Tag: 05.19.15

How 19th Century Newspapers Were Like Today’s Internet

“Many 19th-century newspapers are comprised primarily of content from other newspapers,” he said. “They were more aggregators than producers of original content. And often they were created by very small staffs, and scholars such as Ellen Gruber Garvey have shown that this aggregation is what allowed newspapers to spread as rapidly as they did in the 19th century, because you didn’t have to produce the whole thing.”

Why Translating Literature Is Torture

Breaking the Bulgarian structure out of the sentences and turning it into an equally strong and evocative phrase in English is a lot like doing 50 pushups. It’s painful and exalting. And one day, you get better. But sometimes you cry and swear, becoming haunted by Nabokov’s seminal, merciless essay, “The Art of Translation.”

Why We Need Poetry Now More Than Ever

“Conventional public discourse is boring, too familiar and brittle: the spray-on-tan blather of pundits on CNN, the coo of commerce, the drained, template-like rhetoric of political speech. That’s where poetry, that oft-forgotten form, comes in, a specific kind of verse called “civic poetry.” Civic poetry is public poetry. It is political poetry. It is about the hard stuff of life: money, crime, gender, corporate excess, racial injustice.”

Why Do Cities Still Build Over-Sized Performing Arts Theatres?

“For large-capacity halls that are only in the business of presenting touring commercial entertainment (including Broadway shows), the more seats the better. But in reality, many large-capacity halls were originally conceived and funded to present touring cultural programs — classical music, dance, opera — and to support local arts organizations by being available for rent. And here’s where we get into trouble.”

These Are The Songs That Were Cut Out Of The Original “My Fair Lady”

“The five songs that were cut before rehearsals include a tune called “Lady Liza,” sung by Higgins and his buddy Colonel Hugh Pickering; “Please Don’t Marry Me,” a lament for Higgins; and “Shy,” in which Eliza confesses she has feelings for her professor. The composers decided that wasn’t true to George Bernard Shaw’s original play, so they replaced it with “I Could Have Danced All Night,” where she expresses excitement rather than affection.”

Rant: Time To Stop Being Snobbish About Book Genres

“I’m tired of cultural pompousness passing as a form of intelligence and moral superiority, whether we’re talking about television, book, movie or music preferences. I record “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” while my boyfriend records “Nova”—does that make him a better person? Is that really what we want to pass down to the next generation—a way of one-upping ourselves over something that should be entertaining?”

Who Was It Who Declared That This Is The Year Of The REALLY Long Novels?

“I don’t fear the long novel as much as pine for good editors. A book can be any length, if the words earn their keep on the page. I rarely see the point in huge chunks of prose that don’t serve the story: writing has to be mesmerisingly good before that doesn’t feel self-indulgent to me. I also worry that we might be overlooking short novels.”

Digital Companies Make Big Inroads At Tradition-Bound Cannes

“Presentations by companies such as Netflix and virtual-reality outfit Oculus have been priorities for attendees. Agents who once never gave a second thought to nontraditional platforms are now courting them. Beefed-up teams from digital entities such as Amazon and Vimeo are pursuing rights with the zeal once reserved for studios like Universal Studios and Warner Bros.”