. The only thing that's been out there apart from the many documentaries analyzing the problem, are torture films.

Official Sites: UK US

The US release date is December 25, 2006.

UPDATE:
Wesley Morris wrote an excellent review in the Boston Globe.
J. Hoberman has thisto say.

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Further reading on apocalyptic films should include the genius that is Kim Newman's book "Millenium Movies: End of the World Cinema".

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips

At the end of the summer, I finished reading Julie Phillips's excellent biography of Alice Sheldon's life. I remember being fascinated by some of her late work, stories collected in "Tales of the Quintana Roo", when I was younger. At the time, I didn't know that James Tiptree, Jr. was actually the pen name of Alice B. Sheldon, I only felt that in reading her stories, I connected with a very intelligent mind. Julie Phillips' biography of Alice's fascinating life is recommended to any reader who is excited by a person filled with boundless curiosity. It is certainly not strictly for Science Fiction readers-- the book doesn't get to the actually stories until its final third. Alice did not start writing as Tiptree until she was 51 years old. She was born to an author Mother and an attorney Father, who invested wisely in real estate in Chicago. Her family's wealth led them to go on Safari-- Alice's first Safari took place when she was six years old. The wonder and devastation she saw there marked her life forever. By the time she was 11, she had already traveled extensively in Africa during three different Safaris. This kind of exposure to other parts of the world transformed her experience of 'ordinary' American life. She certainly could not relate to other children her age-- Phillips describes a scene where Alice's elementary school teacher is discussing Africa and cannot get Alice to sit still because she had already been there. Experiences like this provoked her and frustrated her formative years. She was also marked throughout her life by her Mother's success in writing stories for national magazines and books. Alice later went on to join the Women's Army Corps, where she-- taking a little initiative-- ended up in military intelligence by the end of World War Two. This job later became part of a new government agency after the war--the CIA. She stuck with it for three years and then left to pursue writing. Her husband worked for the Agency for the rest of his life. All of these experiences were later drawn upon to create the persona of James Tiptree, Jr. The stories by James Tiptree, Jr. are fascinating as they have an inherent skepticism regarding the nature of human progress. Phillips constantly reminds the reader at the end of most chapters how Alice's memories contributed to the substance of her stories, and how Alice's own reality exposed her larger psychological problems. Alice witnessed first hand how the United States treated women as second class citizens after World War Two. This experience made her cynically view later feminist movements in the 1970s. Throughout her life she was a witness to human violence and cruelty, whether it was in colonial Africa or in the United States of America. All of this fed into her Science Fiction stories. Tiptree was something that started as a joke for her and then became almost an emotional release at times. She was able to correspond with so many fans, publishers and other authors under this persona, that Tiptree literally provided her with a second life. Tiptree was an elaborate game for her; his actions helped her through so many depressive moods. Unfortunately, the game only led so far, by the end of the 1970s Alice was taking numerous prescription drugs and was addicted to Dexadrine (something that started when she worked for the CIA). Her quick mind could only see one way out and she entered into a death pact with her husband. Finally in 1987, she shot her husband as he slept then herself. At that point she could not deal with growing old and losing her sensibilities in a world that grew colder. Julie Phillips new biography illuminates through a thorough study of all of Alice's stories and correspondence the life of a truly remarkable woman.

For a more detailed look at this biography, I highly recommend Carter Scholz's review of it in Bookforum.

Stories:

The Screwfly Solutionby Raccoona Sheldon

Beam Us Home by James Tiptree, Jr.

The Women Men Don't See by James Tiptree, Jr.


suggested links:

The official site of Julie Phillips regarding the book in question, author interviews, excerpts, praise etc.

The Tiptree Award

Congo Journey - John le Carré writing in the Nation

Fantastic Fiction Uk bio

Publisher of "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever" tachyon

Alice's professor at Sarah Lawrence College and life long friend Rudolf Arnheim

Octavia Butler passed away

This just in:

Science fiction writer Octavia Butler dies
Last Updated Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:38:48 EST
CBC Arts

Octavia Butler, a pioneer of black female science-fiction writing, has died after a fall outside her home in the Seattle, Wash., area. (for full story click above)

Greg Pak work at Inkwell Auctions for aid to Hurricane Katrina Victims

Reposting from a Greg Pak e-mail:

"Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada and a slew of other comics professionals including Robot Stories director Greg Pak are auctioning of art and comics at InkWellRelief.com as a fundraiser for the Red Cross to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Please consider bidding -- all net proceeds will go to the Red Cross.

Link indicated above.