tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post2502624601517749513..comments2024-03-27T05:22:27.604-05:00Comments on Eddie Campbell: Eddie Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492020671613766729noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-15142141316294011702012-01-22T22:22:41.307-05:002012-01-22T22:22:41.307-05:00yeah, but with respect, duh. We passed that turnof...yeah, but with respect, duh. We passed that turnoff miles back. The above outburst was an appeal to the utmost reaches of absurdity. maybe I'm not using enough smileys :) :) :)<br /><br />We've gone past the part about Orientalism hindering Palestine's bid for full United Nations membership. All the sensible arguments are done. Now we're down to 'we don't like the way you depict us.' Which image in Habibi are we talking about exactly? the last commenter just said the whole book was offensive, without leaving me with any understanding of why it is so. We don't like you depicting us. period. thus, I no longer get it , and furthermore I no longer have any sympathy with the offended.<br /><br />I'm doneEddie Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492020671613766729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-81886833099713757622012-01-22T20:26:28.258-05:002012-01-22T20:26:28.258-05:00"I'm starting to think it can only be hur..."I'm starting to think it can only be hurtful on the level of where I might take offense at Mike Myers' Fat Bastard as a depiction of a Scotsman (which I think is hilarious lest there be any doubt)."<br /><br />With respect, Mr Campbell, but this analogy will only work if your countrymen had centuries-worth of history of being demonised and ostracised and exoticised (alongside various campaigns of all-out war declared towards them) just because mainly they worship a god with a different name from supposedly everyone else's (and I know Scotland has its own bloody history of being stepped on, but not nearly as widespread or as lasting as the Muslim World's). This particular line of criticism for HABIBI sees the book as a continuation of that demonism/ostracism/exoticism, something that Thompson himself (limitedly) admits as part of his intention. I can't blame some of the critics for taking it personally.<br /><br />I appreciate all the words you've written on HABIBI, and I agree whole-hog on the notion that (good) art is beyond morals and moralising, only I also recognise that the interpretation of art can sometimes be not as secular as the object itself.<br /><br />You're always a great read, Mr Campbell. Thank you for all this.Adam!https://www.blogger.com/profile/10129783455815709787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-7349277877378219622012-01-03T19:32:52.247-05:002012-01-03T19:32:52.247-05:00I borrowed Habibi to read what the fuss was, I'...I borrowed Habibi to read what the fuss was, I've never read Blankets; the only other work I know of Thompson is from a Top Shelf Anthology, about Americans (?) slumming in Europe, an artisit drawing, either a Polish or Czech woman at a train station. <br /><br />I read Habibi quickly, and it was an entertaining yarn. I disliked the 'jump cuts' transitions, but especially the one leading up to climax, the aftermath of the answer to the riddle.<br /><br />The reason I dislike it is that comes across more as a story telling artiface than it is a true insight: that the alchemical metaphore is an analogy which presents the solution. I was unconvinced that this was a true realization, in the way of that say, Alec Guiness in Bridge on the river Kwai, towards the end, realizes he was collaborating. <br /><br />That kind of discovery, in its way a scientific one an insight, the scales falling from one's eyes, the excitement of an idea; and the way it was depicted in Habibi, completely disrupted the illusion. I could no longer suspend my disbelief, if you will. After that the graphic appeals to sentiment were a little grating. <br /><br />I'm baffled by a story that regards story itself and metaphore, transformations, symbolism and similar themes as much as its subject as the protagonists, to fail in what I consider to have been a crucial scene. <br /><br />That's all, pretty minor stuff in comparison to the what's been going on. Also, why 'Wanatolia'? Why not just Anatolia and be damned?h.n.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14252947832976530597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-59753087860927429512012-01-02T17:04:29.359-05:002012-01-02T17:04:29.359-05:00Thanks, Will. And a happy new year to you.
Yes, I...Thanks, Will. And a happy new year to you.<br /><br />Yes, I just don't get it any more. A recent complainant wrote here "We are complaining because these portrayals are deeply hurtful to us personally." I'm starting to think it can only be hurtful on the level of where I might take offense at Mike Myers' Fat Bastard as a depiction of a Scotsman (which I think is hilarious lest there be any doubt).Eddie Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492020671613766729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-27152606575590219722012-01-01T02:15:06.319-05:002012-01-01T02:15:06.319-05:00I still haven't read Habibi, but for those who...I still haven't read Habibi, but for those who call Thompson a racist, I'll note that Nnedi Okorafor, this year's winner of the World Fantasy Award, calls Habibi the book of the year:<br /><br />http://nnedi.blogspot.com/2011/12/nnedis-book-of-year-habibi-by-craig.html<br /><br />She's hardly oblivious to racial issues. She has an interesting post about being a black woman who won an award that is a bust of Howard Lovecraft, who wrote a poem titled "On the Creation of Niggers":<br /><br />http://nnedi.blogspot.com/2011/12/lovecrafts-racism-world-fantasy-award.htmlWill Shetterlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08539053268352597627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-60650526360636907712012-01-01T02:13:13.705-05:002012-01-01T02:13:13.705-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Will Shetterlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08539053268352597627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1752841194995687278.post-85905035721113872612011-12-31T19:25:16.402-05:002011-12-31T19:25:16.402-05:00It's no surprise to me that in these off-the-c...It's no surprise to me that in these off-the-cuff comments you've written some of the most perceptive stuff I've read yet about <i>Habibi</i>.Isaachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com