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In Central Europe, and especially in Hungary, the political notions of “right” and “left” have lost their original meanings. Now, the right wing is made up of populists united only by their hatred of the left. The left has little more to offer.
To answer this lighter question for the spring holidays, I ought to have taken some holiday time to watch more Hungarian television. But I can state confidently that the winner here is Barátok közt (“Among Friends”), a sitcom created by an Australian company about a group of people who do not speak Hungarian and do not live here at all.
The question is truly interesting if we modify it a bit: Who could possibly abolish the monarchy in Britain (or anywhere else)? My first bet would be the Queen herself. But I do not see why she would take such a dramatic step. As far as I know, Englishmen are totally satisfied with their Queen and Kingdom as the traditional foundation of their state.
In my opinion and experience, the only people who talk about the backlash of a wave of immigrants are the politicians who like any issue that can be considered as dangerous. Where there is danger, a clever president or prime minister can pretend that he’ll defend the country and the people against it.
Star activists are doing what they do the best: selling themselves, together with the issue in question. Since they are famous, their limelight is shared with the issue they advocate. That’s a fair business.
The question sounds astonishing to me -- take into consideration the fact that I am a novelist. Why would anyone want to learn or escape when he or she decides to read? I am not talking about the books that promise to teach you HOW to lose weight, or HOW to travel cheap in Europe, or HOW to fix things in your house. When you say the word BOOK to me, I think of fiction. Especially when we are deliberating about what books we would enjoy reading during our vacation.
The Current Discussion: A London publishing house was firebombed for agreeing to publish 'The Jewel of Medina', a controversial novel about Muhammad's wife, which Random House dropped earlier this year because it feared terrorist threats. In hindsight, was Random House in the right? Does this justify censorship of this kind in the future?
Publishers all over the world are happy when they can foretell that a future publication might stir the waters and result in some scandal - maybe the author or the book will be mentioned in the tabloids. From that point of view, any controversial novel is a welcome blessing. But from the point of view of the safety of the publisher, his family, his employees and their families, the controversial novels that may lead to terrorist attacks are dangerous stuff, indeed.
The Current Discussion: The Academy Awards are coming, and an Indian movie, "Slumdog Millionaire," could win best picture. But what are we overlooking? What's the best non-Hollywood movie you saw this year?
Ladies and gentlemen. I am probably not the only East European intellectual who distrusts all Hollywood products, even those with (at least some) talent and ambition. Sorry -- Scorsese, Altman, Spielberg, Lucas, Mendes, Stone and others that fall into this category. I am all for the small budget Romanian-, Bulgarian- and Latvian-type films. Last but not least, I am especially all for the Hungarian movies. There was a time when Hollywood was over-flooded by Hungarian filmmakers, from Adolph Zukor to Béla Lugosi. You can thank us even for "Casablanca." But unfortunately, Americans haven't been spoiling the Hungarian film industry lately. The only Oscar for a real Hungarian film went to "Mephisto," directed by István Szabó -- and even back in 1982, Americans didn't care with the accents in his name and few ever learned its correct pronunciation (Saabow).
There is a new film by a young Hungarian director Áron Mátyássy (Maati-aash-y), entitled "Utolsó idők" (Last Times). It is absolutely smashing. It is too new to compete in this year's Oscars, and I bet it won't be nominated next year's either. Well, what can I say? When it is released on DVD, search the stores for it. The Academy's system is over-Americanized and overrated. This is simply the official opinion of the Un-Hollywood Activity House Committee. The house in question is mine, and the members of the committee so far are three friends of mine. Anyone who proves that he/she has seen five East European films lately can join us. Feel free to contact the committee through me.
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