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richfieldbranch · 4 years

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Mike’s Picks

Hello to all our Richfield Library Patrons. Enjoy our new Adult Services newsletter with some more suggestions to keep you busy while you're stuck at home. The books are all available at akronlibrary.org under the digital media section. All titles are in both the E-book and E-audio formats. The movies below have been released on one of the major streaming services. If you don't have access to Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, be sure to check out the free movies you can access through the library, with our Hoopla or Kanopy apps.

Adult Services Librarian Mike Daly, [email protected]

Books:

Non-Fiction

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

This book, by Shaker Heights native and the author of the Orchid Thief, tells the story of the huge fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. Because it took place during the same week as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, not many people outside California know the story. The author reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history. The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library--and, if so, who? Part mystery, part love letter to American libraries, Orlean tells a fascinating story.

Say nothing: a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

This book which appeared on all the major top ten lists for 2019 is a great true crime story that reads like a novel. In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress.

Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I found this book to be one the best surprises of the last year. Eleanor Oliphant struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country this fictionalized account was one of my favorite books I read last year. At once both heartbreaking and heart warming, it tells a story you will remember long after turning the last page.

Movies:

This weekend we had a Humphrey Bogart marathon. Watched To Have and Have Not, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The African Queen. Besides killing a Sunday afternoon it was so much fun hearing all the classic lines and enjoying the wonderful supporting performances.

And finally.................

Monday March 30th is

National Doctor's Day

“Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.” Norman Cousins

“Doctors always think anybody doing something they aren't is a quack; also they think all patients are idiots.” Flannery O'Connor

“Doctors?" said Ron, looking startled. "Those Muggle nutters that cut people up?” J. K. Rowling

Tuesday April 1st is

National Clam Day

“She ate so many clams that her stomach rose and fell with the tide.” Louis Kronenberger

“Do the Clam, do the Clam, grab your barefoot baby by the hand.” Elvis Presley

“Happy as a clam, is what my mother says for happy. I am happy as a clam: hard-shelled, firmly closed.” Margaret Atwood

Wednesday April 1st is

April Fool's Day

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Alexander Pope

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” Winston Churchill

“When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” William Shakespeare

Thursday April 2nd is

National Burrito Day

“A burrito is a delicious food item that breaks down all social barriers and leads to temporary

spiritual enlightenment.” Lisi Harrison

“A burrito is a sleeping bag for ground beef.” Mitch Hedberg

“Ever had a flying burrito hit you? Well, it's a deadly projectile, right up there with cannonballs and grenades.” Rick Riordan

Friday April 3rd is

American Circus Day

“Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end.” David Niven

“Life is a circus ring, with some moments more spectacular than others.” Janusz Korczak

“The circus is the only fun you can buy that is good for you.” Ernest Hemingway

Saturday April 4th is

International Carrot Day

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” Paul Cezanne

“You ask me what life is. That's like asking what a carrot is. A carrot is a carrot, and there's nothing more to know.” Anton Chekhov

“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.” Mae West

More to come next week!

#libraryathome #book recommendations #movie recommendation #lovemylibrary #ohio #richfield oh

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languagemadness · 6 years

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38 Classic Polish Books You Should Know (About)

requested by anon

That’s a hell of a Buzzfeed title, wow! I focused solely on books, but you need to remember that poems play a HUGE part in Polish literature in general. Instead of doing a list of "classic Polish texts", which would include full-on books, poems, dramas, everything, and would be probably 18637 positions long, I did only some of the most important books, dramas, and comic books. If you’d like me to tell you more about anything on this list, cover something more in detail, or make another list — shoot me an ask!

I ordered the list NOT by how much I like these books or how strongly I’d recommend them. The list is ordered from the easiest ones to the toughest ones -- literarily, not linguistically.

Also, I know that the ask was about classical books, which I too included in this list.

Let’s start with something approachable — comic books and "normal" books that are so easy and pleasant to read. Except for the two books about war — they’re approachable but the topic doesn’t really make them pleasant.

Pan Samochodzik by Zbigniew Nienacki

A series of books about Pan Samochodzik, who’s an art historian and a detective, and his job is to solve theft, smuggling, and forgery cases. He’s basically a mix of Indiana Jones and Hercules Poirot. The background for the books is life in Polish People’s Republic, but it’s actually shown not as rough as it was in real life. Apart from that, they’re basically children’s books — very light, easy, and funny.

I’d definitely recommend them, I mean, who doesn’t like stories like that? Plus, you don’t need to be God knows how good with Polish to read them.

adaptations: There are 4 movies and a TV show based on the books, each based on a different book from the series.

Podróże z Herodotem by Ryszard Kapuściński

You can read it even when you’re like 10 because it’s a very nice, easy, pleasant story. An autobiography where the author describes his travels to Asia and Africa and compares them to the travels of Herodotus. Very interesting, often funny, it gives you a full view of different people and cultures and how rich the world is. It teaches you a little bit of history, it teaches you a little bit about the modern world (I think the story starts in the 1950s), and the comparison between these two — it’s really fascinating to see that, generally, the world hadn’t changed that much.

I would wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

W pustyni i w puszczy by Henryk Sienkiewicz

The only book I cried on and not because it was so beautiful, but because it was so painful to read. Okay, I was like 11 when I read it, but technically it’s a book for kids, so…

It’s a story about two kids who get lost in Africa and they hike through like 5 countries to find their fathers (who worked in Africa and just happened to forget to take their children one day I guess?). Really, it’s about friendship, dedication, love, all the important values in life. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s painfully boring to read.

It’s a wonderful story, don’t get me wrong, and I loved it as a child — but the movie. The book I hated. So I do recommend it, but the movie.

adaptations: 2 TV shows and 2 movies (the one from 2001 being the most popular).

Tytus, Romek i A’Tomek by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski

Comic books. Two friends try to humanize a monkey while traveling and exploring different areas of science and history. It’s funny, absurd, educational, and understandable for non-advanced learners of Polish.

Do I recommend? Absolutely.

adaptations: 2 episodes of a short TV show, a video game, and a movie from 2002 titled "Tytus, Romek i A’Tomek wśród złodziei marzeń" — but it’s not based on the comics, only on the characters.

Kajko i Kokosz by Janusz Christa

A series of comic books which is basically a Polish version of “Asterix”. It’s about two Slavic warriors who have all kinds of adventures and fights with Zbójcerze. It’s all fictional and to be honest, I don’t really remember much from the comics, but I know that I loved them as a child. There are also renewals of the old volumes as well as new stories based on the original story and they’re coming out even in 2018.

I wouldn’t say it’s something you absolutely have to read, but if you want to, then it’s worth your time.

adaptations: A TV show that’s still being made and a video game.

Zemsta by Aleksander Fredro

Language-wise, it is pure genius. Not too easy, though. The jokes, the phrases, the sayings — it is the base of common Polish language. Story-wise, it’s basically Polish Romeo and Juliet. Two families live in a castle and hate each other, a girl from one family is in love with a guy from the other family. We also get some more important side characters, they’re very nicely written, iconic even. The whole drama is hilarious, so yes I would calmly recommend it to people who are somewhat fluent in Polish.

adaptations: 2 movies (the one from 2002 being more popular).

Wiedźmin by Andrzej Sapkowski

I think it’s the definition of contemporary classic. It’s a series of short stories, later an actual book, later comics, and finally a movie and a video game. The book is about this witcher and a child of destiny who’s a witcher-in-training. The main character needs to protect her. The stories and comics, however — they’re obviously about the witcher, but I don’t know the details.

If I’m 100% frank, I have not read the stories, the book, the comics, nothing. So I can’t fully recommend it to you, but I can tell you this: everyone who’s into fantasy is crazy about it. I suppose if you like fantasy, Wiedźmin’s a must.

adaptations: A movie from 2001, a TV show from 2002, and a video game.

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

This one’s, on the other hand, is a must if you’re into sci-fi. It’s about contact: with aliens, other civilizations, the unknown — but it’s not specified, which actually makes the book so interesting.

It’s been translated into multiple languages, so I’d say it’s easy to get, and if you’re either into sci-fi or into modern Polish literature — do read it.

adaptations: 3 movies (in 2002 Soderbergh made it a movie, so I suppose it’s worth checking out, but I personally haven’t watched it).

Kamienie na szaniec by Aleksander Kamiński

A story of 3 boys who just graduated from high school when WW2 broke out. It’s an actual story of actual people and it is heartbreaking. If you want to read anything about the WW2 that isn’t very technical or boring, this book is definitely for you. It’s about normal lives in abnormal circumstances and you get very attached to the characters and their stories, and the book actually makes you feel things.

Would recommend.

adaptations: A movie from 1977 titled "Akcja pod Arsenałem", which is based on the book, and a movie from 2014 under the same title as the book, also only based on it.

Medaliony by Zofia Nałkowska

An omnibus of short stories about WW2. Very short, very shocking, sometimes even disgusting. The stories are about people who survived the war and they are actual things that actually happened. I don’t think I get appalled easily, but those are horrifying, really.

