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  1. Culture
16 November 2007

Deaths and Dragons

Norman Mailer's passing provokes outpourings of praise and condemnation in equal measure

By Ben Coren

Mailer Makes his Exit

The week in the Arts began with a splurge of tributes and opinion pieces marking the death of Norman Mailer. The majority of obits were respectful but seemed unsure how to deal with the controversy he engendered, both in his fiction and in his personal life. Although he was praised by some as a brilliant and influential practitioner of the New Journalism, Roger Kimball offered a hatchet job of a man he characterised as a ‘polyphiloprogenitive wife-stabber and booster of homicidal misfits’. For those on the left, Mailer could be an eloquent spokesperson (John Pilger quotes him extensively in this article, but his [brawling, feuding] and suspect views on women lost him the respect of many.

Mailer was an ambitious, ballsy and divisive figure (with even the outspoken Christopher Hitchens confessing to being in awe of his chutzpah), yet many great writers have led controversial lives – are they, like ex-Presidents, entitled to somewhat idealised memorials?. Does the best of the writing outweigh the worst of the life? Or are the two inseparable?

Related

NS Review of Mailer’s final work The Castle in the Forest

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The New York Times on Mailer’s life and work

An early review of The Naked and the Dead

A provocative interview with Mailer from the NS archive

Blockbuster Politics

This week saw the release of the first big blockbuster of this festive season. Beowulf, Robert Zemeckis’s motion-captured take on the old English poem, stars a digitally enhanced Ray Winstone as the eponymous Geat and Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s yummy mummy. The original text, heavy on honour and smiting, could be said to offer an idealised portrait of conflict but early reviews have suggested that Zemeckis is more interested in portraying his hero as a flawed and fallible individual. As such, does the film have anything to tell us about Western attitudes to war, valour and honour in the political climate of 2007?

Today’s film students, and even a smattering of political commentators, are happy to write on topics like the relationship of the Star Wars series to the Vietnam War. Will the students of the future be reading War on Terror analogies into Beowulf, and this winter’s other big film, the already controversial Golden Compass? Or is Beowulf really just about a man, a monster and a whopping great dragon? You can judge for yourself – it’s in cinemas now.

Related:

A comprehensive online overview of war films

Terry Eagleton on Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf

Salman Rushdie on war and film

An upcoming talk withPhilip Pullman

NS Film Editor Ryan Gilbey on the cinema of the Iraq war

Websites for political thrillers A Mighty Heart and Lions for Lambs

Meanwhile across the pond…

November the 14th saw another glitzy literary prize ceremony take place, with the 58th National Book Awards being held in Manhattan. The NBA for fiction went to Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke, a Vietnam-set novel which was acclaimed by our reviewer and Tim Weiner scooped the non-fiction gong with his damning history of the CIA Legacy of Ashes. The novelist and essayist Joan Dideon was awarded the prestigious Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

You can check out the full list of contenders and winners and decide if you think anyone was cheated here. It may be worth noting that the NBA unfortunately shares its acronym with the National Basketball Association (a bit like if the Booker Prize started referring to itself as The FA), so Google users may wish to search using the award’s full title.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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