Riding the devil you know

This is my review of The Enigma of Capital: And the Crises of Capitalism by David Harvey.

Reading this feels like galloping over rough terrain on a spirited thoroughbred out of control. The recent financial debacle of 2007-8 inspired Harvey`s analysis of the periodic crises in capitalism which seem to be inherent, together with the attempted solutions, and suggested future actions. Harvey, a "Distinguished Professor in Anthropology" and originally a geographer, quotes selectively and cogently from Marx, and clearly favours radical alternatives to "conventional" casually accepted capitalism.

His basic premise is the current consensus amongst economists and the financial press that a healthy capitalist economy in which most capitalists make a reasonable profit needs to expand at about 3 per cent per annum. "Credit-fuelled capital accumulation at a compound rate is a condition of capitalism's survival. Capitalism must generate and internalise its own effective demand" backed by money to pay for goods in the market.

Succeeding chapters explore the potential barriers to the accumulation of capital- lack of money, labour, resources, technology, resistance or inefficiency in the labour process and lack of "effective" demand. Although most of the ideas are likely to have been encountered already, it is useful to have them combined in one place.

I welcomed the lack of abstruse economic theory with equations and graphs, which may reflect the author's expertise as a geographer. He asserts that an obsession with mathematical models blinded economists to the danger of the early C21 debacle that few foresaw. However, I would have liked a more precise explanation of the new financial products, credit default swaps and derivatives which caused so much trouble. I also found many of the explanations e.g. of the relationship between the availability of labour and wage costs, too condensed and hard to follow for someone with no prior knowledge of economic theory.

Although the topics and relationships covered are wide-ranging and fascinating, the book has a breathless quality, fed by long complex lists of diverse examples which undermine the line of argument. Harvey seems unable to resist the temptation to qualify points with brief asides, often in brackets, thus adding to the disjointed effect. Many passages seem written in a semi-digested hurry. For instance, I wanted a deeper exploration of the implications of the "Walmart phenomenon" by which cheap retail goods produced by relatively cheap labour are imported from an ironically still communist China for American consumers, some of whom will lost their jobs in the process.

The radical ideas put forward in the final chapter seem too vague and undeveloped to be called solutions. Asserting that "an ethical, non-exploitative… socially just capitalism that redounds to the benefit of all is impossible" and "contradicts the very nature of what capital is all about" he concludes: "The accumulation of capital will never cease. It will have to be stopped. The capitalist class will never willingly surrender its power. It will have to be dispossessed."

Is he calling for bloody revolution, likely to lead to world wars and prolonged greater suffering and chaos than exist even now? He says lightly that it is good in itself to be utopian, but as a distinguished academic, does he not have an obligation to present rather more cogent and well-conceived proposals than this? Necessity being the mother of invention, many educated young people in developing countries are beginning to devise alternative life styles. Rising anger over social inequality and growing evidence of the dangers of under-regulated capitalism, exhaustion of natural resources, pollution and overpopulation, may give governments the impetus to modify capitalism with the support of the people. This is the only future I can see, rather than what sounds at time like an unrealistic rant from an ivory tower.

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

The Enigma of Capital: And the Crises of Capitalism

Learning the largonji

This is my review of Slang ! : Dictionnaire d’argot et d’anglais familier by Harrap.

Many modern French novels contain a good deal of slang, and although there are some very comprehensive online sources of information, it is always useful to find a hard copy dictionary with a good coverage.

Fairly compact with words and idioms highlighted in bold and mainly concise definitions, this has the additional feature of "Spotlight on" boxes on e.g. "L'alcool et l'ivresse", "L'argent","La colère", "Le corps", "Les insultes" and so on. There are also "Slang Sleuth" boxes e.g. on "L'Argot des banlieues/des cités". On most pages there are one or two entries to expand information e.g. on the suffixes "aille" or "ard". I like the way the origin of words is often supplied.

As an English speaker, it is interesting to read the first half in French explaining English slang. My concern here is that I do not recognise quite a lot of the supposedly English slang used. Under "rhyming slang", I was bemused to find "Britneys=Britney Spears=beers" – perhaps this is an example of American slang, but not the more authentic "apples and pears=stairs" or "trouble-and-strife=wife".

It is enjoyable simply to "dip into" this, in the hopes of building up a bank of knowledge to reduce the need to break off reading to check on a term. I would say that it complements Barron's "Dictionary of French Slang" which I acquired some time ago, which is "one-way French to English, has a slightly different coverage of terms (hard to tell if less or more) and tends to provide more examples of words in different contexts.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Slang ! : Dictionnaire d’argot et d’anglais familier

Handy slim guide

This is my review of Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan (Travellers) by Melissa Shales.