A good recommendation for someone who wants to learn about the more (or less) humane side of the war. I would actually say it’s a must if you want to at least begin to understand the tragedy that WW2 was.

And now we’re moving onto some more… mature books. Those are usually compulsory readings in middle school and high school, and to get what they’re about, you need to have some common knowledge. Nothing too specific, though. And there’s a lot to them that you can enjoy even if you don’t know much about general Polish culture and history, so I would say giving them a shot is definitely worth it. Plus, you can learn a lot if you’re a careful reader.

Lalka by Bolesław Prus

Hands down my favorite Polish book of all times. The best thing they made me read in school and I swear this book made the 12 years of tears and pain that I spent in school worth it. Long story short, it’s about a dude from quite a poor family and he becomes rich for an aristocrat he loves very, very deeply. But she’s a total bitch and uses him like an old rag. Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t like romance but Lalka… I mean, the lengths he went for her, the things he did for her… I don’t want to spoil the book but it’s full of dramatic events, interesting characters, surprises, and most importantly — it’s absolutely exciting for the reader! It truly sucks you in. Not to mention the book in a phenomenal way shows how Polish society of the 1870s functioned and thought. And don’t even get me started on the psychology of single characters. I’ve read only a few books in my life that made me feel so passionate about their characters. Character-building-wise, Lalka is the peak of art.

If you want to read only one book from this list, this is the one.

adaptations: Tons of plays, a movie (1968) and a TV show (1978). Pretty accurate, but I personally didn’t like them.

Potop by Henryk Sienkiewicz

There’s a trilogy: Ogniem i mieczem, Potop, Pan Wołodyjowski — and they tell the history of Poland in the 17th century. For some reason, only Potop is considered an absolute must, but if I’m honest I didn’t read it, so I personally can’t recommend it to you. Potop itself is about a guy who wants to marry this girl but she thinks he betrayed the country, so he needs to clear his name by fighting by the king’s side. It sounds very fairy-tale-like, but the background is actual history and the author himself operates incredibly well with the real and the imaginary.

The thing with Sienkiewicz’s historical books is that they are pretty damn good, so even if you’re not too much into that kinda stuff but there’s a tiny part of curiosity in you, I don’t think it’s a mistake to check it out.

adaptations: A movie from 1974.

Krzyżacy by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Basically when Poland was all… under occupation and non-existent, Sienkiewicz wrote this book to bitch about Germanization, as well as to remind the Polish people about their country. The book is about the great times of Poland, from 1399 all the way to the greatest battle of 1410 when Poland kicked Prussia’s ass. But we also get some romance, some schemes, some awful deaths… The full set if you will.

A lot of people say it’s a super ass boring book, but in my opinion, it’s absolutely fantastic. The details, the numerosity of threads (that somehow doesn’t confuse you at all), again the imaginary intwining with the real… I do recommend it not only to people who are into history, but to anyone looking for a good read that would explain a bit of Polish nature.

adaptations: A movie from 1960.

Quo vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Honey is this one fantastic… It’s a story about a Christian girl in Nero’s Rome and a non-Christian guy who’s in love with her. Of course, at first it looks like a love story, which it is, but there’s so much to it. The book is a knockout of a description of what life was like in ancient Rome. Everything from history, through society, to things like the time of bathing of each social class — there’s everything. And, what’s even better, it’s not boring at all! Actually, the book is unbelievably well-balanced between eventful, not overwhelming, and detailed.

I would definitely, definitely recommend. It’s not exactly a must and if you want to read a Sienkiewicz historical book, then Krzyżacy or Potop would be a better idea since they’re about Poland, but Quo vadis would most definitely not be a waste of time.

adaptations: 6 movies (the one from 2001 is the most popular one), a TV show, and a ton of plays.

Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz

A book you either love or hate. I personally love it, I’m kin with this book, whatever. While reading it, I agreed with every single sentence, with every single opinion, I felt like it was me who wrote it in my past life or something. Just. An. Extraordinary. Book. Remember when I said that Lalka was the reason why I didn’t hate school? It was, but Ferdydurke is the reason I’m alive, kids.

It’s about a 30-year-old man who’s a writer (kinda), but he can’t write. Suddenly, he turns into a kid and is forced to go to school again. That’s just the plot of the book, however, because the story is simple, absurd, inconsistent, weird, and you don’t really read the book for the story. It’s what the story stands for. It’s about how pointless society is. How society creates idiotic rules to standardize people and to take away any creativity or any will to live. How people need to protect themselves and their originality but they can’t because originality doesn’t exist. And our main character explores all those philosophies. It’s a fantastic criticism of society, school, systems, classes, life.

Language-wise, it’s also a very interesting book. Definitely not an easy one. Gombrowicz was the master of language, the words and phrases he came up with, the ideas he hid within them. The language of his books creates, not only describes, the world from the books. His language is a whole different, self-sufficient being. Rare, striking, awe-inspiring.

As I said, somewhat philosophical and very metaphorical. You need to feel from your very heart what Gombrowicz means to understand this book.

adaptations: A theater performance from 1985 that you can watch on Youtube and a movie from 1991. I wouldn’t recommend watching them, though.

Sklepy cynamonowe by Bruno Schulz

Weird, metaphorical, a bit… insane? I love it. It’s an omnibus of short stories that are a description of the adult world through a child’s eyes. It’s like a dream, it’s impossible, it’s very soft and delicate and magical, really. It’s unlike anything. You feel like you’re reading a description of some very sensual dream. The stories make you wonder about the way people think, the way childhood affects your future life, the way the world works, and they make you realize that you don’t understand anything ever. But if you’re not looking for a deeper meaning, you can read the stories just for pleasure because they are honestly so sensual, sexy (but not porny, more like seductive), fascinating, and just strange, you actually read the stories with all of your senses. Makes you enter a whole different world and I will not exaggerate when I say that it changes your perception of everything.

As I said, it’s unlike anything you’ll ever encounter in life. A million out of ten would recommend.

adaptations: There is a short film from 1986 based on one of the stories from the book. It’s called "Ulica krokodyli".

Cudzoziemka by Maria Kuncewiczowa

One of my top 10. It is a story of the last day of a woman’s life. She knows she’s dying and she knows that all of her life she was in pain. So she recalls her entire life, all the big decisions she ever made, to find the source of her misery and to escape reality. It is a very sad book, but rather that depress the reader, it makes you think. It’s a story about alienation — the main character lived in a foreign country, never got to do what she actually wanted to do, never got to be with whoever she wanted to be with, and so everything she did, everywhere she went, everyone she spent time with, she felt out of place. The book was revolutionary in terms of composition and it explored the main character’s psychology very deeply. A fascinating, thought-provoking, original book.

Definitely would recommend.

adaptations: A movie from 1986.

And finally, books for the strong, books for the advanced, books for the masters. To get these, you actually need some strong background knowledge on Polish history and culture, especially society- and politics-wise. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad, they’re just… demanding.

Granica by Zofia Nałkowska

It is about… uhh… society, morality and the lengths a person can go to achieve what they want. Sounds complicated and serious, and it sort of is, but it’s also totally worth your time because it doesn’t really tire you as much as you could think it would. And it’s thought-provoking as well. It’s about this dude who has a wife, a career, and a lover, and he basically ruins his life and the lives of everyone around him — which is quite exciting and somewhat frightening to read. So if you’re into ambitious, psychological stuff, then I say yes! Go for it.

adaptations: A movie from 1938.

Chłopi by Władysław Reymont

It’s basically a longass description of one year in Polish countryside in the late 19th/early 20th century. Personally, I think it shows and defines the society of that time extremely well and it surely is admirable that someone wrote almost a thousand pages describing in detail things such as preparing cabbage for dinner or collecting crops. Reymont actually won the Nobel prize for this book.

Would recommend if you’re not looking for anything too thrilling. Even though the book has some iconic moments like taking away Jagna on a wheelbarrow cause she was a slut…

adaptations: A movie from 1922 and a TV show, which was later turned into a movie, from 1972.

Przedwiośnie by Stefan Żeromski

A Polish family in Russia (actually in Azerbaijan but before WW1 it was Russia, so). They live awesome lives until WW1 breaks out and the father has to leave the family. Then, the son goes a little nuts and joins communists and then there’s a revolution, the son gets traumatized and he runs away to Poland (where he’d never been before) where he’s looking for a prosperous life that his father had promised him. And Poland had just regained independence, so everyone hopes that it will be the oasis of prosperity and well-being once it’s renovated. The book is about how hope and gullibility (but mostly hope) are heartlessly crushed by reality. It is also a story about growing up because we follow the main character all the way from his careless youth through his war-and-revolution trauma to a point where he has to decide about his future. But most importantly, I think, it’s a historically important story. It was written when Poland was a new country and it was supposed to remind people that communism is bad and politics, in general, is crap, as well as propose some political solutions for the new country. That’s the general message but there are lighter moments like descriptions of Polish countryside, a lot of flirting with pretty girls, and even a murder.

