£2.00 Oxonianthe Review of books michaelmas 2004 . volume 4 . issue 1 http://www.oxonianreview.org 2 the Oxonian Review of books michaelmas 2004 . volume 4 . issue 1 in this issue: from the editor Reviews & Features Taking sides Any man who sacks cities Th is issue - the last Oxonian Review of 2004 Michael Moore and the art of polemic Temples and graves and holy places Niall Maclean - refl ects a range of reactions to the death of the page 3 Is a fool left, symbolised by the passing of the father of And his turn as victim will come. Redressing the balance deconstruction, Jacques Derrida, and the subse- Noreena Hertz on debt relief quent move to the right orchestrated by George Michael Hugman and Dirk-Jon Omtzigt - Poseidon, Trojan Women, by Euripides page 5 W. Bush’s administration, the after shocks of In the Prologue of Euripides’ Trojan Women which have reverberated around the world. To The future looks right The Right Nation: Why is America Diff erent (fi rst performed in Athens in 415 BCE), the gods this end, this edition features reviews of Michael Murray Wesson Poseidon and Athene predict that the victorious Moore’s oeuvre; David Hare’s new play, Stuff page 7 Greeks, as a result of their sacrilegious act of rap- Happens, chronicling the lead up to the Iraq A more serious literature ing the priestess Kassandra, will suff er and, like war recently produced at the National Th eatre; Will May interviews Professor of Poetry, Christopher Ricks page 9 their prisoners, the Trojan women themselves, Philip Roth’s new book, Th e Plot Against America; become victims of war. and Th e Right Nation: Why America is Diff erent Oxford authors in print Featured writer: Carmen Bugan In 2004, over 2400 years after the fi rst produc- by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, page 10 tion of Euripides’ play, considered by many to be which examines the newly dominant conservative All that glitters... the greatest anti-war play ever written, we have coalition in the United States. The Line of Beautyy, Booker Prize, 2004 no Olympic gods to warn us that the destruc- Th e Oxonian Review also welcomes the new Amy Sackville page 11 tion of cities and holy places will lead to our own Professor of Poetry, Christopher Ricks, an Oxford ruin. And no Olympic gods to predict that that alumnus, and highlights Crossing the Carpathi- Imagined history Philip Roth’s second glance at America’s past cycle of violence and war, though ages old, will ans, a fi rst book of poetry by the up-and-coming Jacob Risinger continue. It has been over three years since the poet, Carmen Bugan, who recently completed page 13 pillaging of the Twin Towers and already several her DPhil in English Literature. Other reviews The magic revival of Tornedalen revolutions of this cycle have occurred. Who is address the concerns of fringe cultures that rarely Mikael Niemi’s Popular Music Malin Linstrom Brock there to remind those behind the World Trade receive public attention, such as the mixed-lan- page 14 Center attacks of their hubris? To remind the guage community of the Tornedalen area near ‘Known knowns’ aggressors in Afghanistan and, now, in Iraq, of the northern Sweden-Finnish border featured David Hare’s take on popular politics theirs? in Mikael Niemi’s best-selling novel, Popular Tim Markham page 15 In the ancient world, it was the artists, writ- Music. By contrast, Alan Hollinghurst’s 2004 ers, and dramatists who took the responsibility of Booker Prize winning novel, Th e Line of Beauty, Iron ladies: Women in Thatcher’s Britain The Women’s Library, London E1, until 2nd April 2005 responding to political catastrophes and subse- also reviewed, depicts with new insight and vivid Kate Nichols page 18 quent acts of retribution and opened the public language a now well-documented fringe group, eye to the nature and context of these atrocities. the homosexual community of Th atcher’s 1980s. London Film Festival 2004 Over two millennia later, it is largely still the art- In addition, reviews of four international fi lms Melissa Gronlund page 16 ists, the writers, the dramatists, and now also the from the 2004 London Film Festival exemplify fi lmmakers, who take on this role. the broad range of topics that appeal to fi lmmak- A note on reactions to the death of Jacques Derrida As the Oxonian Review of Books goes to print ers and audiences today. Finally, we end - we feel Joseph Streeter the world has witnessed further violence and fi ttingly - with an obituary of Jacques Derrida, page 19 upheaval: the killing of controversial Dutch fi lm- who died on 8th October 2004. maker Th eo van Gogh, Sudanese armed forces Th e weekend before the Presidential