Overland literary journal

the Red Orchestra

The Holocaust must be remembered. But the way it's remembered is equally important. Too often, the genocide gets represented as an act of unthinkable evil. That's an evasion. Obviously, the Holocaust was evil but it wasn't unthinkable -- it happened, after all. Anyone can condemn abstract monsters but the Holocaust challenges us precisely because the exterminations were carried out not by demons but by flesh and blood people in the most advanced nation in Europe. Transforming Hitler into a theological problem rather than a political one robs us of any ability to understand what took place and why, and thus disarms us in the face of future genocides. Which is why Anne Nelson's book Red Orchestra sounds so interesting.

As the NYT reviewer points out, there's been a strange historical neglect of the resistance to the Nazis. Again, it's more comforting to think that there something inherent in Germans that led them to acquiesce to Hitler rather than to consider the series of political choices presented to ordinary people at that time. And some Germans, at least, chose to resist: ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 7-06-2009, No comments

Artist-Activists Protest in St Petersberg

When I was up at the Sydney Writers' Fest, Captain Rumble and I ended up at a party following the launch of a political art exhibition called There Goes the Neighbourhood, curated by political artist Zanny Begg. Zanny just forwarded the following news: On May 15, the young contemporary artist Artem Loskutov was arrested in his native Novisibirsk and charged with possession of a narcotic substance (marijuana) by the local branch of the Interior Ministry's notorious Center for Extremism Prevention (Center "E"). Loskutov and his supporters claim that the police planted the marijuana in his bag in order to incriminate him. As one of the organizers of the annual "Monstration" -- a flash mob street par

Written by Rjurik Davidson on 5-06-2009, No comments

all your books are belong to us

Suddenly, a new contender enters the arena:

In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend, Google signaled its intent to introduce a program by that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google. The move would pit Google against Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the e-book market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device. ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 5-06-2009, 3 user comments

but can you eat it?

Gruffy responds to the advance copies of my book Killing with the magisterial indifference she reserves for the non-edible world. Me, on the other hand, well, I'm quite chuffed.

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 2-06-2009, 11 user comments

the price of abortions in America

Dr George Tiller was one of the final three doctors in the entire United States prepared to perform late term abortions. Now he's been shot dead.

His murder wasn't entirely unexpected, given the constant harassment suffered by US abortion providers. The Daily Beast has an account of what Tiller had previously been through.

Tiller’s clinic became a last resort for women from "all over the world," including a 10-year-old rape victim, [Tiller's lawyer] told the jury. It also became a special target for antiabortion groups, such as Operation Rescue, and its terrorist offshoot, the Army of God.Monnat showed the six-person jury a montage of photographs from Tiller's past: the damage to his clinic from a 1986 bomb placed on the roof; some of the 2,000 people arrested during the 1991 protests outside the clinic; and Tiller being carried away on a stretcher in 1993 after being shot in both arms by an abortion opponent. "I don't know why he's still doing it," says Diane Wahto, a retired teacher from Wichita who volunteered escorting patients past protesters before Tiller hired a private security firm. "He's past retirement age. I think he doesn't want the anti-choice forces to make women suffer." ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 1-06-2009, 2 user comments

more content online

New content from Overland 195 up − this time, pieces by Lihong Su, Subhash Jaireth, David Spratt, Sharon Beder and Tim Lambert. More soon.

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 1-06-2009, 2 user comments