Comments on: Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:06:09 +0000

@Adam F: No, I wouldn't bother with the book. I was bogged down maybe 150 pages in and abandoned it. It was just so goddam turgid. As Guy Rundle said in Crikey only a few days ago:

The Kogarah blowhard was well on the way to being the most appalling man ever, with his post 9/11 dullard conservatis jeremiads on terrorism etc, his return to serious poetry -- which amounted to terrorism -- all capped off with Cultural Amnesia, a 1000-page groaner in which the world was berated for falling short of the standards of Sophie Scholl and Aung Sung Suu Kyi, who were, unbelievably, its dedicatees.

Yes, Clive James' poetry is terrorism. Rundle drinks more than I do. And he owes me a bottle of scotch.

By: Adam F

Adam F — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:38:49 +0000

Nice post – reminds me of the Government’s dubious commitment to comply with human rights obligations ‘where consistent with the Government’s immigration detention policies’.

Must go track down that Clive James book.

By: Stilgherrian · 1939: So, is it war, then, George?

Stilgherrian · 1939: So, is it war, then, George? — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:57:48 +0000

[...] I wrote back in 2007, TV documentaries about World War II cover the rise of Adolf Hitler in a few minutes. We forget [...]

By: Stilgherrian · Anzac Day 2009: Sacrifice

Stilgherrian · Anzac Day 2009: Sacrifice — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:32:44 +0000

[...] men and women make their sacrifices in what we hope is a valuable exchange. Sometimes it’s to protect our very way of living from a clear global threat, and the exchange is clear. Sometimes it’s part of a more complex trade, where the motives [...]

By: Stilgherrian · Hitler not such a monster after all?

Stilgherrian · Hitler not such a monster after all? — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:26:18 +0000

[...] elected Chancellor of Germany by ordinary people who, presumably, were not monsters. As I said in a previous post: It’s easy to forget that Hitler was head of the National Socialist Party from 1921, fully 12 [...]

By: Stilgherrian · Warning, I’m reading Clive James

Stilgherrian · Warning, I’m reading Clive James — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:27:35 +0000

[...] I haven’t read any of James’ books before. His TV shows annoyed me, mostly because his slightly-too-clever scripting was delivered in that, flat deadpan style of someone implying “I’m cleverer than you, so I’ll speak slowly so you realise how clever I am.” Or so it felt to me. But when I read an interview about Cultural Amnesia back in March, it triggered so many wonderful thoughts that I was inspired — nay, forced to write Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals. [...]

By: Stilgherrian · TagCrowd: visualising writing

Stilgherrian · TagCrowd: visualising writing — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:09:39 +0000

[...] a tag cloud of my post Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals: achievements affect amnesia animals civilization construction cultural democracy die doesn [...]

By: Zern

Zern — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:27:52 +0000

Very well put once again Stil. It is all about making more money for me right now. Sigh…