In her controversial book The Fall of Language in the Age of English, Minae Mizumura argues that English, thanks largely to its global predominance, threatens to lessen the diversity of expression in the world. At Bookslut, she tells interviewer Corinna Pichl about her book, her issues with lingua francas and things you can say in Japanese that you can’t say in English.
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Miss Whatsit
Director Ava Duvernay has found the lead for her film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. Thirteen-year-old Storm Reid will play the lead role of the character Meg Murry, joining a cast that includes Mindy Kaling, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon.
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The Visible Man Trailer
The book trailer for Chuck Klosterman's The Visible Man is intense.
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“There’s a quiver in the dead flesh.”
Recommended Viewing: Robert Bly reads his poem, “The Dead Seal at McClure’s Beach.”
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“QB or not QB”
Is Rick Reilly’s poem about Tim Tebow so terrible that it could’ve sent “a shockwave through time, producing reverberations before it ever happen[ed]?” Matt Ufford thinks so.
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And a Not-So-Happy New Year
Is this the best Christmas card in history? Several members of the Paris Review staff received cards that bore the following William Gaddis quote: “‘Merry Christmas,’ the man threatened.” (h/t Justin Alvarez)
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Dear and Dirty
Haven’t read our own Mark O’Connell’s great new essay at Slate? To mark the hundredth anniversary of Dubliners, Mark paid a visit to the James Joyce House, which led him to reflect on life in his native city. “If you live in Dublin, if you are yourself a Dubliner,” he writes, “no matter how many times you read the book, it will always reveal something profound and essential and unrealized about the city and its people.”
The author of “The Fall of Language in the Age of English” and several highly regarded novels is Minae Mizumura, not “Minae Minimazura” (!). Evidently, the global predominance of English also interferes with the ability to assimilate and double-check the spelling of non-English names.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for pointing that out. We’ve fixed the name.
Best,
Thomas