Bunny Tales
The Death of Bunny Munro, by Nick Cave
The second book was expected from Nick Cave almost as much as a new poetry collection from Leonard Cohen. So now, we have the rocking prose twenty years later. No number of literary critics who think Mr. Cave’s book “pornographic” or “a psychological study of complicated father-son relations” or “an investigation into the British macho subculture” will persuade Booknik reviewer Max Nemtsov that The Death of Bunny Munro is not a book about a schlemiel. Our Bunny is obsessed with female anatomy, he pomades his quaff, he wears gaudy shirts and idiotic ties with rabbits on them, and he believes in his own sexual prowess. He also is unable to check himself out or just check himself in time. Our Bunny is a typical schlemiel. A schlemiel with a history, one might add.
From Moshe to Moshe There Was No One Like Moshe
Maimonides, by Sherwin B. Nuland
Is it at all possible to write a book that could be read at the same time as an action adventure novel, with travel, exotics, and a detective plot, and a serious academic study about grave matters, like Judaic theology, rationalistic philosophy history, and characteristics of medieval medicine? It is, if you write a book about Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, AKA Maimonides, AKA Rambam. This book, Maimonides, by professional medic Sherwin B. Nuland, published in the Chase Collection series financed by the AVI CHAI Foundation, is now read by Booknik reviewer Yevgenia Ritz.
…and other news you can use in the Books & Reviews section.
Mr. Lungin is a film director who belongs to different cultures, due to external as well as, obviously, private reasons. His mother was a famous literary translator who lived in France, Germany, and Palestine, and this clearly made an impression. His first film told about a Russian cabby, and Jewish jazz musician, and all through his subsequent work Mr. Lungin went on to examine intercultural relations. The Russian theme emerged in The Wedding only to continue in The Island, and Tsar. It all seems logical. Initially, he reflected upon the fate of different tribes in Russia, and then he went on to the Russian character, and faith. All this is done from the standpoint of someone who prefers to inspect an object from afar. Booknik presents an interview with Pavel Lungin, and the director tells about Tsar, and many other things. Booknik would also like to remind you that he had already published a review of The Calendar According to Ivan, the novel by Alexey Ivanov based on the film script by the same author.
…and other views that amuse in the Articles & Interviews section.
In France, the film Gainsbourg (vie héroique) hit the screens, written and directed by Joann Sfar, a 34-year-old cartoon artist. The film was premiered on January 12 in the Paris Gaumont Opera. Booknik’s French reporter Kira Sapgir reminisces of the time in the 1980s when she almost got cast in a movie by Serge Gainsbourg, tells about the present film by Joann Sfar, and asks the director about M. Gainsbourg, and something else.
The News Digest on the Wasted Time
In utter despair due to a sheer number of tasks at hand, Booknik had a good look at his environment in search of some time. To be more exact, in search of some role models for the Rational Time Management. His shock was profound however, when he learned that the Earth population wastes time plain and dumb. Booknik’s managing editor Nastik Gryzunova watches people squabbling with diplomats, making TV soap operas, renaming street intersections, remembering they were Jewish only by the end of their lives, and establishing Jewish sperm banks. Yet they also watch movies, and present lectures on Jewish sports at basketball games so there is some hope after all. Now heed the spirit of Booknik, from the web with despair, wailing about the times, and himself.
…and other cues you won’t lose in the Events & Reports section.
The Girlfriend Experience, directed by Steven Soderbergh
This film is watched from different perspectives, and probably this fact only speaks for its quality. Someone sees an ingenious movie on economy in it, and someone else considers it a formalistic masterpiece. Porno buffs remain disappointed, but fans of Jean Baudrillard, Sasha Grey, and the word “existentialism” are charmed out of their pants. On the other hand, Woody Allen’s admirers might be softly crying their eyes out with envy in some quiet corner. Booknik’s perspicacious columnist Ivan Pervertoff watches The Girlfriend Experience in his own way.
ת. The House on the River Bank
“Well, if our method doesn’t work, and not one of you drones give birth to anything meaningful, all of you parasites are going to sunbathe in Siberia, without the right of appeal, and you’ll sink your useless stone in the Caustic Ocean yourselves. Why would a powerful state and healthy society need a stimulator of alternative talent? Such talent is destructive, and you know that, my good men.” Booknik is sorry to complete the publication of Freakipedia, or The Shard’s Adventures, and he will now look forward to the book by Gila Loran, and her new works, of course.
