Sects and ‘new left’ disillusionment. Mike Macnair reviews P Blackledge, N Davidson (eds) Alasdair MacIntyre’s engagement with Marxism: selected writings 1953-1974, Brill (Historical materialism series),... »
Fiction
Red planets: Marxism and science fiction – Mark Bould and China Miéville (eds)
Blind, dumb logic of capitalism. James Turley reviews Mark Bould and China Miéville (eds) Red planets: Marxism and science fiction Pluto, 2009, pp293, £19.99. When English literature departments first arose in Anglo-Saxon academia, their purpose was in some ways relatively well defined. The bourgeoisie, so its political allies in the aristocracy and flunkies among the intelligentsia... »
Common words and the wandering star – Keith Armstrong
A northern giant David Douglass reviews Keith Armstrong’s Common words and the wandering star University of Sunderland Press. pp296, £7.95 There have been few British socialist writers of note, even less working class ones and still less those of the northern working class. In this respect, Jack Common occupies a unique position, almost in the category... »
The city and the city – China Miéville
Uncanny detective story. James Turley reviews China Miéville’s The city and the city London 2009, pp312, £17.99. China Miéville is one of the foremost writers in contemporary genre fiction. He is somewhat unique in that, unlike many others, his crossover success has not involved disavowing the generic in favour of the more conventionally ‘literary’ – on... »
The white tiger – Aravind Adiga
The ‘new Indian’ tiger On October 6, the winner of the Man Booker prize will be announced. All but one of the shortlisted works are ‘historical fiction’. Last year, however, the winning novel was set in present-day India – The white tiger by 34-year-old Aravind Adiga. Mike Belbin weighs up its appeal to UK judges... »
Lars T Lih, Boris Kargalitsky, Hillel Ticktin and other authors to speak at Communist University 2009
Communist University 2009 August 8-15, South London. Book Now! The CPGB’s annual school – the Communist University – is different. It features sharp clashes of opinion ... »
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows – JK Rowling
Inspired flashes, mainstream values Jeremy Butler reviews Harry Potter and the deathly hallows “Those who refuse to listen to dragons are probably doomed to spend their lives acting out the nightmares of politicians” – Ursula K Le Guin” The beautiful irony at the heart of fantasy is that... »
Comforting old haunts- the fiction of MR James
Lawrence Parker takes a closer look at Montague Rhodes James, whose ghost stories will have enlivened many comrades’ Christmas Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) – linguist, palaeographer, medievalist and biblical scholar – has never been more popular. But... »
Once in Europa- John Berger & Patricia MacDonald
There is no formula for being human, as Rosa Luxemburg once remarked. Yet there is a widespread conviction on the left that Marxists themselves should live their lives in a kind of formulaic workerist pattern – fantasies largely perpetrated... »
The coming day and other stories- Edward Upward
The fact that Edward Upward is producing new work well into his 90s is testimony to his unique ability as well as to the intellectual forge in which he created his literary method. Upward was the youthful creator, alongside his... »
How it all began- Nikolai Bukharin
Bukharin is an enigma for many revolutionary Marxists. Before Lenin’s death Bukharin was a proletarian internationalist and intransigent supporter of world revolution, but he became the most sophisticated defender of socialism in one country, and was Stalin’s ally and opponent of Trotsky... »