elec- Poetry blockading refugee camps in Darfur despite UN tion, Osama bin Laden addressed Americans condemnation, the quelling of uprisings in Fal- on al-Jazeera, saying: “Just as you lay waste our Scrambled Michael Donkor lujiah and Mosul, not to mention the news of the nation, so shall we lay waste yours.” It seems that page 8 stockpiling of nuclear material in Iran and atroci- the world has indeed come to this. Th e cycle will The Height ties uncovered in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo continue, but at least we are forewarned and shall Michael Donkor Bay. Undoubtedly, the most worrying develop- have our say. page 12 ment, however, is the re-election of George W. Mask Bush as President of the United States and the Michael Donkor subsequent resignation of his Secretary of State, Avery T. Willis page 18 Editor-in-Chief Colin Powell; events which seem to have secured Notes pinned to fridge doors the infl uence of an increasingly right-wing con- Avery Willis is an American DPhil student in Classics at David Illingworth page 12 servatism. Balliol College. In the online edition Got a letter to the editor? http://www.oxonianreview.org [email protected] Kelly Grovier on Crossing the Carpathians Blackwells will off er a gift voucher worth £25 to the writer of the best letter to the editor Alan Ward on Derrida Want to advertise? 2004 photo retrospective [email protected] Additional reviews and features Cover design and image by Nasir Hamid michaelmas 2004 . volume 4 . issue 1 the Oxonian Review of books 3 the Oxonian Review Taking sides of books Michael Moore and the art of polemic http://www.oxonianreview.org Michael Moore number have cited it as evidence of a growing Editor-in-Chief Farhenheit 9/11 ‘liberal bias’ in the US media. Th ey are certainly A Dog Eat Dog Films Produc- Avery T. Willis tion right about the fi rst point, although to label the 122 min fi lm ‘mere polemic’ is to make the mistake of 2003 assuming that ‘polemic’ is straightforwardly a Senior Editor Kristin Anderson Michael Moore pejorative term. (As for the second claim, the Bowling for Columbine frequency and vehemence with which it is made A Dog Eat Dog Films Produc- serve to show that the art of performative con- tion tradiction is alive and well.) To count as polemi- Editors 120 min Chris Bradley 2002 cal, a work need only be one-sided—points are Josh Cherniss aggressively marshalled in one direction, with Phil Clark little attempt made to deal with relevant counter- Michael Moore Michael Moore Len Epp Stupid White Men Dude, Where’s my country claims. 9/11 certainly fi ts the bill on this score. Alex Kalderimis Penguin Books Ltd Penguin Books Ltd Th e central thesis of the movie is that Bush’s ‘War Katherine Lafrance 2004. 2004. on Terror’ and, more specifi cally, the invasion Thomas Marks 304 pages 320 pages. April Warman ISBN: 0141019999 ISBN: 0141013001 of Iraq in March 2003, are sideshows to distract attention from the close relationships that exist David Williams between the Bush family and elements of Saudi he verbal palsy that affl icts George W. Bush Arabia’s ruling class—including members of the Thas been extensively documented. Entire Saudi royal family and the Bin Laden family. Th e Online Editor Paul Vetch books have been devoted to the subject, and the argument Moore off ers in support of this thesis ‘50 Hilarious Bush Gaff es’ e-mails have (largely consists of nothing more than a series of sugges- thanks to the eff orts of US subcontractors) prob- tive questions. Why were members of the Bin ably reached even Afghanistan by now. While Online Assistant Laden family fl own out of the US in the days Will May it’s true that statements like ‘almost all of our following September 11th 2001, before being exports come from overseas’ are irredeemable in questioned by the FBI? Exactly how extensive pretty much any context outside management are the business relations between the Bushes Publisher consultancy, it’s also important not to lose sight and the Bin Ladens? What is the signifi cance of Paul Vetch of the fact that George W. Bush’s artless use of Taliban leaders travelling to Texas in 1997 (when language is, on occasion, one of his most eff ective Bush was Governor) to discuss with oil industry Acknowledgements Balliol College polemical tools— witness Al Gore’s implosion in executives the possibility of running a natural gas the face of Bush’s sledgehammer platitudes in the Eric Bennett, Bursar of Exeter College pipeline through Afghanistan? Collectively, these Frances Cairncross, Rector of Exeter College televised debates leading up to the 2000 Presi- questions serve to raise suspicion, but they do dential election.