Los Angeles Review Of Books – Winter 2024-2025
Tag Archives: Books
The New York Times — Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024
Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise
The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was an Ivy League tech graduate from a prominent Maryland family who in recent months had suffered physical and psychological pain.
How a Realtors’ Nonprofit Quietly Funds Conservative Advocacy Groups
The National Association of Realtors has created a nonprofit that gives more heavily to one side of the political aisle and to groups that have little to do with real estate and housing.
What to Know About Syria’s Notorious Sednaya Prison
Amnesty International described it as a “human slaughterhouse,” where, other rights groups say, tens of thousands of people were detained, tortured and killed during the 13-year civil war.
Rage Grows Over a Spate of Brutal Murders of Women in Kenya
Almost 100 women have been killed in the span of three months, the police say. Rights groups want President William Ruto to declare femicide a national crisis.
Country Life Magazine – December 18, 2024 Preview
Country Life Magazine (December 10, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Christmas Double Issue’…
A story of homeliness
The Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy considers the Christmas story told in familiar rituals
Earth stood hard as iron
Frost casts a garden’s structure into sharp relief. Tiffany Daneff enters a sparkling world
The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore’s favourite painting
The Dean of St Albans chooses a canvas full of uplifting light for dark times
The legacy
Kate Green pays tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois, the ‘godmother of ballet’
Where Britain’s first saint lies
In the first of two articles, John Goodall traces the saintly history of the ancient abbey church of St Albans, Hertfordshire
Love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet
The feisty robin is the undisputed avian king of Christmas. Mark Cocker wonders why
It’s a most wonderful time of the year
From weaving wreaths to corralling choristers, the work is ramping up for country people, who talk to Kate Green and Paula Lester
Baby, it’s gold outside
Catriona Gray meets the artists capturing Nature’s beauty in gold
Silence is golden
Stop and listen to Nature’s voice, urges John Lewis-Stempel
Each year you bring to us delight
Hanging treasured decorations is all part of the magic. Matthew Dennison opens the bauble box
Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about
Deborah Nicholls-Lee dares to unveil the mysterious figure
The Editor’s Christmas quiz
Take on our quizmaster — and, more importantly, your family and friends
Anyone for indoor cricket?
Melanie Cable-Alexander buckles up for riotous country-house-corridor games
No Risk, no reward
Harry Pearson takes over the world with the classic board game
Make ’em laugh
Jonathan Self chortles at British comedy
The Christmas Story: ‘Bring me flesh and bring me wine’
The spirit of Christmas works its magic on a curmudgeonly baronet in Kate Green’s tale
Interiors
Natural scents win for Arabella Youens
While shepherds watched their flocks
The sheep and its patient guardians have long delighted artists, finds Michael Prodger
Luxury
Knitting, diamonds and Giles Coren’s treats
It takes a village
Is the perfect rural habitation real, wonders John Lewis-Stempel
Don’t mince your words
Modern mince pies are but pale shadows of the past, believes Neil Buttery
You’re one hot roast potato
Who can resist a roastie? Not Emma Hughes, nor anyone else in their right mind
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson builds a gingerbread house
That’ll do, pig
Glazed and succulent, the Christmas ham is the king of the feast for Tom Parker Bowles
Lay, lady, lay
Give wine time to age, urges Harry Eyres
Crown Him with many crowns
John Lewis-Stempel gathers in the holly, once divine diadem, now a cow’s Christmas feast
The straw that broke the camel’s back
Labour’s family-farm tax will mean ruin for a beleaguered sector, says Minette Batters
‘Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional’
Sam Leith opens the well-worn covers of the childhood books we will always cherish
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
From frogs to rat armies, the natural world has inspired countless ballets. Laura Parker straps on her pointe shoes for the bunny hop
Highlights, delights and lowlights
Michael Billington awards his accolades to the stars — and the scourges — of the stage
Spectres of the feast
Operas with food and wine may be rousing, but there are perils, warns Henrietta Bredin
Unputdownable: the page turners of 2024
Country Life reviewers select their top books
Literarature: The Paris Review – Winter 2024-2025
Fredric Jameson on the Art of Criticism: “Ideological critique has to end up being a critique of the self. You can’t recognize an ideology unless, in some sense, you see it in yourself.”
Hanif Kureishi on the Art of Fiction: “When I was in hospital in Rome, having the experience of being a paralyzed man nearly dead, my only excitement was in the thought that I could write some of this shit down.”
Gerald Murnane on the Art of Fiction: “A fatal question—what are people reading these days? Never mind what people are reading these days. What should I be writing about is the fundamental question.”
Prose by Dan Bevacqua, Caoilinn Hughes, Silas Jones, Alec Niedenthal, Adania Shibli, and Abdulah Sidran.
