Reading for the New Year: Part Four
this is Obomsawin‘s take on Kaspar hauser, a nineteenth-century German man who claimed to have grown up in a dark cellar, without any human contact. We meet him as a Gumby-like figure, asleep on a dirt floor, with only a jug of water and a toy horse. He has no idea how he got there. When he’s around seventeen years old, Kaspar meets his captor, rendered in the book as a shadowy, hatch-marked father: “The Man in Black.” The man teaches him to write his name; he teaches him to take a few fumbling goose steps outside. Kaspar has never before stood up or seen celestial light.The man drops him off in the middle of Nuremberg, with a note addressed to a captain in the local squadron, promising him to the military corps.
It takes a while for the world to figure out who, or what, Kaspar is.”He’s a madman! An imbecile! A half-savage! An impostor!” policemen guess, before locking him up. He becomes a curiosity. He gets passed from one custodian to another, including scientists and aristocrats, all around Europe. He falls in love with nature,and paints sought-after watercolors of flowers and fruit.(One of his paintings is reproduced in the book.) “The day I see red apples,” Kaspar says, “I feel true satisfaction.” Obomsawin pulls from the past record to create a distilled tragedy, and the result is an unforgettable little novel.–E. Tammy Kim
Absolutely and Forever
Table of Contents
by Rose Tremain
Rose Tremain’s slim, beautiful 2023 novel, “Absolutely and Forever” might potentially be the book I’ve had the most success recommending to others in r“`html
Our narrator, Marianne, is fifteen when we meet her, a boarding-school girl in love with a vaguely arty boy named Simon, with “a dark flop of hair over his forehead.” Her mother tells Marianne that no one falls in love at her age-she has simply ”manufactured a little crush.” It turns out to be more than that, and to resound long after she and Simon no longer see each other, when she has confected a new life in Swinging London (where the young women on King’s Road have “mighty” hair and “tiny little slanty boxes for skirts”), slept with other men and married a good one, grown close to her more grounded and intellectual friend Petronella, worked in a department store and as an assistant to an advice columnist.Likably incompetent and slightly stunned though she is, Marianne seems destined to become a writer-presumably, the writer Rose Tremain. That Tremain, who is now in her eighties and the author of many esteemed novels, could summon up the world of her youth-of youth in general-with such tender, precise affection strikes me as a small miracle.–Margaret Talbot
After the Revolution
by amy Herzog
Paul Robeson and the Shadow of McCarthyismPaul Robeson, a renowned singer, actor, and activist, faced significant political persecution during the McCarthy era due to his outspoken advocacy for civil rights and his perceived communist affiliations, impacting his career and personal life.
Early Life and Rise to Prominence
Paul Robeson (1898-1976) achieved international fame as a bass-baritone singer and for his leading role in Shakespeare’s Othello. he was also a gifted athlete, graduating as valedictorian and all-American football player at Rutgers University in 1919. Rutgers University details Robeson’s early life and achievements. However, his commitment to social justice and his vocal criticism of racial discrimination increasingly drew the attention of anti-communist forces.
Political Activism and Allegations of Communist Affiliation
Robeson’s political views evolved over time, becoming increasingly aligned with socialist and communist ideologies as he witnessed the injustices faced by African Americans and the working class. He actively supported the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and advocated for stronger labor rights.These positions, coupled with his travels to the Soviet Union, led to accusations of communist affiliation. The FBI placed robeson under surveillance for decades. The FBI’s file on Paul Robeson details the extent of the surveillance and examination.
The McCarthy Era and its Impact on Robeson
The height of the McCarthy era, from the late 1940s through the 1950s, saw a dramatic escalation of anti-communist hysteria in the United States. Robeson became a prime target. In 1950, the State Department revoked his passport, effectively preventing him from traveling internationally and performing abroad.He was blacklisted from radio and television, and concert venues cancelled his engagements. The Library of Congress’s Paul Robeson Papers contains documentation of the passport revocation and blacklisting.
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Robeson was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1956. He refused to answer questions about his political beliefs, citing his Fifth Amendment rights. His testimony, and his continued defiance of HUAC, further solidified his status as a controversial figure. The full transcript of Robeson’s 1956 HUAC testimony is available online.
Later Life and Legacy
Despite the hardships he faced, Robeson continued to advocate for social justice and equality. His passport was finally restored in 1958, allowing him to travel and perform internationally once again. He died in Philadelphia in 1976. In 1995,Rutgers University established the paul Robeson Cultural Center in his honour. The Paul Robeson Cultural Center at Rutgers University serves as a testament to his enduring legacy.
- joseph McCarthy: The U.S. Senator who spearheaded the anti-communist investigations.
- FBI: The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which conducted extensive surveillance on Robeson.
- HUAC: The House Un-American Activities Committee, which subpoenaed Robeson to testify.
- State Department: The government agency that revoked Robeson’s passport.
- Rutgers University: Robeson’s alma mater, which later honored him with a cultural center.