Boris and Subash. I am afraid that the article that JG wrote during the war is nearly impossible to understand outside Norwegian context. Many inside Norwegian context got it wrong too.
JG is a philosopher. Unlike most of us, he is capable of thinking more than one thought simultaneously. That is what we common minds have multitasking computers for ;-) Most of those who read it, read it wrong IMO. Mainly because of the ongoing conflict, most readers had an "either you are with us or against us" mind set then. Just some observation from my little pond ;-) No offence to any part here. This said. JG is mostly an author who likes to play with philosophy and the ideas of parallel realities. He is quiet good at it. So if you are into that kind of stuff go for it. Tim Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Boris Liberman Sent: 5. desember 2006 10:57 To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: OT: Norwegian novelist Hi! Subash, I happen to be a Russian Jew living in Israel. So if you want to discuss this kind of issue in order to know at least half of the perspective, please contact me off-list. Thanks. On 12/5/06, SJ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > hi jostein, > > thanks a ton for filling in the details. basically nobody here knows > exactly what happened and the only 'information' we have here is his > version of things. but we did get the impression that his words were > taken out of the initial context in which they were said/written i.e., > for a norwegian audience. but it does seem a little naive not to > expect controversy when talking about something as contentious as the > recent war between israel and lebanon. > > i think i'll start with the 'safer' Sophie's World. > > regards, subash > > On 12/5/06, Jostein Øksne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Subash, > > > > If you mean specifics about what he refers to in the article, here goes: > > > > During the Israeli/Hizbollah war in Lebanon this summer, many who > > sympathise with Israel in Norway had a hard time. The reactions were > > all over the place, from anger with Israel and/or Hizbollah, to deep > > worries that this conflict would spread to other neighbouring > > countries, primarily Syria and Egypt. Jostein Gaarder vented his > > frustration in a newspaper article. The normal Norwegian reaction to > > his kind of rhetorics is to incite a debate where the opponents > > gradually put polarised language away and dig more deeply into subject > > matter. IOW, the intial article is meant to rouse people into healthy > > discussion. Gaarder's article, however, didn't go down well with the > > local jewish community at that time. Some person there had it > > translated to English, and it was published both in Israel and in > > other countries. > > > > Taken out of the context of a national political/ethic debate, the > > article looked very rude and demeaning to jews. Gaarder withdrew from > > the debate when he understood he had put his foot in it. He has spent > > months trying to repair his reputation, and from this interview he > > seems to have some work to do yet. :-) > > > > I haven't read any of his books, but according to my wife who has read > > several, the plot in "The Solitaire Mystery" is better than the one in > > "Sophie's World". But there's always something special with the book > > he's most famous for I suppose. > > > > The other Jostein :-) > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > -- Boris -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
