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New Statesman
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
The best summer reads 2025
Illustration by Eiko Ojara Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Doctor Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold The story of how in 1910, Dr Crippen murdered his wife, fled with his lover on an ocean liner, was caught using a transatlantic telegram, and was tried and hanged, is pure penny dreadful sensation. Hallie Rubenhold's deft study looks at the personnel involved in the drama and the backstories, by turns nondescript, seedy and startling, that led them to tragedy. Read our review here. Doubleday, 512pp, £25. Buy the book A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi There are seven Kinga Sikoras, or seven versions of her – including a matchmaker, a perfumier and a window cleaner – and each keeps a diary informing the other Kingas of what she got up to. The latest novel from Helen Oyeyemi is a dizzyingly funny narrative, where slapstick surrounds a central mystery. But the story's crowning jewel is her ability to create seven unique voices belonging to one individual. Read our review here. Faber & Faber, 256pp, £16.99. Buy the book Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Tom Holland Just a single copy of Suetonius's short but vivid biographies of the Caesars had been preserved in a Frankish monastery, yet it became the model for how to write about powerful rulers for succeeding generations. Tom Holland's exemplary translation of this collection shows how strikingly modern they are in their mix of personal details, politics and power. Read an excerpt from the book here. Penguin Classics, 448pp, £25. Buy the book Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo In her feminist reimagining of Moby-Dick, the 2020 Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted author Xiaolu Guo follows a similar plotline to Herman Melville's great novel, but with a slightly changed cast, including Ishmaelle, a 17-year-old girl who takes the identity of a 15-year-old boy. Guo deftly incorporates philosophical questions about our relationship with nature and gender dysphoria into the plot, with affecting results. Read our review here. Chatto & Windus, 448pp, £18.99. Buy the book Malick Sidibé's Painted Frames: the Malian photographer's portraits of African modernity, reframed as social and cultural objects. Photo by Malick Sidibé 2025 courtesy Loose Joints Peak Human by Johan Norberg The decline of all great civilisations is cyclical, notes Johan Norberg in Peak Human, yet inevitably another great dynasty seems always to emerge from the wake of previous eras. Norberg views history through seven 'golden ages', ranging from Ancient Greece to the Anglosphere by way of the Renaissance and Song China. However familiar the territory may be, he manages to place something surprising at every turn. Read our review here. Atlantic, 512pp, £22. Buy the book Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt The British-Irish writer Seán Hewitt has won awards and acclaim for his first two collections of poetry. Now, he publishes a mature and complete debut novel. It is a sore and delicate love story about two teenage boys in a fictional northern village. Hewitt's poetic facility makes easy music of his atmosphere. The central relationship is revealed with a light, sensitive touch, and reaches impressive emotional depths. Read our review here. Jonathan Cape, 240pp, £16.99. Buy the book The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing Jacob and Wilhelm, the Brothers Grimm, were responsible for the most disturbing collection of fairy stories ever published. Their tales were not just entertainment, for children and for adults, but a means by which to preserve both the German language and its folk past. Compiled in the age of Romantic nationalism, the stories are united by their strangeness and brutality, according to Ann Schmiesing. Read our review here. Yale University Press, 360pp, £25. Buy the book Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Don't Forget We're Here Forever by Lamorna Ash How younger generations are confronting and embracing religion is the focus of Lamorna Ash's study of contemporary faith. Sparked by two of her friends who converted, she combines her personal religious journey with interviews with people who have redefined their understanding of Christianity or are turning to it for the first time, as well as visits to Quaker meetings and Jesuit retreats. Read our review here. Bloomsbury Circus, 352pp, £22. Buy the book Beartooth by Callan Wink The characters of Callum Wink's highly readable second novel are Thad and Hazen, two young Montana brothers who begin to discover new things about themselves, and each other, after an injury. The book is at once thoroughly wild and thoroughly intimate. The modest poetry of Callan's prose does justice both to the beauty of the wilderness and to the complexity of the brothers' relationship. Read our review here. Granta, 256pp, £14.99. Buy the book Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: China's Stolen Children by Barbara Demick Drawing on the story of two identical twins separated between China and the US as infants, Barbara Demick shows the dark side of China's international adoption programme. In it, many babies were taken from the arms of their parents by government officials and trafficked. Chinese bureaucracy remains opaque, with affected families still unable