Just another Smith?
The politically observant Oxford student will have noticed that there are two anniversaries being celebrated and commiserated at this time. One is the 25th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's election as Prime Minister, the other is the 10th anniversary of the death of John Smith. Now is not the time to debate the relative merits of these two characters....
Features: It's a Weird World
Fiction has always been strange: imaginary people in imaginary places doing imag inary things. This fiction is, well, weird. It's "fantastic' - and that means tough and real, not wispy and ethereal. It's subversive and strange, imaginative and challeng- ing, extravagant and brutal, but above all weird. And not just any old weird: New Weird. There is no denying that New Weird stems from Science Fiction/Fantasy, but anyone dis- missing this movement as run-of- the-mill Star Trek rewrites has a sur prise in store. Forget the endless Tolkein spin-offs, the elves "n' heroes with their magic rings. For- get even the good guys and bad guys - this is a genre where ambi- guity rules. Forget contemporary fiction, discard your penguin clas- sics and throw down your literary theory. The New Weird is the only modern fiction where reconsidering the genre is more important than following it, and where reinvention and reconceptualisation is the order of the day. All fiction evolves, and the New Weird is no exception; but its ori- gins are not so clear - there was never an Old Weird. There are influences, however, drawn from across the spectrum of literature and fiction: from the robots of Asi- mov and the bleak, brooding atmosphere of Peake's Gormenghast, to the cities, characters and scope of Dickens and Tolstoy, combined with the style, linguistic brilliance and lasting innovation of Shake- speare and Chaucer, and the cut- ting edge scientific theories of Hawkings. As I said, New Weird is weird, but also phenomenally good. New Weird authors are modern, really modern. Gormenghast is a key influence on their work, but Peake is not really a New Weird author. The ideas behind the New Weird movement are partly rooted in a wish to get Science Fiction/Fantasy out of its ghetto. There are two things commonly said about the
S
Features: A Very Piers-ing Issue
You can always rely on Piers Morgan to screw things up. No sooner does The Mirror editor get his hands on a major scoop - namely, genuine revelations regarding the abuse of Iraqi detainees by the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) in Basra - than he ruins it by publishing photographs that look so staged one wonders how stupid he really thinks we are. ...
Features: Not So Badly Drawn
It's hard to square the idea of Damon Gough addressing the Oxford Union. Richard Nixon, Mother Teresa and even Chesney Hawkes I can deal with, but Badly Drawn Boy is somehow beyond my comprehension. He's the antithesis of the institution and everything it represents.
Features: Journos versus Politicians
In order to be successful, journalists have to write interesting stories that can be sold in a headline; in order to be successful, politicians have to tell interesting stories and sell them in a headline. On face value, neither profession has an incentive to have a high regard for "Truth". Both stake their jobs on being truthful, yet examples of politicians and journalists who have told outright lies and still kept their jobs are easy to find. ...
Features: A Maroon With a View
It is a great start to any interview: downing champagne at three in the afternoon. Maroon 5 is celebrating. "You know, I'm getting kind of buzzed," confesses guitarist Jesse Carmichael, taking a swig from a rapidly emptying glass.
Features: Pass And Move, It's A Footballing Groove: Rob Evans on the tunes from the terraces
Euro 2004 is just around the corner. The final squads are being prepared and the last friendlies are being played in a few weeks. There's the debate over the squad: Beattie or Vassell? Should Thompson be given another chance? What has Gareth Barry done to annoy Sven? Will Beckham, Gerrard and Owen be fit? Is there a binge-drinking/gambling/naughty text message scandal around the corner? But perhaps the most important decision of them all has just been made. The official England Euro 2004 song will be All Together Now by The Farm, remixed by DJ Spoony....