It’s a good story, it’s a deep story — but not too complicated. And it’s actually very interesting, and I can promise you it’s not as heavy as I made it sound.

10/10 would recommend.

adaptations: Two movies — one from 1928 and one from 2001.

Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz

It’s an epic that describes life in the countryside in the 19th century. It was mainly written to remind Poles who had emigrated to France what a wonderful country Poland originally was, even though it was entirely under occupation, completely wiped off of any map. Naturally, everything there is presented through rose-colored glasses but still, if you’re looking for the classic of the classics, I suppose Pan Tadeusz is the book for you. If anyone wants to understand Polish literature, this book is a must.

Would I recommend? Sure if you’re here to sink in Polish culture or if you like quite full of adventure and yet easy reading. Easy as in the story’s nice and pleasant, the language is rather tedious.

adaptations: A surprisingly good and accurate movie from 1999. And the script is actually the text of the epic.

Dziady by Adam Mickiewicz

I think every Polish student hates Dziady. I didn’t, though. It’s a drama, actually, there are 4 parts of the drama, the last one not quite finished. I think the problem with Dziady is that no one really knows what it’s about. It was written in the mid 19th century, so again — Poland’s out of every map. The tzar is a bitch and Adam Mickiewicz disses him in the wildest of ways, but it doesn’t make sense until someone explains it to you. If you asked me what Dziady were about, in my opinion, all 4 parts are about love. Love for your country, love for your lover, love for yourself, love for other people, love for your family — all possible kinds of love. Sounds nice, right? That’s because it is nice. The problem with Dziady is that if you don’t delve deep into it, you won’t get it at all. The words as you read seem just like random words in a random order, no point whatsoever, skipping from topic to topic, all four parts at first seem completely unrelated. But the deeper you dig, the more you see. It is a very rich drama, there’s something in it for literally everyone, but it requires a ton of commitment and probably someone to guide you well through it.

Add it to my recommendations only if you are desperate to read it and if you have all the things above, aka time, commitment, and help. And language skills. The 2nd part, however, is short and it’s the easiest one, so do check it out.

adaptations: "Lawa" from 1989 is based on the second (which, in order, is the first) part of Dziady.

Wesele by Stanisław Wyspiański

It is such a deep drama that you just don’t get it. Kind of like with Dziady, except this one is waaay shorter and basically just disses everyone. In Dziady, the main character’s idea to show people love was to take control of them. Wesele, however, was about motivating people to do stuff by offending them.

Personally, Wesele is one of my favorites because it is just so problematic. Wyspiański attended a wedding in 1900 and then described it. Each guest in the drama (and at the actual wedding) represented an attitude that the general of Polish society had towards the country’s situation (occupation). And after 105 years of occupation, it seemed that the society didn’t really care anymore and just accepted their fate. Wyspiański was very much against that attitude. So basically what he did was he publicly washed the society’s dirty linen by pinning it onto his real-life friends. When Wesele premiered, people were actually chasing Wyspiański down the streets because they hated him so much. Not to mention that in the drama the whole offending thing is actually pretty profound and harsh. So much so that actual real-life guests weren’t enough for him — Wyspiański needed to introduce ghosts from the past, people who played an important role in Poland’s history. Of course, that was the author’s idea of motivating people to fight for their freedom.

The drama is full of references to Polish literature, Polish culture, and Polish history, so unless you’re fluent in these three, I wouldn’t tell you to read it.

I love Wesele with all my heart. If you want to give it a shot, instead of reading the actual drama, I’d suggest reading the story behind it and the summary and interpretations. This way you can enjoy it, which I think anyone should, without knowing much of the background. If I’m honest, you can’t really get much out of the drama itself. But I definitely recommend spending some time on this book, it’s definitely worth it.

adaptations: From 1973, it’s pretty good and quite accurate, but just a bit tiring.

Szewcy by Witkacy

Oh boy. A grotesque, modernist drama about the future of society, where the author basically talks about how people are doomed and headed for inevitable self-destruction. There’s a lot about how mechanic and inhumane people have become and of course tons of criticism towards society, revolution, capitalism, communism, and fascism.

I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t recommend because I didn’t really understand the language. It was a pain in the ass reading this book and if I had read it earlier in life, I assure you that W pustyni i w puszczy wouldn’t be the only book that made me cry from pain.

adaptations: Tons of theater performances that you can watch on Youtube.

Tango by Stanisław Mrożek

It’s a drama about generation gap and some ideas to live by (like conformism or anarchy). Sounds complex, but it actually keeps it very simple and short, a kid would get it, really, and yet the story actually stays with you. It also makes you wonder about a place and meaning of an intellectualist in society. Not to mention the hilarious and absurd situations like convincing your grandma to just die already.

Personally, I enjoyed it. Even though it’s about quite serious stuff, it’s hilarious, so you do read it with pleasure.

adaptations: There are multiple theater performances available to watch on Youtube.

Balladyna by Juliusz Słowacki

The main idea behind the drama is how good and evil both function simultaneously in this world and the fight between the two. A nymph sends a prince to the main character’s house. The main character wants to marry the prince, so she does a lot of awful things. Basically. It’s a nice story, though strange. A story that you would read to a child, except the language of the drama is… complicated. Let’s be honest — it’s Romanticism after all.

I would recommend it, but I wouldn’t die to make someone read it.

adaptations: There is this absolutely awful movie from 2009 (English title: The Bait). It’s loosely based on Balladyna.

Kordian by Juliusz Słowacki

It’s about this guy who plans to kill the tzar. There was a deeper meaning too but don’t ask me about it, I just don’t remember. To be honest, it was surprisingly pleasant to read and sometimes quite funny (I don’t think it was supposed to be, though). But I wouldn’t recommend it unless you know a whole lot about Polish history and culture — or unless you’re dangerously interested in it. And I mean like, you’d kill and die for it.

Nie-Boska komedia by Zygmunt Krasiński

To be honest, it’s a weirdly good story and what surprises me most about it is that it’s actually understandable, even though it’s quite a typical romantic drama. Interesting, huh…

It’s about a man who is looking for his artistic self, leaves his family to pursue his art, and then there’s him trying to protect his country. It was actually written to criticize this romantic way of thinking and living, so there are a few moments where the author just dissed other authors of the time, but most importantly, the story is a comment on the current (current for them) political and sociological events, as well as religion, and a way for Krasiński to express his opinions.

Recommend? Meh. It’s a good read but it’s not a must and you gotta be in a mood for it. Also, a solid historical and literary background would make the reading way easier.

My advice if you’re planning on reading any of these? Check the time period of the action. I swear if you do that and you pretty much can tell what the background for Poland was at the time, even just like one basic piece of information, it will make reading the book possible.

I think that’s about it. There are hundreds of other great Polish books that I can go on and on about (I can also talk about these for at least a few hours), so again -- if you have any questions, opinions, requests, anything, ask away.

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elizabethsharmon · 6 years

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Disclaimer: there are a lot of references that only Polish people will understand so basically you have to just trust us that this is really hilarious and we have a great sense of humour and if you’re Polish then you’d better read this version because (a) it’s much funnier and (b) why would you want to read it in English (unless you want to Polish your English).

@vildeliens and @yossiacar are honoured to present the Polish version of SKAM – SKAZA (pol. scar, imperfection). SKAZA – produced by the same studio as the hit remake shows such as Szczepan, Niemożebne and Ksiądz Kto – is a one-of-a-kind show made with extraordinary precision, telling the story of five friends from one of high schools in Warsaw.

From the first day of school Ewa Gotuje, Róża Brzęczyszczykiewicz, Zosia Mostowiak, Emilka Nowak and Michalina “Misiek” Krawczyk can see that they have something in common – they are all despised by their classmates Andżelika Kowalewska, Dżesika Kossakowska and Agnieszka Zduńska. They hate Ewa because she stole Andżelika’s boyfriend, Jurek Lubicz, and because she comes from Kraków. Róża for that every boy and girl in the school checks her out and for that she didn’t want to join their squad but instead chose to stick to Ewa. They dislike Zosia for her godliness, Emilka for her childlishness, ignorance and poor financial situation, and Misiek – just because she is too kind.

The other characters are girls’ classmates Jurek, Igor Bielik, Mariusz Lewandowski, Czesław “Miłosz” Miłoszewski and famous two years older chavs, regulars at Żyleta – Penetrator Misiek Wiśniewski and Julian “Julek” Dahl. In the second year of high school we meet another classmate, Erwin Tomaszewski, and Zosia’s brother Emil and his friends from the electronic technical high school – Józef Cieplak, Adam Turek, Maciej Kowalewski and Marcel Latawiec, who was the founder of their pilgrimage group “Kites Squad”. And keeping an eye on everything is Mr Jacek Kisiel – history teacher and class tutor (guest starring Krzysztof Ibisz and his new white teeth).

