“It’s like a crackpot combination of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute and Lars von Trier’s Dogville. Does this crazy idea work? Maybe 70 percent of the time, but when it does it’s both daring and brilliant.” At Salon, Andrew O’Hehir is surprised by Anna Karenina.
“Jawline of an aircraft carrier”
Ask a Grown Woman
High school girls "Ask a Grown Woman" what it's like to date someone of the same gender. The answer is surprisingly honest.
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It’s Darcy, Isn’t It
Why do Americans love Jane Austen so much? The BBC (who else) takes a look at possible reasons.
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“Everything’s been said, but it needs saying again.”
The Oxford American compendium of best ever southern words.
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Counter-revolutionary
It goes without saying that a man dubbed “the father of modern conservatism” might stir up contentious debates. In his heyday, Edmund Burke was so renowned as a thinker that his detractors tried to place him at the center of conspiracy theories. In a new biography, Jesse Norman tackles Burke’s thought in its entirety -- a task which, in Charles Hill's view, is nothing if not un-Burkean.
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Avatar in Russia
James Cameron just can't win with the Reds. Not just the Chinese communists, but the Russians, as well, have taken issue with Avatar's politics.
Murakami on 1Q84
A blogger translates a long Murakami interview about 1Q84 (scroll down for parts I, II, and III). (via)
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