A welcome revival of a 1980s comedy prophesying the collapse of the Soviet UnionHere is a revival of a 1983 film from the Georgian director Eldar Shengelaia (still alive at 90) and it is revealed as an intriguing, and perhaps even remarkable creation: a dapper, droll satire on Soviet bureaucracy, a shaggy dog story of absurd humour that creeps up on you, culminating in a truly bizarre apocalypse. The satire was arguably lenient enough to get the film made and lenient enough to win it the USSR State prize, but we can see from our 2023 vantage point that it is a deadpan prophecy of the Soviet Union’s imminent collapse. If we could go back in time to this film’s first release and tell Shengelaia that just six years later the Berlin Wall would come down and with it the entire Soviet system, would he have been surprised? Perhaps only about the fact that it was going to take so long.The scene is a state publishing company that also supervises printing and takes delivery of noisome chemicals in its basement courtyard. A would-be writer called Soso (Ramaz Giorgobiani) is scurrying about the building, desperately trying to interest its harassed or indolent functionaries in his novel, entitled Tian Shan, or The Blue Mountains – and therefore, we must assume, literally or metaphorically about the central Asian mountain ranges, although no one ever asks him about it or discusses literary matters in any way. No one definitively rejects him or accepts him. He is always referred to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-06 13:00:00 UTC ]
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#berlin wall
Booksellers have warned there is no room for a repeat of last year's Yodel pre-Christmas... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This month's starred reviews of self-published books includes a SF mystery set in dystopia where people live in domed cities and a memoir of Mexican immigration to the US. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More Info Hands-on with Kobo's Glo and Mini e-readers (video) Kobo Glo review: another illuminated e-reader lights up the market Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review While tablet and smartphone manufacturers battled it out over screen sizes, e-reader makers seem to have settled on an... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#originally appeared
Technology Review has relaunched itself as MIT Technology Review, completing a digital-first transformation worthy of its cutting-edge namesake. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#digital focus
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Some 20 weeks before Newsweek set the media into a frenzy with its announcement of a digital-first publishing strategy, Jason Pontin was already grappling with how to move his 113-year-old publication toward a digital future. Pontin announced in June that MIT's Technology Review magazine would... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Veteran cricket commentator Henry Blofeld will release an autobiography next year after a deal... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#blue door
HarperCollins has acquired a novel by Robert Lautner, a historical author working under a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to Be A Woman author Caitlin Moran is to join the judging panel for the 2013 Blue Peter Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Called 'the best e-reader you can buy,' the Paperwhite has debuted to almost universal praise. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Industry insiders are predicting further restructures across the travel sector, following news... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mixed reviews for J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy (Little, Brown) this morning (27th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Government-appointed panel to consider what role can ebooks play in our libraries in future. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The government is expected to announce a review of library e-lending tomorrow (Wednesday 26th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin is understood to have begun a review of its travel division, with staff informed today (... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black Dog Publishing is kicking off a new series in association with London Underground's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British crime writer R.J. Ellory is the latest author to be caught out writing glowing online reviews of his own work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#latest author
This brisk first-person account by a Navy SEAL is an important historical work, though it, like the mission itself, is not flawless. No Easy Day Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Defense Department and CIA consider legal action against the former SEAL, author of 'No Easy Day,' for failing to submit the work for a security review.WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and CIA are reviewing a forthcoming book by a retired Navy SEAL who was on the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At least one entrepreneur sells positive book reviews to Amazon authors. How an apparently unreliable customer-review system might finally eat itself. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has launched a review of anti-corruption controls in several of its publishing arms, including News International in London. Murdoch told News Corp staff in a memo on Wednesday that the company recently launched ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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