Season 1 tells the story of Ewa. Born in Kraków, she moved a year ago to Warsaw to live with her father and his new family, while her mother went away to London in search of work and better life. At the end of middle school she fell in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and after the disastrous repercussions, Ewa finally hopes her life will get easier and she and Jurek will live happily ever after. However, soon she finds out that Andżelika and her besties, Dżesika and Agnieszka, also signed up to the same high school as Ewa and what’s even worse – they’re all in the same class. From the very first day of school they talk about Ewa behind her back and try set all the girls from their class against her – fortunately they do not succeed as Róża stands up for her. Soon Zosia, Emilka and Misiek, also dislaked by others because of their unique nature, join the two girls. Together they try to implement Emilka’s plan to climb up the school’s social ladder and they often crash parties organized by third-graders – prticularly those hosted by chavs Julek, Penetrator Misiek and Karol, who repeats a year at school second time in a row. Season 1 is a universal story about friendship, trust and honesty, which precisely describes the situations which teenagers have to face these days.

The main protagonist of season 2 is Róża – abandoned by her biological parents at the age of 5, she was adopted by Mr and Mrs Szczebrzeszyńscy when she was 10 years old. When her foster parents died in a car accident, Róża was taken into custody of her older adoptive siblings – twins Janusz and Grażyna. Besides finding out dark secrets about Róża’s past, season 2 also focuses on her love life. Blackmailed by the chav Julian (whom Róża always calls Juliusz), eventually she agrees to be his prom date, under the condition that his friends will invite her friends as their dates – this way Emilka’s biggest dream is fulfilled as the girls from 1B become the most popular girls in their high school. In the second part of the season, Róża makes an online acquaintance and feels that she’s falling in love with that person – but will they meet in real life? While all of her friends try to persuade her to give it a go and meet with that person face to face, Emilka reminds her: “And what if it’s another case of ‘Hey Ania, I’m Wojtek and I’m also 12 years old?”*. Season 2 deals with topics of first love, difficult childhood in orphanage and the dangers of the online friendships.

In season 3, SKAZA makes a U-turn when Igor becomes the main protagonist. Convinced by Zosia to join the coffee shop organized by Emilka for school’s festival, he gets to know new student from his class – Erwin. Although Igor is initially suspicious about his new colleague who seems to be a little bit too straightforward, he is asked by class’ tutor, Mr Kisiel, to show him around the school and take him under his wing. Soon Emilka makes the boys take the shift at the coffee shop together and then, surrounded by apple pies and cookies, they find common ground. When Igor realizes that he is in love with Erwin and finds out that the feeling is mutual, he is seen with his new boyfriend by his conservative parents, who in a fit of rage kick him out of the house. Will they accept Igor as who he is? Will his relationship with Erwin survive? You will find answers to these questions in season 3.

Season 4 tells the story of Zosia. Born and raised in a pious family, she struggles everyday with being harassed by her peers who do not understand her relationship to her faith. The only person with whom she can really talk is the best friend of her brother, fourth-grader of electronic technical high school and altar boy, Józef. However, one Sunday, Józef doesn’t participate in the mass. When Zosia asks him about it, he tells her his doubts about his faith and to her surprise, he says that he wonders whether he should submit an act of apostasy and depart from the Christian faith. Only then Zosia realizes how much she loves Józef, but she knows he should do what he believes is best for him. Meanwhile she throws herself into work and studies 24/7. Avoiding him for a few weeks, she undergoes a complete makeover and changes her too large glasses for contact lenses and cuts her hair and she bumps into him on orlik field where they used to play football when they were kids. She finally finds strength to talk with him heart-to-heart and they confess their love to each other. However, they will not spend this summer together because Józef goes on a Caritas’ mission to Sudan to help those in need.

Season 5 focuses on Emilka and the preparations for the upcoming biggest social event of their lives – the prom. Viewers also find out about Emilka’s tough family situation and that she practically raises her younger brother on her own, while their mother spends all money earned by Emilka on buying tiny liquor bottles in the local store. Since the beginning of the show, Emilka came a long way to find out in season 5 that the most important thing in the world that no one will take away from her and which will give her strength to never give up is friendship. Eventually, she goes to prom alone and even though her artistic performance doesn’t win the main prize and she doesn’t dance polonaise, she has a time of her life dancing to hit songs by ABBA.

The protagonist of the 6th and final season is Misiek. Although she seems to be just a nice, modest, organized girl next door, she hides her insecurities and problems from everyone. After all those years of studying and being a top student, Misiek starts to feel burned out and tired of the constant rat race, she gets depressed. To meet the expectations of her parents and forget about everything that makes her unhappy even just for a minute, she begins to buy performance-enhancing drugs from Karol (who is still in high school). When the time of matura comes, Misiek disappears and doesn’t show up on the exams. Will her friends find her and help her before it’s too late? What will happen to the heroes of the series? You will find out everything in season 6 of SKAZA.

LIST OF CHARACTERS: Ewa Gotuje = Eva Róża Brzęczyszczykiewicz = Noora Zosia Mostowiak = Sana Emilka Nowak = Vilde Michalina “Misiek” Krawczyk = Chris Andżelika Kowalewska = Ingrid Dżesika Kossakowska = Sara Agnieszka Zduńska = Emma Jurek Lubicz = Jonas Igor Bielik = Isak Mariusz Lewandowski = Magnus Czesław “Miłosz” Miłoszewski = Mahdi Erwin Tomaszewski = Even Penetrator Misiek Wiśniewski = P-Chris Julian “Julek” Dahl = Willhell Karol = K*rl Emil Mostowiak = Elias Józef Cieplak = Yousef Adam Turek = Adam Maciej Kowalewski = Mutta Marcel Latawiec = Mikael Grażyna Szczebrzeszyńska = Linn Janusz Szczebrzeszyński = Eskild Mr Jacek Kisiel = Dr Skrulle

*terrifying Polish campaign that tried to scare the shit out of warn kids that 99,9% of people chatting with them online are actually grown ass pedophiles and they shouldn’t talk with strangers on the internet. As you can see, we are the perfect example that this campaign did not work.