to find their children. Read our review here. Granta, 336pp, £20. Buy the book Zed Nelson's The Anthropocene Illusion: visualising the environmental cost of human development. Photo by Zed Nelson Friends in Youth: Choosing Sides in the English Civil War by Minoo Dinshaw This fine work of narrative history follows the careers of two friends who found themselves on opposite sides during the English Civil War – the parliamentarian Bulstrode Whitelocke and the royalist Edward Hyde (the future Earl of Clarendon). They met as students and both worked within their respective parties to temper extremism, later writing accounts of their turbulent times. Read our review here. Allen Lane, 544pp, £30. Buy the book A Quiet Evening: The Travels of Norman Lewis – selected and introduced by John Hatt Norman Lewis is best known for his wartime memoir Naples '44. However, much of his other writing, suffused with deadpan humour, where beauty and absurdity sit side by side, deserves wider recognition. This selection of 36 pieces takes in everything from an encounter with bandits in Guatemala to conversations with Cossack prisoners of war facing death. Read our review here. Eland, 504pp, £25. Buy the book Underdogs: The Truth About Britain's White Working Class by Joel Budd When did the working class become racialised? In classical Marxist scholarship, it didn't need to be – the working class was generally assumed to be white. But with mass immigration, a new category, the 'white working class', has been invented. Joel Budd's mixture of reportage, travelogue and enquiry is one of the most searching studies into this contested subcategory yet. Read our review here. PanMacmillan, 336pp, £20. Buy the book The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British 20th Century by Owen Hatherley Owen Hatherley's new book is a history of the central-European émigrés who fled fascism in the 1930s, from Ernst Gombrich to Ernő Goldfinger. If you've ever picked up an orange Penguin paperback, taken a walk down the South Bank or moaned about the Trellick Tower, you've registered how they transformed Britain. Read our review here. Allen Lane, 608pp, £35. Buy the book The Boys by Leo Robson Staff at the New Statesman love to see a former colleague graduate from book critic to book author. It is even more pleasing to see the book in question receive wall-to-wall praise. With a large canvas (London at the time of the 2012 Olympics), and a small cast (centred on two brothers attempting reconciliation after life has separated them), Robson has pulled off a tricky career swerve. Read our review here. Riverrun, 304pp, £16.99. Buy the book Abundance: How We Build a Better Future by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson Affordable housing, infrastructure and climate crisis action: these are things we all want, so why do we never get them? Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein's book is a galvanising attack on the over-regulation of the US economy, which could be applied to Britain too. This is an argument that has too often been made by the right; the authors point the way towards a progressive developmentalism. Profile, 304pp, £16.99. Buy the book Malaparte: A Biography by Maurizio Serra, translated by Stephen Twilley 'Malaparte' is such a perfect name for a laureate of violence and fascism that it's a shame it was invented – by Kurt Suckert. It means 'bad side' in Italian and this biography reveals a writer whose travelogues, written while following the Eastern Front of the Second World War, are evidence of the 'bad side' of humanity he saw with grim clarity. Read our review here. New York Review of Books, 736pp, $39.95 Irascible: The Combative Life of Douglas Cooper, Collector and Friend of Picasso by Adrian Clark and Richard Calvocoressi The collector and Picassophile Douglas Cooper was not a nice man (acid tongued, bitchy, prickly) but he was an interesting one. He befriended – and fell out with – many of the greatest artists of the mid-20th century, was a wartime Monuments Man, and art historian and proselytiser with a sometimes dangerous gay lifestyle. Read the review here. Yale University Press, 592pp, £45. Buy the book [See also: Kemi Badenoch isn't working] Related
New York Times
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Slow-Burn Summer Thrillers
Two of this month's books are slow-burn stories about summer vacations that devolve into disaster, and one is a techno-thriller about artificial intelligence run amok. You won't be able to guess how any of them end. A Beautiful Family A hum of low-grade unease accompanies a couple and their two daughters as they drive to a New Zealand seaside town in 1985. Their rented house is a disappointment, 'as plain on the outside as a public toilet and not much bigger.' Something is off in the parents' marriage — the mother is distracted, the father resentful. Only 10-year-old Alix, the watchful narrator of Trevelyan's A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY (Doubleday, 310 pp., $28), recognizes that the man next door isn't as harmless as he appears. With her imperfect understanding of the adult world and her longing to keep her family together, Alix is the perfect guide to a story in which so many things are unspoken and unexplained. The book trundles along at a deceptively languid pace until you realize that Trevelyan has expertly set up multiple mysteries that converge, stunningly, late in the game. But for most of the book it looks like a normal vacation. No one's