Throughout his life James Joyce attempted to escape - from war, religion, convention, narrative structure, language... "When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets." - from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Published in … [Read more...] about James Joyce in summary: escape is a key theme in his work
Arts
When the USA supported Vietnamese revolutionaries
In conversation, directors of The Vietnam War PBS documentary series explored the roots of the conflict. The ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series The Vietnam War has been shown on PBS in the US, and BBC in the UK. It has taken ten years to make, and features testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as … [Read more...] about When the USA supported Vietnamese revolutionaries
Frances Ha, Modern Love & The Commercialization of Dissent
Frances Halladay is dancing down Catherine Street in New York, her body moving in time to David Bowie's Modern Love: Bowie sings: Modern love - walks beside meModern love - walks on byModern love - gets me to the church on timeChurch on time - terrifies meChurch on time - makes me partyChurch on time - puts my trust in god and manGod and man - no confessionsGod and man … [Read more...] about Frances Ha, Modern Love & The Commercialization of Dissent
Review: The Men Who Made Us Spend. Putting the con into consumerism?
In The Men Who Made Us Spend BBC TV programmes, journalist Jacques Peretti presents his evidence, and offers no simple solutions. Back in 2002, when previewing Adam Curtis' The Century of the Self TV programmes, Bryan Appleyard wrote: "The Century of the Self is a startling revelation of the way things that we take for granted are, in fact, the result of specific ideas and … [Read more...] about Review: The Men Who Made Us Spend. Putting the con into consumerism?
The Men Who Made Us Spend: BBC consumerism documentary
In The Men Who Made Us Spend BBC TV series, journalist Jacques Peretti examines consumerism. The three thought-provoking programmes explore, in order, how product lifespan, fear and children are used to drive consumption. Peretti sets out to answer the questions "why do we buy what we buy?", and "how is our desire to spend manipulated?" by interviewing experts, influential … [Read more...] about The Men Who Made Us Spend: BBC consumerism documentary