#skaza #skam #i'm sorry but i had to

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orbemnews · 3 years

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Why thousands of Brazilian politicians changed their race last year Interviews with several Brazilian candidates revealed a range of reasons for race changes — some said they or campaign officials had simply made a mistake while filling their candidacy form, some said their family background gave them a claim to multiple racial groups, and some said they had recently started to feel a sense of belonging in a new racial category. Brazilian politicians do “have some latitude to fluctuate on how they present themselves” in order to connect with supporters, Andrew Janusz, a political scientist at the University of Florida who has studied the race changes of candidates extensively, told CNN. Nevertheless, “individuals don’t have total freedom of choice, so if someone is really fair-skinned, they might not be able to say that they are Black, for example,” he said. Official demographic categories in Brazil have traditionally focused on what demographers call marca — each individual’s external appearance — rather than family origins, unlike the US. The most common racial change for politicians last year was from White to Black or Brown, a shift made by more than 17,300 candidates. But vast numbers of candidates also moved in the opposite direction: About 14,500 switched from Black or Brown to White — the second-most common change. Adriana Collares, who ran for city council in Porto Alegre, told CNN that her racial declaration changed only because her previous party had mistakenly described her as White in 2016, against her wishes. “I never considered myself White, but there was no name for what I was,” she says. “I never felt like I had the right to call myself Black. I was always recognized as ‘tanned,’ as ‘mulatta,’ as anything but Black. Then came this term, ‘Pardo,’ and I found my place in the world.” “Pardo” translates literally to “Brown,” but can also mean mixed-race. Though not commonly used colloquially among Brazilians, it has been used by national statistics agency IBGE, including in the census, as an official category since the 1950s, and is currently the largest group in Brazil. Since the 2016 election, Collares left her old party and moved to a new one. In the 2020 election, she again requested to be described as Brown. This time, the party respected her choice. In contrast, Adriana Guimarães, who ran for city council in Manaus, switched her racial declaration in the opposite direction. She told CNN that she selected Brown in 2016 after being ideologically conditioned by the left. “In Brazil, we have a mixture of races. In my case, I also have that mixture, of Black, White, and Indigenous. But under Lula and Dilma, there was a push for Brazilians to identify as Brown,” she said, referring to campaigns sponsored by the administrations of former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff that described Brazil as a mixed-race nation. After an economic crisis and a corruption scandal hit the country in the early 2010s, Guimarães, like many other Brazilians, began to embrace a more conservative view of the world. She was also reacting to what she perceived as government overreach in the private sphere. “I started participating in conservative movements,” she says. “I started researching conservatism, reading about Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, and I ended up noticing that I’m conservative.” She also noticed her racial identity in a new way. “My race change happened due to my new political ideology,” says Guimarães, now a supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro. In 2020, she declared herself White. “I could say that I’m Parda because my grandmother was Black. But my color is White. My color is not Parda. I’m not a ‘neutral burned Yellow.’ I believe that saying that I’m Parda is like saying that I’m neutral. But I have my position, I have my strength, I’m not neutral. It’s the same thing with that neutral gender. It’s like being undecided,” she said. Picking an identity Brazil’s official racial categories have evolved over time, and some contemporary efforts to change them are part of a broader push to rectify inequalities rooted in the country’s history. Slavery lasted longer in Brazil than in other places in the West, and involved more people than in other countries in the Americas — of the 10.7 million slaves who arrived alive on the continent, about 5.8 million were brought to Brazil, compared to about 305,000 taken to the United States, according to the Slave Voyages database. “Violence has characterized Brazilian history since the earliest days of colonization, marked as they were by the institution of slavery,” write Heloisa Starling and Lilia Schwarcz in their history “Brazil: A Biography” Even after slavery ended, “its legacy casts a long shadow.” To this day, the country continues to suffer from steep social and racial inequality. While the nation shows “cultural inclusion” — exemplified in diverse participation in popular traditions like samba, football, and capoeira — they warn that “social exclusion” still means that “the poor, and above all Black people, are the most harshly treated by the justice system, have the shortest life span, the least access to higher education, and to highly qualified jobs.” That exclusion can be seen in politics too. According to the national statistics agency, Black and Brown people are the majority in Brazil, but in 2018 made up only about 40% of candidates for Congress. The disparity increased even more after the election — only about 25% of successful candidates were Black or Brown, according to the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies, an independent research institute. Brazilian legislators elected in 2018 were overwhelmingly White. In the early 2000s, then-president da Silva created a government agency to promote racial equality, and in the early 2010s, his successor Rousseff approved ambitious affirmative action programs to address lingering racial inequality, including the 2012 law that reserves spots for poor, Black and Brown, and Indigenous students in federal universities and federal technical high schools, and the 2014 law that reserves 20% of public service jobs for Black and Brown applicants. These initiatives became rarer under the right-wing administration of later president Michel Temer and the current far-right administration of Bolsonaro. So progressive politicians have sought to advance social equality by pushing judges to interpret existing legislation, including the constitution, which repudiates racism. Putting money behind representation in politics In 2018, a group of female senators and deputies asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to rule on whether male and female candidates should receive funding and advertising proportionally. Judge Rosa Weber, who ruled in their favor, wrote in her decision that the Superior Electoral Court “had been trying to encourage female participation in politics,” but existing measures had not done enough. When it comes to funding and advertising, she wrote, proportionality mattered — meaning that if a party has 30% of female candidates, those women should get 30% of the party’s total allocated funds and 30% of its airtime. The new rule was approved in time for the 2018 federal election. Two years later, the same court received a similar inquiry from Benedita da Silva, a deputy in Congress and an iconic Black politician in Brazil, who asked the court if there should be a minimum quota for Black and Brown candidates within parties, and the same proportional mechanism for their funding and airtime. The court denied the quota, but approved the proportionality. These rules could make a significant difference in driving funds to some candidates from underrepresented groups and even increase their chances of being elected, says Luciana Ramos, a professor of law at Fundação Getúlio Vargas who has tracked the application and impact of the two new parity rules. Tracking how political parties manage their electoral decisions is relevant in Brazil because most party activities and electoral campaigns are publicly funded. In 2020, Brazilian political parties received a total of R$3 billion ($540 million) from national coffers. Politicians also get free airtime on television and radio. Last year, that was at least 1h30 per day distributed among parties for about 30 days before the election, according to figures published by the Electoral Justice. In part because of the new racial equality rule, in part because of Black Lives Matter protests in Brazil and around the world, and in part because of growing awareness of racial inequality issues, more attention has been paid to the declarations of candidates in 2020 than in previous cycles. Some politicians are clearly sensitive to the scrutiny. Kelps Lima, who ran for mayor of Natal and declared himself as White in 2016 and Black in 2020, answered a broad question about his race change with a vigorous denial that it had anything to do with funding. “I declare to be Black since always and I NEVER USED QUOTAS in any moment of my life,” he wrote to CNN. “In 2016, the party made a MISTAKE and declared me as WHITE.” Lima added that he didn’t use campaign funds reserved for Black and Brown candidates and said that he had declared to be Black in two previous elections. A small portion of politicians who changed race in 2020 had made consistent declarations until that year: CNN’s analysis identified about 360 candidates who declared themselves White for two or three elections, between 2014 and 2018, then changed their race to Black or Brown as the new racial equality rule came into force in 2020. “I owed this to my origins,” said Marcio Souza, a candidate for city council in Porto Alegre who identified as White in two previous elections before changing to Black. “I’m absolutely a result of miscegenation,” he wrote in an email to CNN. “My mother was White, green eyes, Portuguese and Spanish, and my father was dark brown, dark brown eyes, Portuguese and Black.” He says he made the change as a conscious statement of solidarity. “For a long time, I have been thinking about this subject,” he wrote. “Due to the occurrences of racial crimes, I decided to adopt, in a positive manner, one of the elements of my racial composition, following my consciousness.” “From that decision, I didn’t receive financial benefits,” he added. “I’m at peace and I believe to be contributing to the fight against racism.” Another candidate, Vanderlan Cardoso, who ran for mayor of Goiânia, declared himself White for three consecutive elections, before selecting Brown in 2020. He gave a partial explanation for the race change during his electoral campaign last year, telling Goiás newspaper Popular that different people filled his candidacy forms. “In 2018, whoever filled it considered that I’m White,” he said. “Whoever did it now, instead, thinks that I’m Brown.” He also said during the campaign that he didn’t plan to use funds reserved for Black and Brown candidates. Cardoso did not answer requests for comment from CNN that mentioned his 2014 and 2016 racial declarations. He lost the election and returned to his job in Brasília as a senator representing the state of Goiás. But the electoral data shows that tens of other candidates who made the same move from White to Black or Brown ended up winning their races, including mayors of state capitals. Verifying racial claims Could Brazil’s racial fluidity end up weakening affirmative action rules designed to bolster under-represented groups, when those rules depend on stable racial categories to work? “Most everyone will say that racial inequality is a major issue in Brazil, and that things need to be done to ameliorate equality,” says Janusz, the political scientist who studies the race changes. “But to do that, you have to identify some boundaries, some procedures to identify beneficiaries.” In other affirmative action systems in Brazil, commissions exist to check if people are telling the truth. When Collares, the city council candidate from Porto Alegre, made use of the affirmative action programs approved under Lula and Dilma and took advantage of a racial quota to get her current job as a civil servant, she had to go through an interview with a commission that checked if she was really Brown. “I believe they wanted to know if I had experienced life as a non-White person,” she says. “I had to do an interview. I had to bring family photographs, childhood photographs. They asked about my family life, the culture inside our house, family habits. I spoke a bit about my life. I thought it was kind of surreal, but fine.” But political parties are not required to verify candidates’ racial declarations, and multiple parties that spoke to CNN said they were unaware that their politicians had changed race. Both PT, the left-wing party of former presidents Lula and Dilma, and PSDB, the right-wing party of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said that they had not recorded race changes among their candidates, even though the electoral data reveals thousands of changes in each party. Some parties benefitted candidates who had recently switched races. A list of Black and Brown candidates who received more funds due to the new rule sent to CNN by PSDB included one politician who had run for office as White in 2018 and as Brown in 2020. The party did not answer a question about that specific candidate. Gabriela Cruz, the leader of the Black wing of the PSDB party, told CNN she believed there might have been fraud in the 2020 election. “I observed cases in which the self-declared person was White,” she said, but added that making any further claims was complicated. “I don’t have enough evidence to say if it was only to access funds or if it was a question of racial awareness.” Cruz thinks parties should be required to check candidates’ physical traits against their racial declarations, “with the support of the Black wing of the party.” Though she respects people’s self-identification, she argues that physical traits matter. “Racism in Brazil is practiced through social constructions that exclude people by function of their physical characteristics, like skin color, facial features, and hair texture,” she says. “That is what places people in their racial group, and not their genetic composition.” Ramos, the law professor studying the funding rules, says that there could have been instances of deceit in 2020, but noted that fraud could also take other forms. “A party leader could direct campaign resources to a Black candidate and order her to transfer those resources to a White candidate, for instance,” she said. The Superior Electoral Court told CNN that it has not received any reports of fraud from the 2020 vote so far, in part because parties are still making their campaign budgets public. It said that potential punishments would include forcing a candidate to return the funds used in the campaign and, in more serious cases, removing them from office. Brazil is changing Representation matters more and more as Brazil itself changes. Population data from the national statistics agency shows that the share of Brazilians declaring to be Black and Brown increased during the 2010s, and that now represent about 56% of the entire population. Meanwhile, the share of Brazilians declaring to be White fell — they now make up 43%. Only recently have Brazilians had the option to declare their own racial identity — historically, census interviewers assigned their subjects a racial category. But Brazil’s political arena is failing to reflect the country’s diversity, despite the new equality rules approved in 2018 and 2020. Ramos, the law professor, points to a preliminary tally by 72 Horas, a watchdog group, that shows that, based on the budgets that have been made public so far, parties failed to distribute support proportionally, either by race or gender. Parties gave only 42% of their available campaign funds to Black and Brown candidates in 2020, according to 72 Horas, even though they were 50% of all candidates, according to the statistics released by the Electoral Justice. And parties gave only 30% of their funds to female candidates, even though they were 33% of all candidates. Since both women and Black and Brown people are the majority in Brazil, the figures above suggest that they were underrepresented within parties in relation to their true size in the population, and that their campaigns were underfunded in relation to their size within parties. Closing the gap between genders and races is important if Brazil wants to create better policies for specific groups, says Collares, the city council candidate from Porto Alegre. She believes that when a politician belongs to a certain group, their work is informed by the life experience of being a member of that group. “If you don’t experience it in your life, if you don’t feel it on your skin, it’s difficult to understand, it’s difficult to prioritize,” she says. “A man thinking policies for women is different from a woman thinking policies for women.” “We need to try to reach this parity, this representation,” she adds. “The majority of our people are Black and Brown, and we don’t see that.” Source link Orbem News #Brazilian #changed #Politicians #Race #thousands #Year

