October, 2011 | Warren Adler

Month: October, 2011

I Found it at the Movies

Posted on: October 28th, 2011 by Warren Adler No Comments

Pauline Kael, who reviewed movies for the The New Yorker for many years, was considered by many to be the goddess of film critics. Her comments on movies were both insightful and controversial. Once again, a compendium of her reviews is coming out in a newly published book.

Her writings were distinguished by her sharp opinions. When she was negative about the quality of a film, she was downright lethal. When she was positive, she was ecstatic. But whatever her thoughts were about films, her enduring view was that movies were transformative, important, and, in some cases, life changing.

Where is Our Culture Heading?

Posted on: October 26th, 2011 by Warren Adler 7 Comments

I wouldn’t characterize myself as an intellectual snob, but I have always regarded fiction for adults as an indispensable endeavor that offers insight into the human condition through storytelling, excites one intellectually and emotionally, and is truly worth the investment of time and concentration.

My generation read deeply of the works of Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, O’Hara, and hundreds of others, as well as the glorious classics as represented by Dickens, Thackeray, Balzac, Flaubert, Mann, Twain, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Proust and many, many others who form the canon of great works of literature.

The Scales of Human Value

Posted on: October 24th, 2011 by Warren Adler 1 Comment

I have been trying to make sense out of what appears to be a strange bargain between the Israelis and Hamas to exchange a single kidnapped Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit, for a thousand Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have blood on their hands for having participated in the murder of Israelis. My understanding is that all of the Palestinian prisoners have been tried and convicted of their crimes in Israeli courts.

On the surface, the imbalance seems preposterous, its maddening inequality and disproportion makes the Israeli position seem alarmingly weak and counter productive, while the Hamas position appears strong, powerful and victorious. It appears to reward the strategy of hostage taking and opens the door to repetitive attempts at kidnapping tactics by Hamas as a key to freeing further Palestinian prisoners.

The Publishing Civil War

Posted on: October 18th, 2011 by Warren Adler No Comments

So, Amazon is to become the official publisher of its own books. It was, of course, bound to happen, too tempting to resist. After all, it does represent a large chunk of the retail book business and does operate its own production and distribution facilities both through its Kindle and print sites.

In effect, it now competes not only with its suppliers (meaning other publishers), large and small, but also with other authors, both traditionally published and a giant wave of self-published authors.

The Snides of March

Posted on: October 11th, 2011 by Warren Adler No Comments

Hollywood pictures about political campaigns are usually contrivances that portray politicians as corrupt and deceptive. Politicians are cast as liars, cheats, and sexual predators, and their campaign staff as masters of cover-up– cynical manipulators who would send their mothers to the gas chambers to get a win for their candidate.

The Ides of March, a new movie directed by George Clooney, takes this category to new heights of stupidity. It is the epitome of the genre and makes the democratic process seem like an adventure in hell.

Would I Have Joined the Protesters?

Posted on: October 5th, 2011 by Warren Adler 3 Comments

Boy was I pissed off. I had just graduated college as an English major. It was 1947. World War II had finally resulted in victory. At nineteen I found myself competing for jobs with millions of ex-servicemen who had come home from the war with guarantees of getting their jobs back.

Since my parents were broke, we were living with my grandparents in a tiny three bedroom house with one bathroom. There were eleven of us. Since quarters were tight, I slept with my kid brother and my parents slept in the dining room and an uncle in the kitchen.