The trailer is out for the new Gatsby movie. If you feel weird watching what is, after all, an advertisement, here — free of charge — is some pseudointellectual cover to legitimize your viewing experience: 1) My 7/30/11 (possibly crackpot) explanation of why I’ve come to believe that Gatsby wasn’t rich. 2) My 1/1/12 “A 3-D Gatsby?” and my catchily titled 1/15/12 “‘a 3-D Gatsby?’ ctd.”, in which I argue, respectively, that Baz Luhrmann might conceivably make a film worthy of The Great Gatsby and that Luhrmann can’t ultimately harm what is “as close as any novel that I can think of to being indestructible.” Continue reading →
When we start planning our next holiday we almost always turn to the trusty guidebook, be it online or in print, and we always a certain theme in mind, such as party, rest and relaxation, adventure, volunteer, and so on. However, it is a surprise that with such ubiquitous focus on architecture and design at the moment, we don't tend to plan our holidays around the urban evolution of a certain place - not unless it is to visit and snap away at famous landmarks that is. Well, all that's about to change with PD Smith's City: a Guidebook for the Urban Age a celebration of the continuity of urban life through space and time. Relevant to our society, City is one of the best ... Continue reading →