If you are looking for a compact guide to take on holiday, this is useful if your focus is on Rajasthan or "The Golden Triangle". Since I was only visiting Delhi and Agra, I found the relevant sections a little too brief, in particular on the "main sites" such as the Taj Mahal or Red Fort at Agra which you are mostly likely to visit. Quite good on background practical and potted cultural information, the guide includes such telling insights as: "You will return home enriched and bemused and whether you loved or loathed the country will never be quite the same again!" Some of the main sites e.g. in Delhi are marked on maps, which could have been larger, but at least this helps orientation.

It's frustrating at times in covering off-the-beaten-tourist track itineraries and pictures of fascinating places you do not get to see on a standard package tour, but I suppose these support further reading you may feel inspired to undertake after the tour.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan (Travellers)

Flawed rendition

This is my review of A Delicate Truth by John Le Carré.

Fergus Quinn, an ambitious New Labour Foreign Office minister, picks a biddable Whitehall bureaucrat to oversee "Wildlife", a sensitive counter-terrorism operation – an odd choice, since "birdwatcher Paul Anderson", does not have a clue what is going on, before, during or after an exercise that goes badly awry. So, after accepting a clearly undeserved promotion into a sinecure followed by lord-of-the-manor retirement in a decaying Cornish mansion, what could induce "Anderson" to become a whistleblower? The same could be asked of the hardbitten commando employed in the secret operation, and of young Private Secretary, Tony Bell, whom Quinn tries to keep out of the loop altogether.

This is the basis for a gripping modern thriller with a mission to arouse our consciences over such issues as the erosion of democracy, the corrupt involvement of corporate power in government e.g. for defence contracts, the frightening power of intelligence organisations to spy on ordinary people in the name of national security.

My problem was an inability to believe in much of the dialogue – artificial, with too many characters speaking in the same upper crusty old Etonian voice, or in some Monty Pythonesque portrayal of "a working man". Le Carré gives the impression of being slightly out of touch, as with the school teacher who talks of teaching "arithmetic up to A Level". Most characters are thinly developed, and heavily stereotyped. Frequent placing of important conversations in flashbacks reduces the potential dramatic tension. There is too much "telling", often repeating what the reader already knows. Plot content is slim, and as other reviewers have said, even the wrong at the heart of the novel, although shocking, seems insufficient to awaken consciences to the extent of creating whistleblowers prepared to stake all. Is Le Carré resting too much on his laurels in this latest work?

Chapter 2 provides a lengthy telling of Tony Bell's rapid rise, mentored and advanced by the caricatured éminence grise mandarin, Giles Oakley. At one point, Tony acts out of character, also giving a hint of things to come, with an inward diatribe against the immorality of the Iraq War, including special condemnation of Tony Blair, whose "public postures are truthless". This sounds like Le Carré indulging in a personal rant of his own. Truth being stranger than fiction, it might have been more effective to produce a non-fiction analysis.

I could only cope with the first part of the book by treating it as a parody of upper class, or would-be establishment figures fudging truth and sacrificing principles for the sake of a cushy life.

In the final chapters, where the key players belatedly try to take responsibility and expose the truth, Le Carré creates a real sense of menace and tension. Is struggle futile or will they be able to have the last word? If so, at what personal cost? With the end in sight, the quality of Le Carré's prose improves to what one has hoped for. "What the gods and all reasonable humans fought in vain wasn't stupidity at all. It was sheer, wanton, blood indifference to anybody's interests but their own".

Although style and structure often make for an irritating read, it seems a good choice for a book group, both as regards discussion of issues, and exchange of what are likely to be conflicting opinions on the quality of the writing.

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

A Delicate Truth

Hanging on for dear life

This is my review of Gravity [Blu-ray] [2013] [Region Free].

This technically brilliant film contains beautiful shots of the earth viewed from space, there are some tense moments as the two space workers (Clooney and Bullock) struggle to survive when they find themselves stranded after a disaster not of their making and it is intriguing to watch them floating about surrounded by a motley collection of objects and dealing with weightlessness in a matter of fact way, at least until calamity strikes. As with most adventure films, the desire to create ever more exciting situations sends plausibility spinning into the outer galaxies and it is probably an advantage to be ignorant of some of the basic laws of physics. At the end, despite the ludicrous twists, the film succeeds in leaving you with a sobering sense of mortality combined with the strengh of the will to survive.

