Faith under fire in Bethlehem: Mitri Raheb’s FAITH IN THE FACE OF EMPIRE
At last year’s launch of veteran travel writer Dervla Murphy’s remarkable book, A Month by the Sea – Encounters in Gaza, she made a simple but telling point. “The Palestinians’ predicament is that they are the victims’ victims”. Of course, in Faith in the Face of Empire, an equally remarkable book by a Palestinian Christian pastor, victimhood […]
On Human Transience and Mortality: Clive James’ JAPANESE MAPLE
Have been playing catch up with a few New Yorker back issues in the last couple of days – like buses, you get none, and then suddenly several arrive in the post in a pile. So I was stopped in my tracks by Japanese Maple, a new poem by Clive James. He’s a remarkable writer […]
U2’s Songs of Innocence (3): A Disquieting Lullaby (SLEEP LIKE A BABY)
U2 can be pretty shocking. If you’ve followed social media recently, you’ll know they’ve caused global offence by giving away their Songs of Innocence album for free (oh, and a nice tidy cheque from Apple for $100 million). I do think that the sum is pretty obnoxious. There’s no way that anyone needs that kind of cash, least of […]
Beware the conspiracy theorist’s ‘fact’: THE UMBRELLA MAN
This is superb and completely speaks for itself. It subverts the natural, but risky, human desire to connect all the dots on the basis of a few curiosities and anomalies. Errol Morris’ short film asks why it was that ‘The Umbrella Man watched the JFK motorcade in November 1963 with his umbrella up. Whenever someone […]
U2’s Songs of Innocence (2): Enigmatic Personal Variations and Iris
So I’ve been pondering a lot on the fact that Bono has called Songs of Innocence a personal album. Here he is in Rolling Stone last week: “We wanted to make a very personal album,” Bono told Rolling Stone‘s Gus Wenner the day before the press conference in an exclusive interview. “Let’s try to figure out […]
U2’s Songs of Innocence (1): Opaquely Specific: SONG FOR SOMEONE…
To be opaque is to be beguiling, provocative. You need to be hooked, of course. But once I’m hooked, I never want everything on a plate. I want to be made to work a little. It is one of the most compelling things about U2’s songs.
U2’s Songs of Innocence: You’ve probably already got it…
I guess being a U2 devotee is a bit like supporting a top-flight football team. You can’t wait for their next match, and yet there’s always asense ofdread that it won’t come to much. The rumours about a new album(s) have been circulating for years. And then suddenly, there it was. Already in iTunes playlists, […]
Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 72 (September 2014)
Sacred Treasure Cranmer has been on form: 1. None dare call it evil, except Justin Welby; 2. I have forgiven Islamic militants Interesting stuff here from Tyndale House on Simon Gathercole’s work on the Gospel of Thomas “Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here…” from the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul The stigma of being an atheist […]
