Discussion

A look for a pleasure.

Silently, in
my mind, a
little desire
and the warm
atmosphere
of a sullen
romance......

Francesco Sinibaldi

I am not usually a fan of Do This Do That poems, but being ordered about by the snow is intriguing. Best for me is the idea that the future is collaborative, that the road needs my guidance.

Love this poem and shared it on Facebook. Will order Murray's books so I can read more of his work.

Thanks for a thoughtful and well-written article. Its good to see the journals like Granta still exist. There are too few spaces for this type of sophisticated analysis of politically and historically complex issues... well done.

Enjoyed this article. Very effective in imparting a new angle on this topic. Direct and refreshing.

As a hugely conflicted omnivore, I take exception to the idea that the only reason consumers go for the less expensive choice is ignorance. There's no question that meat farming is absolutely disgusting and makes an enormous carbon footprint, yet your statement ignores what things cost. Subsisting solely on plant-based protein has yet to work for me, and presumably, countless others who've heard the "news." Though I buy cruelty-free products whenever I can afford to, those instances come fewer and farther between in this economic climate. That said, I'd love to see more people make the cruelty-free choice and maybe the prices will come down. Or maybe I'll finally be able to make the leap...

.A vegetarian puritanism based on the idea that eating meat is morally wrong whatever the conditions whereby that food is processed is in fact the real driving force in the debate.Women are reaching puberty earlier for a host of enviromental reasons and scientific evidence points to no one cause.The fundementalist ideology behind militant animal rights and vegetarianism means that even where animals reared in open pastures and fed with hay and other organic foodstuffs are used,this is seen as just as bad because at the end of the day the animal is a food source for humans .A countryside devoid of lifestock,a sort of open air leisure park for urban vegetarians is the ultimate goal of this warped thinking.Science points to meat eating and a mixed diet as the major driving force behind the evolution of complexity of the human brain.Vegetarians hate to be proven wrong but moderate meat eating is healthy and no respectable scientist would suggest that total vegetarianism is neccessarly the most healthy lifestyle choice.

You could have mentioned the controversed maronite genetic component of Kamal Jumblatt. It would have emphasized the historical druz/maronite love/hate relationship that shaped the Chuf until now. But your article is definitely realistic. Great work!

I enjoyed memoir. I consider your father, and thousands of others, as my 'professional ancestor.' I'm an engineer, you see. I look at the world through an engineer's eyes and seek the "how does that work" of everything.

As with your father, none of my offspring have followed a technical path. As with your father, they are doing (not doing?) so with my love and blessing.

What they do have, as I see in your writing that you have, is an appreciation for the father's way of relating to the world.

Yes, the differences do become gradually accepted ... and appreciated.

Thanks for the glimpse of one of my forebarers and his progeny.

I am perplexed; I don't know if I just read a Borges story (one written by Borges) or a story about Borges imagined by someone imagining being Borges or if I just wrote this story and imagined reading it in a circular library.

The scene of standing between the two blind men reminds me of a Borgesian image: "a candle placed between facing mirrors." But what on earth do I mean by Borgesian?

La medida de la sobriedad.

El sonido
del ave alegre
me llama, en
la eternidad
del cielo
cristalino;
siento silente
el triste recuerdo
que regresa
en el sol,
duermo feliz
en el canto
dichoso.

Francesco Sinibaldi

I have not been to Sierra Leone but I travelled a lot and seen enough about "animal poverty" along with the "human poverty". Very nicely written, that reminded me some of my old days.
Please do continue to write...
Thank you,

A few issues back, the editorial note said there would be no more editorial notes and also, if I'm not misrememembering- no more theme issues. Am glad Granta is still doing themes, and am happy to discover the online, Video Intro to this Work issue. Wouldn't it make sense to transcribe what is said in the video, put it in the beginning of the print issue- and reference the Print version readers to the online website (to see the video and online website)?

Je chante une pensée.

Quand le
souffle du soleil
revient dans
l'école, je chante
une triste
harmonie; et
quand la naturelle
neige invente
l'atmosphère
d'une pensée
perpétuelle,
j'attends le matin...

Francesco Sinibaldi

Subotzky's work leaves no one indifferent.

I like it.

Greetings.

Somehow, this reminded me of the movie, "Taxi Driver"

Think I agree with your end question - 'why should any child, to be fair, view housework as anything but another sentenced element in the long incarceration of childhood?' but the difficulty for mums has always been I think the moral lesson/ life skill of 'picking up after yourself' that you want your children to learn.
But nothing has changed now has it? It's still women vacuuming around the men -though I think for some of us doing other people's dirty work gives us permission to get on with our artistic lives without feeling guilty...

What exactly is being launched?
All I can think of is launching of issue 109 or is it something else? If you have launching event in Saint Louis, MO I plan to attend.

Stealing books here does indeed appear to be literature as sport, but it's often not sport rather obsessive passion for books, especially rare and unaffordable books, that drives the theft. A desire to own a first edition of an author's work, or simply a gorgeously bound and illustrated book of great value.

Like a voice in the morning.

The silent
and beautiful
signal hidden
alone in the
youth of a
morning calls
me, near the
eternity: it's
the delicate leaf
of a loving
profile.

Francesco Sinibaldi

This comment has been removed by the moderators.

Brad Watson's story goes from a dead end family to the fullness of life. Great!

An excellent piece. As a near neighbour living in Leicester, I recognise a lot of similarities between the two cities. What Nicola has detailed above seems very prevalent throughout today's Britain.

Looks fab. Have read the piece on book piracy and found it fascinating. Congrats. Happy New Year Granta! Great site too.

La neige rappelle l'éternité.

Dans les
souffles du
nouveau matin,
la neige rappelle
l'éternité; les
ruisseaux de l'amour
décrivent le soleil
qui paraît
solitaire comme
le chant de la
vie dans les
rêves perpétuels,
et une voix
disparaît....

Francesco Sinibaldi