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mrmichaelchadler · 5 years

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Who Will Write Our History

The best historical films, nonfiction or otherwise, are the ones that immerse us so completely in their time period that we become lost in them. Many directors I admire—such as Michael Haneke, Terry Gilliam and László Nemes—have criticized Steven Spielberg’s 1993 landmark, “Schindler’s List,” for focusing on survivors of the Holocaust rather than the six million who perished. Yet every time I watch the film, I am profoundly shaken by its portrayal of self-righteous evil. The sense of loss is palpable because we are made to share in each victim’s bewilderment as their life reaches a sudden and deplorable end. Janusz Kaminski’s visceral cinematography and John Williams’ restrained score place us directly inside the horror. There are hundreds of wrenching human vignettes weaved within the central narrative, and as in many of the great film epics, they resonate far more than any sequence involving the lead character himself. When I first saw the picture in junior high, I had to walk around in the sunlight for hours afterward, as if to affirm for myself that I was no longer in Auschwitz.

Roberta Grossman’s latest documentary, “Who Will Write Our History,” has an equally shattering and inspiring story to tell, yet its style continuously holds us at arm’s length. Produced by Nancy Spielberg (sister of Steven), the picture unearths an archive of Jewish experiences under Nazi occupation that serve as perhaps the first precursor to her brother’s own Shoah Foundation. Named “Oyneg Shabes,” translating as “Joy of the Sabbath” to evade suspicion, this secret collection of documents compiles the testimonials of various Jewish citizens forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The archive was spearheaded by Emanuel Ringelblum, a historian determined to preserve the truth of Jewish identity, thereby combating the hateful misinformation spread by Germans.

In one jaw-dropping clip of a Nazi-approved propaganda film, a schoolgirl laughs at the lice in her fellow peer’s hair, only to be corrected by her teacher, who insists that the poor student can’t help herself, considering her neighbors are Jewish. The footage then cuts to a shower room, where we see close-ups of Jewish men, who are portrayed as grotesque, disease-carrying beings. Hysteria generated by these sorts of flagrant lies fueled the division of Poland’s capital into three quadrants, separating Germans and Poles from anyone branded with a Star of David. Around 400,000 inhabitants of the ghetto were estimated to have perished prior to its demolition following a heroic uprising in 1943, and only two contributors to the archive survived to see the end of the war.

One of them was Rachela Auerbach, a veteran journalist and critic who wrote extensively on the position of women in society and the double exclusion she experienced as a result of her gender and ethnicity. She’s an enormously fascinating figure worthy of her own film, and there are times when Grossman’s picture threatens to become just that, casting Jowita Budnik as Auerbach opposite Piotr Glowacki as Ringelblum. Yet not only are these reenactments fleeting, they also fall short of portraying their subjects in three dimensions. Just as 2014’s Grossman/Spielberg collaboration, “Above and Beyond,” failed to detail the plight of Palestinian refugees amidst its fist-pumping profile of Israeli pilots, “Who Will Write Our History” never gets under the surface of what makes its courageous archivists tick.

When Ringelblum asks Auerbach to remain in the ghetto and help in the soup kitchen rather than leave her hellish surroundings to join her family abroad, she agrees and the film moves on. What was it within the woman’s mind and heart that led her to make such a profound sacrifice? Running at an all-too-crisp 90 minutes, the film doesn’t explore its material thoroughly enough to be more than merely illustrative. Just when we’ve adjusted our eyes and ears to the reenactments, Grossman and her editors will jump to infinitely more compelling archival footage that doesn’t come close to gelling with the actors. Top-drawer talent on the order of Joan Allen and Adrien Brody are brought on to read excerpts of Auerbach and Ringelblum’s diaries, respectfully, but the solemnity of their voices clashes conspicuously with the urgency of the visuals. Even more intrusive are the historians—including Samuel Kassow, upon whose book the film is based—tasked with providing annotated context that reassuringly removes us from the immediacy of the atrocities.

At a time when Nazis, white nationalists and the KKK have been empowered by our own government, the mechanical structure of “Who Will Write Our History” is not only dated, it occasionally exudes the sterility of a museum installation. Not every film can be as extraordinary a feat as Peter Jackson’s WWI doc, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” yet aside from its innovative use of 3D and color to breathe new life into century-old footage, it demonstrated the power in allowing events and those who endured them to speak for themselves, rather than continuously be interrupted by talking heads. So closely did the film acquaint us with its subjects that we felt as if we were interacting with them, laughing at their jokes and wincing at their pain. Grossman’s film will undoubtedly serve as an invaluable teaching tool, but as a work of cinema, it would’ve been much more powerful had it chosen to be either a narrative adaptation or a full-on documentary.

Among the faces framed in the reenactments, the only one that haunted me was that of Karolina Gruszka, so memorable as the “Lost Girl” in David Lynch’s “Inland Empire,” who has a similarly heartrending reunion in this film. The voice-overs are most effective at conveying the weariness of living under such unthinkable conditions, and Grossman deftly shows at the end how emotions tend to hit us once we’ve reached enough distance from our living nightmares. Allen also channels the frustration that Auerbach voices in her journals, as she finds her exhaustive efforts in the kitchen rendered futile by the overwhelming need. Most potent of all are the testimonials penned by Lejb Goldin (voiced by Jess Kellner), who converses with his empty stomach while observing how the bodies of children in the ghetto have deteriorated to the point where they resemble foxes, dingos and kangaroos. “Our howls are those of jackals,” he writes, “but we are not animals.”

Regardless of its missteps, Grossman’s film should be seen as a necessary introduction to a multitude of stories warranting greater analysis. As Ringelblum himself notes, “the life of every Jew during the war is a world unto itself,” and how eternally blessed we are that the Oyneg Shabes archive prevented the hell of the Holocaust from silencing their voices. There’s a distinct through line that can be drawn between this film and Grossman’s previous (and superior) feature co-directed by Sophia Sartain, “Seeing Allred,” another story of Jewish heroism currently streamable on Netflix. Yes, the picture occasionally verges into hagiography, yet it’s still a riveting look at the woman—attorney Gloria Allred—who embodied the force of #MeToo decades before the hashtag went viral. Her legacy exemplifies how sharing one’s story can begin to heal the ills of a corrupted society. Taking ahold of one’s narrative is all the more crucial in our current cultural moment, when xenophobia is being upheld by those occupying the White House. Just imagine the archive currently being compiled by those incarcerated along the U.S.-Mexico border.

from All Content http://bit.ly/2W3BlN6

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thessauruss-blog · 4 years

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A sign that aliens could stink

