Hard to say, because the task of translating author Jin Yong’s hugely bestselling Legends of the Condor Heroes defeated many an English translator before a young Scotswoman won through with the first volume in a planned 12-volume series. “Agent Peter Buckman, who sold the rights to the series to the publisher, came across the works almost by chance as he searched the internet for’“bestselling authors’. ‘Jin Yong was in the top 10, though I’d never heard of him; nor did I read Chinese,’ he said.”
Tag: 11.26.17
Bertha Calloway, Who Founded The Great Plains Black History Museum, Dies At 93
Calloway founded the museum in 1976 as part of the outgrowth both of her activism and of a historical society in Omaha, Nebraska. Her son called her one of the last of the “true icons” of north Omaha. Her museum had been through both good and hard times, but it just reopened in a new facility earlier in the fall.
The Community That Designs Buildings Together Stays Together (And Lives Longer, Too)
We need more “collective efficacy” and “ordered complexity,” or so says one writer. (The writer also claims we need to be able to see long distances, be able to map our terrain, and enjoy patterns that mimic the fractal patterns in our bodies.)
We Have Questions About This U.S. Adaptation Of A Great Chilean Movie About Middle-Aged Women
The original 2013 Gloria was an honest and full-bodied depiction of a woman in her late 50s, still filled with determination and desire. U.S. moviemakers aren’t exactly known for their ability to imagine or understand older women – so maybe it’s good that the Chilean director who made the original is also tasked with the “adaptation” (not remake).
Movies Weren’t Doing So Well This Month, And Then ‘Coco’ Came Around
Yes, yes, a movie about the Day of the Dead rescued the box office from the 2017 graveyard, etc. etc. (This is, of course, what Disney/Pixar movies are supposed to do.)
The Mall, Once A Center Of Shopping, Is Now More Likely To Be Your Gym
Even mall architecture is changing to fit the new concept in a space where retail is on the wane. “Gyms fit into a broader push by mall owners to reinvent themselves as centers of entertainment at a time when so much of apparel sales have moved online. Landlords are adding restaurants, ice-skating rinks, pools and other recreational options to boost sagging foot traffic.”
Top AJBlogs Post From The Week And Weekend Of 11.26.17
The Literary Roots of Lou Reed
Back in the spring, when I pitched the Los Angeles Review of Books on a regular column on musicians and their literary interests, my editor immediately came up with the title All the Poets. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-11-24
Almanac: Henry James on commercial theater
“Then the mixture was to be stirred to the tune of perpetual motion and served, under pain of being rejected with disgust, with the time-honoured bread-sauce of the happy ending.” Henry James, preface to Theatricals: … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-11-24
Piano Sonata as Video Game: Anomalies in My Reception of Beethoven’s Music
A transcript of my spoken remarks at Boston University this week, as part of a symposium on piano sonatas by Beethoven. “I’d like to talk about what I would call anomalies in my own reception … read more
AJBlog: PianoMorphosisPublished 2017-11-23
Kehinde Wiley Can’t Tell Us About The Process Of Painting Barack Obama’s Presidential Portrait
But he can talk about painting Michael Jackson: “It was extraordinary. His knowledge of art and art history was much more in-depth than I had imagined. He was talking about the difference between early and late Rubens brushwork. OK, why not? One of the things we talked about was how clothing functions as armour. And if you look at the painting, he’s on horseback in full body armour.”