paying much attention to the kids. Alix's surly teenage sister starts shoplifting and sneaking out at night with her sketchy new friends. Thrilled, at least in the abstract, by the tales of a girl who disappeared two years before and is presumed drowned, Alix and a boy she meets embark on a seemingly harmless mission to find the girl's body. Then someone goes missing for real. The Confessions Artificial intelligence is advancing with such terrifying rapidity that it may be outpacing even the fevered imaginations of novelists. In Carr's THE CONFESSIONS (Atria, 324 pp., $28.99), an A.I. model named LLIAM shuts itself down and sends out letters — via the postal service, hilariously — baring the shameful secrets of users around the world. (Maybe the scenario isn't too far-off: In a real-life experiment, an AI chatbot recently exhibited what its creators called 'extreme blackmail behavior,' threatening to expose an engineer's extramarital affair after being fed emails hinting that it might be replaced by a new model.) LLIAM is more advanced than that, making decisions for a billion-plus users: what to eat, whom to marry, where to live, how to carry out their jobs. When it goes rogue by taking itself offline, chaos ensues, paralyzing even the world's most brilliant engineers. Without LLIAM, 'they literally had no idea where to start,' Carr writes. Two people are key to what happens next: the company's chief executive, who took the job when her predecessor suffered an untimely fatal plunge from a rooftop, and the former nun who tried to teach LLIAM how to be humane and who now runs an off-the-grid bookstore. But they're being thwarted by rival forces with their own plans for LLIAM. The story focuses mostly on their race to restart LLIAM and outlines — but doesn't dig deeply into — the interesting details of the catastrophe the shutdown has set off worldwide. But he (yes, LLIAM is a 'he,' by the end) is a terrifying window into the future, either way. The House on Buzzards Bay THE HOUSE ON BUZZARDS BAY (Viking, 276 pp., $30) is set in a seemingly placid town on the southern coast of Massachusetts. It's here that a group of old friends gather for a vacation that, alas, isn't going to be very fun. Jim, whose great-great grandmother built the house, is desperate to resurrect the closeness they all shared in college, now 20 years ago. But the house seems improbably out of sorts, and not everyone shares Jim's nostalgia. 'To keeping things just as they are and never swerving,' one of the group, Bruce, says in a sarcastic toast. 'May we live in museums of generations past.' Things boil over one night when Jim and Bruce exchange angry words, and more. The next morning, Bruce is gone, his room cleared out. Perhaps he's left in a huff. 'It was so like him,' Jim thinks. Murphy's dispassionate style brings to mind the novels of Javier Marías or Katie Kitamura, even as matters in his book descend into the inexplicable. Several people report having frightening, vivid dreams about sex and violence. A mysterious and beguiling woman turns up, declaring that Bruce invited her but acting unruffled by his absence. She also claims to have been married three times, though she looks like she's 25. 'I'm beginning to suspect you appeared this summer with an agenda,' Jim observes. This novel is oddly unclassifiable, and the ending leaves you wondering. Is it a 'Big Chill'-esque story about old friends who learn that the past is a different country? A novel about a haunted house in a malevolent town that doesn't much like outsiders? A murder mystery? Maybe it's all those things.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Jaws' and the two musical notes that changed Hollywood forever
'Da, duh.' Two simple notes – E and F – have become synonymous with tension, fear and sharks, representing the primal dread of being stalked by a predator. And they largely have 'Jaws' to thank. Fifty years ago, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film – along with its spooky score composed by John Williams – convinced generations of swimmers to think twice before going in the water. As a scholar of media history and popular culture, I decided to take a deeper dive into the staying power of these two notes and learned about how they're influenced by 19th-century classical music, Mickey Mouse and Alfred Hitchcock. YouTube video not showing up for me In 1964, fisherman Frank Mundus killed a 4,500-pound great white shark off Long Island. After hearing the story, freelance journalist Peter Benchley began pitching a novel based on three men's attempt to capture a man-eating shark, basing the character of Quint off of Mundus. Doubleday commissioned Benchley to write the novel, and in 1973, Universal Studios producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown purchased the film rights to the novel before it was published. The 26-year-old Spielberg was signed on to be the director. Tapping into both mythical and real fears regarding great white sharks – including an infamous set of shark attacks along the Jersey Shore in 1916 – Benchley's 1974 novel became a bestseller. The book was a key part of Universal's marketing campaign, which began several months before the film's release. Starting in the fall of 1974, Zanuck, Brown and Benchley appeared on a number of radio and television programs to simultaneously promote the release of the paperback edition of the novel and the upcoming film. The marketing also included a national television advertising campaign that