Phosphine is among the stinkiest, most toxic gases on Earth, found in some of the foulest of places, including penguin dung heaps, the depths of swamps and bogs, and even in the bowels of some badgers and fish. This putrid “swamp gas” is also highly flammable and reactive with particles in our atmosphere. Most life on Earth, specifically all aerobic, oxygen-breathing life, wants nothing to do with phosphine, neither producing it nor relying on it for survival. Now MIT researchers have found that phosphine is produced by another, less abundant life form: anaerobic organisms, such as bacteria and microbes, that don’t require oxygen to thrive. The team found that phosphine cannot be produced in any other way except by these extreme, oxygen-averse organisms, making phosphine a pure biosignature — a sign of life (at least of a certain kind). In a paper recently published in the journal Astrobiology, the researchers report that if phosphine were produced in quantities similar to methane on Earth, the gas would generate a signature pattern of light in a planet’s atmosphere. This pattern would be clear enough to detect from as far as 16 light years away by a telescope such as the planned James Webb Space Telescope. If phosphine is detected from a rocky planet, it would be an unmistakable sign of extraterrestrial life. “Here on Earth, oxygen is a really impressive sign of life,” says lead author Clara Sousa-Silva, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. “But other things besides life make oxygen too. It’s important to consider stranger molecules that might not be made as often, but if you do find them on another planet, there’s only one explanation.” The paper’s co-authors include Sukrit Ranjan, Janusz Petkowski, Zhuchang Zhan, William Bains, and Sara Seager, the Class of 1941 Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT, as well as Renyu Hu at Caltech. Giant bellies Sousa-Silva and her colleagues are assembling a database of fingerprints for molecules that could be potential biosignatures. The team has amassed more than 16,000 candidates, including phosphine. The vast majority of these molecules have yet to be fully characterized, and if scientists were to spot any of them in an exoplanet’s atmosphere, they still wouldn’t know whether the molecules were a sign of life or something else. But with Sousa-Silva’s new paper, scientists can be confident in the interpretation of at least one molecule: phosphine. The paper’s main conclusion is that, if phosphine is detected in a nearby, rocky planet, that planet must be harboring life of some kind. The researchers did not come to this conclusion lightly. For the last 10 years, Sousa-Silva has devoted her work to fully characterizing the foul, poisonous gas, first by methodically deciphering phosphine’s properties and how it is chemically distinct from other molecules. In the 1970s, phosphine was discovered in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn — immensely hot gas giants. Scientists surmised that the molecule was spontaneously thrown together within the bellies of these gas giants and, as Sousa-Silva describes, “violently dredged up by huge, planet-sized convective storms.” Still, not much was known about phosphine, and Sousa-Silva devoted her graduate work at University College of London to pinning down phosphine’s spectral fingerprint. From her thesis work, she nailed down the exact wavelengths of light that phosphine should absorb, and that would be missing from any atmospheric data if the gas were present. During her PhD, she began to wonder: Could phosphine be produced not just in the extreme environments of gas giants, but also by life on Earth? At MIT, Sousa-Silva and her colleagues began answering this question. “So we started collecting every single mention of phosphine being detected anywhere on Earth, and it turns out that anywhere where there’s no oxygen has phosphine, like swamps and marshlands and lake sediments and the farts and intestines of everything,” Sousa-Silva says. “Suddenly this all made sense: It’s a really toxic molecule for anything that likes oxygen. But for life that doesn’t like oxygen, it seems to be a very useful molecule.” “Nothing else but life” The realization that phosphine is associated with anaerobic life was a clue that the molecule could be a viable biosignature. But to be sure, the group had to rule out any possibility that phosphine could be produced by anything other than life. To do this, they spent the last several years running many species of phosphorous, phosphine’s essential building block, through an exhaustive, theoretical analysis of chemical pathways, under increasingly extreme scenarios, to see whether phosphorous could turn into phosphine in any abiotic (meaning non-life-generating) way. Phosphine is a molecule made from one phosphorous and three hydrogen atoms, which normally do not prefer to come together. It takes enormous amounts of energy, such as in the extreme environments within Jupiter and Saturn, to smash the atoms with enough force to overcome their natural aversion. The researchers worked out the chemical pathways and thermodynamics involved in multiple scenarios on Earth to see if they could produce enough energy to turn phosphorous into phosphine. “At some point we were looking at increasingly less-plausible mechanisms, like if tectonic plates were rubbing against each other, could you get a plasma spark that generated phosphine? Or if lightning hit somewhere that had phosphorous, or a meteor had a phosphorous content, could it generate an impact to make phosphine? And we went through several years of this process to figure out that nothing else but life makes detectable amounts of phosphine.” Phosphine, they found, has no significant false positives, meaning any detection of phosphine is a sure sign of life. The researchers then explored whether the molecule could be detectable in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. They simulated the atmospheres of idealized, oxygen-poor, terrestrial exoplanets of two types: hydrogen-rich and carbon dioxide-rich atmospheres. They fed into the simulation different rates of phosphine production and extrapolated what a given atmosphere’s spectrum of light would look like given a certain rate of phosphine production. They found that if phosphine were produced at relatively small amounts equivalent to the amount of methane produced on Earth today, it would produce a signal in the atmosphere that would be clear enough to be detected by an advanced observatory such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, if that planet were within 5 parsecs, or about 16 light years from Earth — a sphere of space that covers a multitude of stars, likely hosting rocky planets. Sousa-Silva says that, aside from establishing phosphine as a viable biosignature in the search for extraterrestrial life, the group’s results provide a pipeline, or process for researchers to follow in characterizing any other of the other 16,000 biosignature candidates. “I think the community needs to invest in filtering these candidates down into some kind of priority,” she says. “Even if some of these molecules are really dim beacons, if we can determine that only life can send out that signal, then I feel like that is a goldmine.” Read the full article

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dorcasrempel · 4 years

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A sign that aliens could stink

Most life on Earth, specifically all aerobic, oxygen-breathing life, wants nothing to do with phosphine, neither producing it nor relying on it for survival.

Now MIT researchers have found that phosphine is produced by another, less abundant life form: anaerobic organisms, such as bacteria and microbes, that don’t require oxygen to thrive. The team found that phosphine cannot be produced in any other way except by these extreme, oxygen-averse organisms, making phosphine a pure biosignature — a sign of life (at least of a certain kind).

In a paper recently published in the journal Astrobiology, the researchers report that if phosphine were produced in quantities similar to methane on Earth, the gas would generate a signature pattern of light in a planet’s atmosphere. This pattern would be clear enough to detect from as far as 16 light years away by a telescope such as the planned James Webb Space Telescope. If phosphine is detected from a rocky planet, it would be an unmistakable sign of extraterrestrial life.

“Here on Earth, oxygen is a really impressive sign of life,” says lead author Clara Sousa-Silva, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. “But other things besides life make oxygen too. It’s important to consider stranger molecules that might not be made as often, but if you do find them on another planet, there’s only one explanation.”

The paper’s co-authors include Sukrit Ranjan, Janusz Petkowski, Zhuchang Zhan, William Bains, and Sara Seager, the Class of 1941 Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT, as well as Renyu Hu at Caltech.

Giant bellies

Sousa-Silva and her colleagues are assembling a database of fingerprints for molecules that could be potential biosignatures. The team has amassed more than 16,000 candidates, including phosphine. The vast majority of these molecules have yet to be fully characterized, and if scientists were to spot any of them in an exoplanet’s atmosphere, they still wouldn’t know whether the molecules were a sign of life or something else.

But with Sousa-Silva’s new paper, scientists can be confident in the interpretation of at least one molecule: phosphine. The paper’s main conclusion is that, if phosphine is detected in a nearby, rocky planet, that planet must be harboring life of some kind.

The researchers did not come to this conclusion lightly. For the last 10 years, Sousa-Silva has devoted her work to fully characterizing the foul, poisonous gas, first by methodically deciphering phosphine’s properties and how it is chemically distinct from other molecules.

In the 1970s, phosphine was discovered in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn — immensely hot gas giants. Scientists surmised that the molecule was spontaneously thrown together within the bellies of these gas giants and, as Sousa-Silva describes, “violently dredged up by huge, planet-sized convective storms.”

Still, not much was known about phosphine, and Sousa-Silva devoted her graduate work at University College of London to pinning down phosphine’s spectral fingerprint. From her thesis work, she nailed down the exact wavelengths of light that phosphine should absorb, and that would be missing from any atmospheric data if the gas were present.

During her PhD, she began to wonder: Could phosphine be produced not just in the extreme environments of gas giants, but also by life on Earth? At MIT, Sousa-Silva and her colleagues began answering this question.

“So we started collecting every single mention of phosphine being detected anywhere on Earth, and it turns out that anywhere where there’s no oxygen has phosphine, like swamps and marshlands and lake sediments and the farts and intestines of everything,” Sousa-Silva says. “Suddenly this all made sense: It’s a really toxic molecule for anything that likes oxygen. But for life that doesn’t like oxygen, it seems to be a very useful molecule.”

“Nothing else but life”

The realization that phosphine is associated with anaerobic life was a clue that the molecule could be a viable biosignature. But to be sure, the group had to rule out any possibility that phosphine could be produced by anything other than life. To do this, they spent the last several years running many species of phosphorous, phosphine’s essential building block, through an exhaustive, theoretical analysis of chemical pathways, under increasingly extreme scenarios, to see whether phosphorous could turn into phosphine in any abiotic (meaning non-life-generating) way.

Phosphine is a molecule made from one phosphorous and three hydrogen atoms, which normally do not prefer to come together. It takes enormous amounts of energy, such as in the extreme environments within Jupiter and Saturn, to smash the atoms with enough force to overcome their natural aversion. The researchers worked out the chemical pathways and thermodynamics involved in multiple scenarios on Earth to see if they could produce enough energy to turn phosphorous into phosphine.