…and other clues that are not obtuse in the Columns & Columns section.
Yemen is on the verge of a political and social explosion. Everyone writes about it. The population is getting younger, the unemployment soars, the economy hangs by a thread, depending on oil reserves only, the culture of violence thrives, with knives and machine guns, the military is everywhere, and the women situation is the worst in the world, according to international assessments. The Jewish Yemen is history now, it is no longer. “They were there. Now gone to Israel. There’s no one left.” Booknik reporter Alexandra Oshurkova found some Jewish traces in Yemen jewelry stores, where Jewish works are valuable even now.
…and other Jews on the loose in the Stories & Essays section.
The Colonel from Big Seidemenukha, Part 9
Arkady Perman tells Booknik about the evacuation of Jewish farming colonies in the first months of the war. The farmers had to cross the Dnieper under German bombs, and the Nazi raids came every day.
Don’t Grudge the Brew 34: Omelet with a Twist
An omelet is a universal breakfast. You may everything in it, fried onions, mushrooms, grated cheese, even raspberries. The secret is in the right cooking, and artful twisting it after folding. We can say, some good training is necessary for it, so your breakfast cooking will serve as your morning exercise. However, our master chef Roman Gershuni will lead you through the moves.
…and other chews for the crews in the Video Blog section.
Asya Weisman visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., and she now tells Booknik Jr’s not specifically grown up readers about various flying machines. She also reminds them that people still cannot fly without artificial appliances. So please watch your step, and don’t wave your arms too much.
The Sky’s the Limit
In the meantime, another curious museumgoer Iraida Stepnova tells about other world aviation museums. They are the French in Paris-Le Bourget, the German at the Bodensee, the Mexican in Albuquerque, the Israeli in Beersheba, as well as Alexander Mozhaysky’s Estate Museum in Vologda, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s Museum in Kaluga, and the Central House of Aviation and Cosmonautics in Moscow.
To the Sea!
Misha the Boy Traveler who came to Israel a while ago continues to study Hebrew. This time he learns the words that mean colors. Do you know what Hebrew is for “green”?
Teachers are offended with TV makers. What right do they have, pedagogues ask, to stain our good names in The Year of the Teacher? Bureaucrats are also unhappy, for spin-doctors, as they claim, undermine the whole system of our education. Parents are irritated because the state-run TV channel shows a reality show. Children swear they never act like those morons in the School, but if anyone drinks booze, smokes, uses foul language, and is generally his grand-dad’s death, it’s not me but that bastard next door. Indignant Yevgenia Leonova writes about the notorious TV drama directed by Valeria Gai Germanica, with a full-fledged scandal roaring about it, and she reveals the television’s secret intent to turn the young generation into zombies. Why, is it news to you?
Turn off the Autopilot! Heading for Heroic Deeds!
We do many things automatically. Like, opening our eyes in the morning, brushing our teeth, gobbling mom’s pancakes, gulping cocoa, grabbing our schoolbag, and rushing off to school. Then we talk to our parents in monosyllables, like, “How was your day in school?” “Fine.” “Will you have soup?” “Please.” Our brain functions by the autopilot, saving energy. It’s all very well, but it does seem sometimes that our entire lives are spent in somnolence. But we were not meant for it! We have to act heroically! How could we wake ourselves up? There is a wonderful means for this, Jewish Sabbath. Zhenya Lopatnik tells about what can and cannot be done on Sabbath, and what this holyday means for the Jews.
…and other rues for abuse at Booknik Jr., also known as Family Booknik, our own web site for kids and their parents.
The Eshkolot Project supported by the AVI CHAI Foundation, conducted the first lecture in the series Jewgendstil: The Jewish Culture of Vienna, and Booknik was there, natch. He learned lots of new stuff about the Viennese psychoanalytic community, emergence of the psychoanalysis, and its founding fathers. Moreover, he found out how a bagel got its name. The presenters were psychologist and psychiatrist Alexander Sosland, chef Roman Gershuni, and Eshkolot programming director Semyon Parizhsky.
Mr. Anderson, we missed you. Booknik and Family Booknik are supported by the AVI CHAI Foundation.
