The New Yorker

[Wilfrid]

Alex Barasch's piece on actor/director Halina Reijn is interesting but when they get to the Morgan Library and Museum, fantasy takes over. Or, the charitable view, things that actually happened are very poorly described.

Barasch and Reijn had "learned" there was a copy of Frank Wedekind's "Lulu" in the library. From an unreliable source as Lulu is a character in two plays, neither of which is called "Lulu." A docent, no less, directs them to the room with multiple levels of bookshelves. They can't, surprise, find "Lulu."

Yes, there are modern collections containing those plays (and usually "Spring Awakening") that have names like "The Lulu Plays." A bit after Morgan's time. In fact, the first of the plays was translated into English after Morgan's death.

It's possible a copy of "Erdgeist" is in there somewhere and their informant knew that to be the case. But where in the Morgan do you need to whisper because of the "hush" of the library? Pure fantasy.

[small h]

Helen Rosner recommends three panettones, two of which are sold out. Not very service-y!

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-food-scene/three-exceptional-panettones

[StephanieL]

My last 2 issues have gone missing.  I don't know if the problem is with the magazine or my local post office, but it's very annoying.

[relbbaddoof]

You must have an erudite mailperson.

[Wilfrid]

Happens to me about once a year. I think it's the postal service but if you can be bothered to complain to customer service they usually add a couple of weeks to your subscription.

[bloviatrix]

In the past when issues haven't turned up, we've called and they've resent it.

[StephanieL]

I've ordered replacement copies through the website.  I'm just kvetching about not getting them in the first place.

[Wilfrid]

I am still waiting for this week's. Usually comes on Tuesday. I have it in the app of course.

[bloviatrix]

1 hour ago, StephanieL said:

I've ordered replacement copies through the website.  I'm just kvetching about not getting them in the first place.

I can just imagine what the Roz Chast cartoon would look like if she drew one.

[Wilfrid]

I confess I enjoyed the digital interactive thing where you had to drag cartoons into a timeline to get them into chronological order. Like there was an obviously ancient one that turned out to be 1929, but if it was about COVID you knew it was later than that. Fun.

[StephanieL]

On 12/19/2024 at 1:05 PM, bloviatrix said:

I can just imagine what the Roz Chast cartoon would look like if she drew one.

If I ever have her over for a meal, I'll have to remember not to serve her goop.

[hollywood]

On 12/19/2024 at 12:11 PM, Wilfrid said:

I am still waiting for this week's. Usually comes on Tuesday. I have it in the app of course.

I received my December 16 issue today.

[Steve R.]

On 12/21/2024 at 6:16 PM, StephanieL said:

If I ever have her over for a meal, I'll have to remember not to serve her goop.

Did I ever mention that we went to High School together?  She was a grade behind me and I don't think I knew her, but still, that's something to post no? 😏

[MitchW]

53 minutes ago, Steve R. said:

Did I ever mention that we went to High School together?  She was a grade behind me and I don't think I knew her, but still, that's something to post no? 😏

You definitely mentioned it previously.

[Steve R.]

Yeah, but did I ever ask if I mentioned it previously?

[Wilfrid]

I recall you said you asked if you mentioned it previously, but I don't recall the answer, maybe you did.

[backyardchef]

Did I ever ask if @Steve R. had ever asked if he had ever mentioned this previously? 

[hollywood]

Well somebody told me you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February of last year

[Wilfrid]

Maybe one-off contributions from people like movie director Luca Guadgnino don't get an edit, other than for spelling and grammar. This is a badly written piece. But what is annoying is the claim that Mann won the Nobel Prize for Buddenbrooks. The prize is not awarded for specific works, although one can sometimes speculate the a particular book tipped the balance. Buddenbrooks was published in 1901. Mann won the prize twenty-eight years later, not coincidentally, I suspect, four years after he published The Magic Mountain. So the claim makes it look like Guadignino (fair enough, he's a movie director) but also The New Yorker don't really know much about Thomas Mann.

[relbbaddoof]

14 hours ago, Wilfrid said:

The prize is not awarded for specific works

You're broadly right, but see this, and this for the occasional exception.

[Wilfrid]

That first link persuades me I was wrong about him getting the prize for Buddenbrooks. The presentation speech is very focused on it.

[Wilfrid]

I don't know if the translation from Norwegian is the problem, but another really mediocre piece by Knausgaard this week. I can only believe his name is getting these things published.

[AaronS]

his current series of novels is insipid. he’s only good when he’s writing about himself.

[Wilfrid]

And thousands of pages, again.

[Wilfrid]

100th Anniversary issue just dropped. Looks great. One annoyance, the headline (digital) Goings On Turns 100. Still haven't forgiven them for gutting that section.