“At some point we were looking at increasingly less-plausible mechanisms, like if tectonic plates were rubbing against each other, could you get a plasma spark that generated phosphine? Or if lightning hit somewhere that had phosphorous, or a meteor had a phosphorous content, could it generate an impact to make phosphine? And we went through several years of this process to figure out that nothing else but life makes detectable amounts of phosphine.”

Phosphine, they found, has no significant false positives, meaning any detection of phosphine is a sure sign of life. The researchers then explored whether the molecule could be detectable in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. They simulated the atmospheres of idealized, oxygen-poor, terrestrial exoplanets of two types: hydrogen-rich and carbon dioxide-rich atmospheres. They fed into the simulation different rates of phosphine production and extrapolated what a given atmosphere’s spectrum of light would look like given a certain rate of phosphine production.

They found that if phosphine were produced at relatively small amounts equivalent to the amount of methane produced on Earth today, it would produce a signal in the atmosphere that would be clear enough to be detected by an advanced observatory such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, if that planet were within 5 parsecs, or about 16 light years from Earth — a sphere of space that covers a multitude of stars, likely hosting rocky planets.

Sousa-Silva says that, aside from establishing phosphine as a viable biosignature in the search for extraterrestrial life, the group’s results provide a pipeline, or process for researchers to follow in characterizing any other of the other 16,000 biosignature candidates.

“I think the community needs to invest in filtering these candidates down into some kind of priority,” she says. “Even if some of these molecules are really dim beacons, if we can determine that only life can send out that signal, then I feel like that is a goldmine.”

A sign that aliens could stink syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

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othersportsnews-blog · 7 years

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US and Mexico Gold Cup examination soon after sluggish starts

New Post has been published on https://othersportsnews.com/us-and-mexico-gold-cup-examination-soon-after-sluggish-starts/

US and Mexico Gold Cup examination soon after sluggish starts

Alejandro Moreno feels the allowance of roster variations shifts the narrative of the U.S.’s talent evaluation in the Gold Cup.

Janusz Michallik critiques the United States’ group phase overall performance in the Gold Cup and notes the vital performers.

So significantly, the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup hasn’t been type to the U.S. or Mexico, as each groups have struggled to strike top form. What is going on, and is it that poor? ESPN FC’s Jeff Carlisle and Tom Marshall weigh in on the tournament’s massive two.

Are their respective rough starts actually that rough?

Jeff Carlisle: The U.S. has undoubtedly had even worse. You really don’t have to go again extremely significantly to uncover the just one time the U.S. failed to complete to start with for the duration of the group phase. That was 2011 when it was beaten out by Panama, although it’s well worth nothing that the Americans nevertheless produced the ultimate that 12 months. Seeking again two yrs ago, according to ESPN Stats and Data, the U.S. had an envisioned aim differential (envisioned aims – envisioned aims towards) of minus-1.69 in contrast to this year’s additionally-three.09, so an argument can be produced that 2017 hasn’t been that poor for the U.S.

Even now, significantly was envisioned of this crew — probably far too significantly — and with manager Bruce Arena seeking to uncover some rough diamonds to assist him in Planet Cup qualifying, the over-all overall performance has veered more in direction of disappointing.

Tom Marshall: Inquire supporters or study the Mexican push and the remedy you will get is that it has undoubtedly been rough. Aesthetically, it hasn’t been very but mentor Juan Carlos Osorio is actively playing a longer activity with this group of gamers, only a handful of whom can realistically hope to be at up coming year’s Planet Cup.

Osorio has utilized 21 of the 23-person squad for the duration of the group phase and El Tri nevertheless completed top of the group, conceding only just one aim above the a few matches. If you rewind to the 2015 Gold Cup, Mexico unsuccessful to progress in to start with put, drawing towards each Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago at the group phase. The crucial distinction is that previous time out Mexico fielded more or significantly less its greatest squad while in the present version, it is plainly experimental.

Items could have been significantly even worse this time…

What is resulting in this sluggish start out?

Carlisle: Arena undoubtedly took a risk by attempting to blood so a lot of gamers missing in worldwide knowledge at the exact same time. He also pushed gamers, like Kellyn Acosta, who have gathered a whole lot of minutes not long ago in get to get on more substantial roles. That has pushed many gamers (dare I say) out of the comfort and ease zone. The consequence has been some wild fluctuations in perform, even inside of the exact same activity.

An argument can be produced that there weren’t plenty of veterans close to to information some of the more recent elements by way of some rough patches but eventually, I think Arena did the suitable thing in leaning greatly on some of the fringe elements. Whether or not a information issue is detrimental or positive, it nevertheless has value — Arena gathered a lot of each in for the duration of the group phase.

The U.S. looked sluggish in the group stages but have since introduced in the quality to go on and acquire it all.

Marshall: There is a absence of chemistry in the crew, which isn’t really helped by Osorio’s rotations, and the squad is a extended way from Mexico’s greatest. This is the to start with time the Colombian has worked with this group of gamers and his avant garde methodology normally takes time to bed in, like it has in his club vocation.

And probably it actually isn’t really as effortless to get outcomes in these game titles as is the normal perception. Supervisors and gamers anxiety above and above that other nations are establishing and the globalization of soccer knowledge is closing the hole between the “minnows” and the “giants” but supporters nevertheless appear to be to assume thrashings.

Time to worry still? Of course/no and why?

Carlisle: Not at all for the U.S., primarily now that Arena has identified as in the proverbial “professionals from Dover.” Many thanks to the rather forgiving Gold Cup roster principles, Arena was able to call in 6 gamers, four of whom — Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, and Tim Howard — have above one hundred caps apiece. Darlington Nagbe has been a regular presence for the U.S. this 12 months so he’ll convey some knowledge as effectively.

That infusion of know-how, positioned by way of the backbone of the crew, is big and ought to see the pressure and nervousness that has been present in the crew throughout the group phase mainly dissipate. Instead of worry, this will be a self-assured, seasoned U.S. crew that normally takes the field in the knockout stages.

Marshall: No. Mexico has to boost, operate on not becoming so open up defensively and uncover more chopping edge up entrance, but Osorio is not likely to experiment far too significantly now the knockout rounds are right here. And El Tri‘s route to the ultimate is reasonably straightforward, with a quarterfinal towards Honduras (who hasn’t scored a aim in the Gold Cup so significantly) and then a semi towards Jamaica or Canada to potentially comply with.

It’s also solely debatable regardless of whether the phrase “worry” ought to be utilized to choose this experimental group of Mexico gamers, whatever transpires from right here on in. Nonetheless, if El Tri will not acquire the competitors, Osorio will continue to truly feel the warmth.

What do you make to their respective insurance policies about call-ups?

Carlisle: As I wrote on Sunday, Arena was effectively inside of his legal rights to use the principles to the most. That explained, I would not have minded looking at how the original 23-person roster would have fared in the remainder of the event. El Salvador would have represented the up coming rational move in pinpointing just how significantly development this group has produced this thirty day period.

Now that the veterans have been introduced into the fold, the U.S. is improved positioned to acquire a trophy, but probably master significantly less than it might have about some gamers further down the depth chart.

Mexico failed to call in any gamers for the knockout rounds, something that ought to operate to their advantage.

Marshall: Osorio will not have significantly preference. Mexico’s greatest gamers went to the Russia for the Confederations Cup and golf equipment are less than no obligation to release them for still a further event. The Colombian really explained he had preferred 7 gamers from that squad but wasn’t able to get any of them.

In some means, it can make the knock-out stages more enjoyable for Mexico. This El Tri facet is fragile, youthful and desperate to impress. A ultimate towards the U.S. would transform the the latest tide, with the Stars and Stripes the real preferred towards Mexico (outside of Columbus) for the to start with time since right before the previous Planet Cup.

Which groups are greatest-positioned to get advantage?

Carlisle: The addition of 5 starters places the U.S. in key situation to acquire the event, but the U.S. will also have no excuses presented that Mexico has taken a diverse route and declined to call in reinforcements. Absolutely, the U.S. crash and burn that took put in 2015 reveals that the Americans can’t get something for granted. That will be primarily true no matter of which crew it faces in the semifinal, be it Panama or Costa Rica.

Los Canaleros have revealed it can perform the U.S. difficult whenever, wherever. The central midfield tandem of Gabriel Gomez and Anibal Godoy is as difficult as they occur, and will not be fazed by actively playing the U.S. Costa Rica has been a fashionable decide on to acquire the complete event and crack the hegemony of the U.S. and Mexico. In Bryan Ruiz, it has the type of playmaker who on his working day can transform any match.

Marshall: If Mexico performs like it did towards Curacao or Jamaica, any crew in the bottom 50 % of the attract — Honduras, Jamaica or Canada — could get advantage. El Tri hasn’t obtained the luxurious of slotting in seasoned to start with crew gamers halfway by way of the event and demands to uncover balance internally. Of the many others, Costa Rica or Panama beating the United States in a semifinal and then winning the event would not be a big shock presented what we have found so significantly.

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