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The Phenomenology of Envy

But it only lasts so long. Like a rollercoaster titled “Be her!” The safety bar lifts, you get out, and the contrast is dizzying. Standing on your own feet is disappointing.

New fiction by Andrew Gretes.

His Endless House was a shock proof shelter, like the rock-shaped formations of his Magic Architecture, rooted in primal regression but rather than being a hypersexualised elastic expression like Paris Endless the new version was rather ‘a palpable luxury of warm soft glowing atmospheres of multimedia affections.’ Kiesler exploded space creating endlessness through illusions that ‘sweep past the boundaries’ dwelling in a solid protective shell.

Richard Marshall reviews Stephen J Phillips on Frederick Kiesler.

Men and Women Who Will Not Grow Up

The novel’s topography is unmistakably London, though it’s difficult to pin down. The Bacchus Bar where the bohemian characters gather is reminiscent of Soho; the nearby school less so. There are echoes of Peter Ackroyd’s theory that holds the place itself, with its demands for sacrificial offerings, responsible for the crimes it attracts. Kersh, however, puts emphasis on ‘a certain midnight’ rather than the place, estimating the balance of probabilities thus: ‘God, as a gentleman, tries to think well of the watchful enemy, but Evil knows all the tricks.’

Anna Aslanyan reviews the reissue of Gerald Kersh‘s Prelude to a Certain Midnight.

Sun & other poems

pink-loved and blind sided with and &s
filmed viscuous cramps and glued with
skincontacted and gones of sulphated
minds and & tried a better number & and
momentary relapse on its arm looked

New poetry by Molly Bergin.

The Happiness Philosopher

Bentham was undeniably strange, one of the strangest human beings who ever lived. In my view, it was the acute kindness of his disposition that drove him to formulate proposals that his many critics have seized upon as revealing that “iron cage” of modernity that you mentioned earlier–the Panopticon prison system, control through architecture and surveillance, being one of the primary examples. But he spun off so many elaborate schemes that it is very difficult to see how they fit together, especially as part of a historical trajectory headed toward a better society.

Continuing the End Times series, Richard Marshall interviews Bart Schultz.

Male Violence, God and the G20: Abraumhalde by Elfriede Jelinek

What seasoned Swiss director Simone Blattner did with Abraumhalde in the Kammerspiele Bonn is particularly interesting. Blattner cut up the usual monologue into six voices: five men and one woman. With a remarkably clear eye, Blattner made explicit what is sometimes only implicit in Jelinek.

Marcel Inhoff reviews a performance of Abraumhalde by Elfriede Jelinek.

The Sunrise Murder

In certain respects the Sunrise murder was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary events in South African criminology. So much so that some of our senior detectives still refer to it as being — quite literally — the most accomplished of murders. The case is also of interest because it shows us how sheer luck and coincidence in similar cases are sometimes of greater value to the detective than all of his skill. However, these days it’s generally accepted that skill also played a substantial role in this particular case.

The small bushveld town of Sunrise lies so far from the main roads, is so removed from the hustle and bustle of the big wide world that most city-dwellers haven’t even heard of it. There is a small train station three miles from the town which is the village’s only connection with the outside world. Every so often a lost motor-car finds its way to Sunrise. And then the driver and passengers are usually surprised to come across a village in such a lonely spot.

By Eugène Marais. Translated from Afrikaans by Christo Snyman.

Wanting

detail from the painting Zeus Xenios by Takis Katsoulidis (1972)

‘Got any change?’ the beggar says.

I type in my pin number at the cash point and feel Damon’s lips on the back of my neck. The machine displays amounts I can withdraw and Damon slides his hand under my t-shirt. I push the button to request the maximum.

‘Couldn’t spare any change?’

The beggar sits on cardboard. Damon’s belly against my lower-back.

The machine gives me the money and Damon and I go inside the shop for supplies. I pay and step outside.

‘A bit of change?’

By Andy West.

The Wandering Path: a Review of Seed by Joanna Walsh

Engagement with the natural world is a key part of Seed, which is at once slightly odd and highly relevant. We engage with raw nature less than we used to, especially those of us who grew up before the internet. Also, this is a digital book, disembodied, not an object made of natural materials that can be touched, smelled, and experienced directly through the senses. So while there seems to be a certain nostalgia for the pre-digital world, it is paradoxically expressed in a shiny, postlapsarian, Google-labbed form.

Julian Hanna reviews Seed by Joanna Walsh.

Duos #2: Down the Porcupine Hole

Dance Poetry Artist Residency at Hurst Castle.

The Enemies Project: Duos is a new series of commissioned collaborative poems and texts in conjunction with 3:AM Magazine. The series will showcase brand new works of avant-garde and literary work between contemporary writers, paired and provoked especially for the enterprise, often across nations and languages.

New collaborative poetry by Jonas Gren / Harry Man.