“Gravity” is definitely greatly enhanced if seen on a large screen in 3D.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


Gravity [Blu-ray] [2013] [Region Free]

Culture clash

This is my review of Sept histoires qui reviennent de loin (Folio) (French Edition) by Jean-Christophe Rufin.

Rufin’s impressive career as a doctor, with involvement in Médecins sans frontières, and as a diplomat have provided ample material for these short stories, often set in former colonies such as Sri Lanka or Mozambique, or involving migrants from France Outre Mer trying to adjust to life in l’Hexagone.

Varied in subject matter, the stories share a clear style, vivid descriptions of places, touches of humour with an underlying serious concern over moral dilemmas and man’s inhumanity to man, and a gift for building up a sense of anticipation. The denouement is generally predictable but that does not detract significantly from the enjoyment of the skill of the telling.

One of the best stories for me was “Les Naufragés” narrated by a woman consumed with nostalgia who cannot come to terms with changes to the island of Mauritius where she grew up in a world of white colonial privilege which is now giving way to the claiming of rights by the local people – to the extent of erecting a statue of Shiva on the secluded beach where she likes to swim. She persuades her husband to help remove the offending statue, but we know this is a vain attempt to deny the fact that, like the symbolic Paul and Virginie in the famous tale, the white residents of the island are all “les enfants d’un naufrage”, the wreck of their former lives.

Another is “Garde-robe”, topical in view of David Cameron’s recent highlighting of the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka where the story is set. In a lively dialogue seasoned with ironic humour, a man explains his distress over the discovery that an amiable servant on whom he has come to depend heavily should hold such rigid and bigoted views, and has probably been actively involved in violent acts in support of the rebels. He describes his fruitless attempts to convince the man that in adopting the criminal methods of a corrupt state, the rebels are in danger of becoming worse than those they wish to replace.

There are lighter tales, such as “Le refuge de Del Pietro” about an obsessive mountaineer. Also one very different and apparently autobiographical “Nuit de garde” about a young doctor who bears the heavy responsibility for declaring formally that a patient is dead, even though it is obvious to much more experienced underlings that this is the case. In the hierarchical world of medicine, his role is like that of a priest.

I understand the view that, given a style that is consistently objective and stripped of passion, some readers may feel a sense of disengagement which prevents them from relating strongly with the characters, but I feel that many, although clearly flawed, also evoke sympathy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Sept histoires qui reviennent de loin (Folio) (French Edition)

La Liseuse by Paul Fournel: Making madeleines into petit beurre LU

This is my review of La Liseuse by Paul Fournel.

What happens when Robert Dubois, the middle-aged, stuck in his ways editor of a Paris publishing firm, is given an e-reader by a young intern at the behest of the whizz kid accountant who has taken over the business? This is mainly a device to enable Fournel’s lively imagination to range over the effects of technology on literature. At the press of a button, a page disappears. Does it exist any more? It is no longer possible to mark comments in the margin with a pencil. If he wants his wife to read a particular book, he will have to lend her his “liseuse”, leaving himself nothing to read, together with the sneaking fear she may read something else altogether from what he has intended. Then there is the scope to alter the text: turning Proust’s madeleines into petit beurre LU biscuits.

This satirical novella introduces us to a number of neurotic authors and provides a sounding board for the author’s opinions, often expressed in flowing and poetic prose: the publisher’s resentment over being prevented from reading great works by the continual need to identify new books for a future one may not live to see, where one may be blamed for one’s choices; the fact that, when an author has a success, people want him to recreate the same book over and over again; the lack of demand for French literature in England, perhaps because it is not offered to readers there; the joy of finding bookshops which do not offer discounts and three for two deals, “ne jouent pas le jeu du commerce, juste celui de livres.”

Plot and character development are of little interest to Fournel. The sudden leaps between scenes are often confusing and the price to be paid for all this is that the reader does not engage strongly with the characters.

The frequent cultural references make this book challenging for a non-French reader. The device of writing in the form of a sestina – which means that the 36 chapters each end with one of six chosen words, “lue”, “crème”, “editeur”, “faute”, “moi”, “soir” in a complex cycle seemed pointless and a bit pretentious. This is all part of Fournel’s involvement with “L’Oulipo”, a movement of writers who subject themselves to various “mathematical” constraints.

