October 29, 2013 | Standpoint Magazine

Whodunnit? Who Cares?

Perhaps the Booker judges awarded Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries the prize to ensure that their getting through all 836 exhausting pages of her frustrating novel wasn’t in vain

October 29, 2013

Books·Literature

Undaunted And Unsentimental

A distrust of politicians and a compassion for working people drove Honoré Daumier's work

October 29, 2013

Art

Twinkle Toes

Borislav Ivanov’s gadget-enhanced attempt to cheat his way to sporting success could have been lifted from a James Bond film

October 29, 2013

Chess

The Aesthetics of the Everyday

We shouldn’t be satisfied with solidly utilitarian coins, stamps and the dreaded “street furniture”. Good design can be incredibly heartening

October 29, 2013

Art·Culture & Anarchy

Lessons For Librarians Of London’s Folio Fiasco

A plan to sell four Shakespeare Folios revealed a widespread underappreciation of rare books

October 29, 2013

Critique·Literature

Kafka In Istanbul

Last year’s protests in Gezi Park have spurred Recep Tayyip Erdogan into absurd action: now he’s locking up would-be protesters before they have the chance to assemble

October 29, 2013

Counterpoints·Middle East

Grandiose Coalitions

Far from being democratically sound, grand coalitions foster short-termism and reinforce more extreme parties’ power of veto.

October 29, 2013

Counterpoints·Europe

A Gross Violation

Last month the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe declared that male circumcision is a “violation of the physical integrity of children”. This is clear anti-religious prejudice

October 29, 2013

Counterpoints·Ethnicity·EU·Europe·Faith

Jovial Pragmatists

SOAS’s new exhibition on Zoroastrianism fails to capture the rich cultural and historical legacy of this much-misunderstood and embattled faith

October 29, 2013

Counterpoints·India

Malala’s Real Message

As a 15-year-old British schoolgirl, what struck me about this teenager’s life was that she isn’t a victim, but a role model whose every day is a protest.

October 29, 2013

Counterpoints·Faith·Pakistan

A Literary Life

‘The death of Marcel Reich-Ranicki highlighted how ill at ease the German intelligentsia still is with its Nazi past’

October 29, 2013

European Eye·Literature

From Eastern Europe to the East End

'There is a whole Eastern European city of half a million people in London. More than 80 per cent have arrived since 2004. It is a city working in basic jobs, with

October 29, 2013

Dispatches·Immigration·UK Politics