Poetry by Sargon Boulus, Egill Skallagrímsson, Rachel Mannheimer, Simone White, and Hua Xi.
Art by Ann Craven, Ala Ebtekar, and Josh Smith; cover by Seth Becker.
The New York Times — Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Shock, Glee and Unease as Syrians Celebrate the Unthinkable
A day after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, civilians poured into the streets of Damascus, weeping in disbelief. Many sought word of relatives held in a notorious prison on the outskirts of the city.
Daniel Penny Is Acquitted in Death of Jordan Neely on Subway
Mr. Penny choked Mr. Neely in a minutes-long struggle on the floor of an F train. The case reflected the pathologies of post-pandemic New York.
Suspect Is Charged in C.E.O.’s Murder After Arrest in Pennsylvania
Luigi Mangione was arrested after a tip from a McDonald’s in Altoona. On Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with murder.
Spying on Student Devices, Schools Aim to Intercept Self-Harm Before It Happens
New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?
The New York Times — Monday, December 9, 2024
The Campaign by Syrian Rebels to Topple Assad Was Swift
President Bashar al-Assad had kept opposition forces at bay for a decade with help from Russia and Iran. But rebels struck at a moment of weakness for those countries.
Syrians Mourn All They Have Lost, Even as They Celebrate
Thoughts of loved ones dead or missing complicate joyous relief at the prospect of Bashar al-Assad’s losing power.
Bogged Down in Ukraine, Russia Pays a Price in Syria
With the fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Vladimir V. Putin has suffered one of the biggest geopolitical setbacks of his quarter-century in power.
Want a Job in the Trump Administration? Be Prepared for the Loyalty Test.
Applicants for government posts, including inside the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, say they have been asked about their thoughts on Jan. 6 and who they believe won the 2020 election.
Reviews: Best Books On Foreign Affairs Of 2024
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy
by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman
In a revelatory book, Farrell and Newman describe how the United States has turned its control over information networks into a hidden tool of economic domination—and warn of the risks of Washington’s weaponization of data power for ordinary people, as well as for the global financial system.read the review
To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power
by Sergey Radchenko
In a major reconsideration of Cold War history, Radchenko examines the Soviet Union’s competing ambitions for revolution, security, and legitimacy—and how Soviet leadership, blinded by its own hubris and aggression, set the stage for the downfall of the USSR. read the review
Freedom From Fear: An Incomplete History of Liberalism
by Alan S. Kahan
Kahan argues that what unifies liberals across the centuries, including those involved in building and defending liberal democracy today, are their efforts to build societies free from the fear of arbitrary power. He sculpts a masterful and beautifully written history of liberalism’s long intellectual journey. read the review
Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
In this sobering study, Levitsky and Ziblatt demonstrate how the United States’ enduring constitutional order—one forged in a pre-democratic age—increasingly thwarts the will of an expanding multicultural majority in favor of a shrinking rural white minority.read the review
Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
by Anne Applebaum
Focused on the sophisticated and networked world of autocracy, dictatorship, and tyranny, Applebaum argues that what separates hardcore autocratic states, such as China and Russia, from softer illiberal and authoritarian regimes, such as those in Hungary, India, and Turkey, is the ruthlessness and reach of their dictatorial power and their deep hostility to the Western-led democratic world.read the review
Arts & Literature Preview: Kenyon Review – Fall 2024
The New York Times — Sunday, December 8, 2024
Assad Flees Syria As Rebels Claim Damascus
Assad Has Resigned and Left Syria, Russia Says
How Notre-Dame Was Reborn
It took about 250 companies, 2,000 workers, about $900 million, a tight deadline and a lot of national pride.
The Silicon Valley Billionaires Steering Trump’s Transition
The involvement of wealthy investors has made this presidential transition one of the most potentially conflict-ridden in modern history.
Fraud and Fakery at the Country’s Largest Chain of Methadone Clinics
Acadia Healthcare falsifies records at its methadone clinics and enrolls patients who aren’t addicted to opioids, a Times investigation found.
The New York Times — Saturday, December 7, 2024
TikTok Faces U.S. Ban After Losing Bid to Overturn New Law
The law will ban the video app in the United States by Jan. 19 if its owner, ByteDance, does not sell it to a non-Chinese company.
As Syrian Rebels Advance, Iran Grows Nervous and Neighbors Close Their Borders
The rebels’ gains prompted Lebanon and Jordan to close border crossings and Iran to begin withdrawing personnel from Syria.
How One of the World’s Richest Men Is Avoiding $8 Billion in Taxes
The chief executive of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, has taken advantage of popular loopholes in the federal estate and gift taxes, which have quietly been eviscerated.
How Childhood Tragedy Shaped the Doctor Trump Picked for Surgeon General
At the age of 13, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat said she accidentally knocked over a box in a darkened room. A handgun went off, leaving her father dead.
Boomers Daily 