Apart from the flashes of humour and quirky thinking – getting the local butcher to weigh the e-reader and find that the world’s great literature amounts to 730 gm – what won me over was the quality of Fournel’s writing over say, the experience of eating an artichoke, travelling in the London underground or, as a “townie” enduring the countryside: “la campagne ressemble terriblement à la campagne…une épaisse tartine d’ennui vert posée à même le sol”.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

La Liseuse

Snow that’s fallen astray

This is my review of The Appointment by Herta Müller.

Herta Muller never tells us specifically that the setting is Communist Romania under Ceausescu's brutal dictatorship, so this could be the model for any repressive regime. From the opening words, "I've been summoned" to the concluding "The trick is not to go mad", this novella traces a woman's tram ride, largely given over to her stream of internal thoughts. Her mind flits from the sinister Major Albu who always start his interrogations by giving her hand a wet kiss, to her partner Paul who drinks too much, memories of her childhood, her first marriage, her beautiful friend Lilli who has died and observations of the other passengers. Gradually, we learn the reasons behind recent events.

The rambling quality of her thoughts detracts from their dramatic impact. Some points are a little repetitive, such as the fact that there is a touch of teenage incest in the lives of both Lilli and the narrator. The narrator sometimes seems amoral and calculating, but can you blame her in view of the experiences which have shaped her? The novella is generally bleak and unrelenting, yet it is salutary to be reminded how the lives of an individual and those close to her may be blighted by a single abortive attempt to escape to a freer life abroad.

Although some passages are very powerful, such as the suppression of Paul's attempts to produce aerials, an illegal activity since it assists the forbidden process of free communication with the outside world, I suspect the quality of the writing has suffered a good deal in translation. Also, Muller builds up a sense of anticipation which is not borne out by the ending as is the case with, say, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist".

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

The Appointment

Glimpses of past glory

This is my review of The Story of India by Michael Wood.

With many colourful illustrations, this serves as an attractive souvenir of the BBC series, although the DVD is obviously better. The chapters themed by chronological time periods provide much intriguing information if you have the time and patience to tease it out of the somewhat rambling text: the followers of the Jain religion who gather annually to pour "great vats of milk, paste, saffron and vermilion over the giant statue" of their guru Babuballi; the ruler Ashoka, advised that he had to be "cruel to be great", who converted to Buddhism in later life, leaving his kingdom scattered with carved pillars instructing his subjects on how to live as he removed the death penalty, calling for the conservation of forests and respect for the beliefs and practices of others and so on.

I was looking for a book that would combine history with culture and politics, but to be fair this does not claim to be more than a history. With friends and contacts to ease his path, Wood presents a somewhat rose-tinted view of India: the squalor, dirt and pollution are cunningly omitted from all his pictures, and the ancient monuments and paintings gleam with colour, with little sign of the ravages of time. If you are reading this for a standard sightseeing tour, you may be a little disappointed by the often harsh and worn reality.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

The Story of India

“Captain Phillips” [DVD] [2013] – Not here to fish

This is my review of Captain Phillips [DVD] [2013].

Paul Greengrass is well-known for his dramatization of real-life events, in this case opting for a mainstream cinema action adventure format which may give scope for more dramatic licence than the constraints of a documentary to cover the topical theme of the threats from Somali pirates.

Their target is an American container ship, ironically loaded in part with food aid for Africa, under the command of the stern, courageous but also humane Captain Phillips, who in the midst of his personal trauma is capable of feeling compassion, even sympathy for the pirates. For, beneath the suspense and menace of the plot, lies the director’s concern to show both sides of the question, understand the pressures which drive the pirates: poverty, resentment against foreign powers like America which they perceive as having taken resources from them, the tribal leaders/corrupt gang masters who force simple former fishermen to seize money through piracy, very little of which they get to keep for themselves. The two main characters are developed most fully: Phillips and the pirate leader Muse, violent when scared but clearly not innately so and capable of seeing the American captain’s decency and natural powers of leadership. He reveals in a poignant moment that all he would really like to do is escape to a “better” life in the States. However, a combination of fear and chewing of the narcotic “khat” kindles the pirates’ unpredictability, while the tight-deadlines and ruthlessness of the US rescuers add to the tension of the brew.

I was a little frustrated to be unable to hear what anyone was saying in much of the dramatic denouement, but overall this is an absorbing film which adds to one’s understanding of a serious problem. It was fascinating to see the procedures followed in the attempt to shake off the pirates, although I was left wondering why all shipping off the Somali coast does not travel in convoys with 24/7 lookouts and powerful guns for defence.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


Captain Phillips [DVD] [2013]