featured emerging composer Williams' two-note theme. The plan was for a summer release, which, at the time, was reserved for films with less than stellar reviews. Films at the time typically were released market by market, preceded by local reviews. However, Universal's decision to release the film in hundreds of theaters across the country on June 20, 1975, led to huge up-front profits, sparking a 14-week run as the No. 1 film in the U.S. Many consider 'Jaws' the first true summer blockbuster. It catapulted Spielberg to fame and kicked off the director's long collaboration with Williams, who would go on to earn the second-highest number of Academy Award nominations in history – 54 – behind only Walt Disney's 59. Though it's now considered one of the greatest scores in film history, when Williams proposed the two-note theme, Spielberg initially thought it was a joke. But Williams had been inspired by 19th and 20th century composers, including Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and especially Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, 'From the New World.' In the 'Jaws' theme, you can hear echoes of the end of Dvorak's symphony, as well as the sounds of another character-driven musical piece, Sergei Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf.' 'Peter and the Wolf' and the score from 'Jaws' are both prime examples of leitmotifs, or a musical piece that represents a place or character. The varying pace of the ostinato – a musical motif that repeats itself – elicits intensifying degrees of emotion and fear. This became more integral as Spielberg and the technical team struggled with the malfunctioning pneumatic sharks that they'd nicknamed 'Bruce,' after Spielberg's lawyer. As a result, the shark does not appear until the 81-minute mark of the 124-minute film. But its presence is felt through Williams' theme, which some music scholars have theorized evoke the shark's heartbeat. Williams also has Disney to thank for revolutionizing character-driven music in film. The two don't just share a brimming trophy case. They also understood how music can heighten emotion and magnify action for audiences. Although his career started in the silent film era, Disney became a titan of film, and later media, by leveraging sound to establish one of the greatest stars in media history, Mickey Mouse. When Disney saw 'The Jazz Singer' in 1927, he knew that sound would be the future of film. On Nov. 18, 1928, 'Steamboat Willie' premiered at Universal's Colony Theater in New York City as Disney's first animated film to incorporate synchronized sound. Unlike previous attempts to bring sound to film by having record players concurrently play or deploying live musicians to perform in the theater, Disney used technology that recorded sound directly on the film reel. It wasn't the first animated film with synchronized sound, but it was a technical improvement to previous attempts at it, and 'Steamboat Willie' became an international hit, launching Mickey's – and Disney's – career. The use of music or sound to match the rhythm of the characters on screen became known as 'Mickey Mousing.' 'King Kong' in 1933 would deftly deploy Mickey Mousing in a live action film, with music mimicking the giant gorilla's movements. For example, in one scene, Kong carries away Ann Darrow, who's played by actress Fay Wray. Composer Max Steiner uses lighter tones to convey Kong's curiosity as he holds Ann, followed by ominous, faster, tones as Ann escapes and Kong chases after her. In doing so, Steiner encourages viewers to both fear and connect with the beast throughout the film, helping them suspend disbelief and enter a world of fantasy. Mickey Mousing declined in popularity after World War II. Many filmmakers saw it as juvenile and too simplistic for the evolving and advancing film industry. In spite of this criticism, the technique was still used to score some iconic scenes, like the playing of violins in the shower as Marion Crane is stabbed in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho.' Spielberg idolized Hitchcock. A young Spielberg was even kicked off the Universal lot after sneaking on to watch the production of Hitchcock's 1966 film 'Torn Curtain.' Although Hitchcock and Spielberg never met, 'Jaws' clearly exhibits the influence of Hitchcock, the 'Master of Suspense.' And maybe that's why Spielberg initially overcame his doubts about using something so simple to represent tension in the thriller. The use of the two-note motif helps overcome the production issues Spielberg faced directing the first feature length movie to be filmed on the ocean. The malfunctioning animatronic shark forced Spielberg to leverage Williams' minimalist theme to represent the shark's ominous presence in spite of the limited appearances by the eponymous predatory star. As Williams continued his legendary career, he would deploy a similar sonic motif for certain 'Star Wars' characters. Each time Darth Vader appeared, the 'Imperial March' was played to set the tone for the leader of the dark side. As movie budgets creep closer to a half-billion dollars, the 'Jaws' theme – and the way those two notes manipulate tension – is a reminder that in film, sometimes less can be more. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jared Bahir Browsh, University of Colorado Boulder Read more: How the sounds of 'Succession' shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project 'Jaws' portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists From 'Jaws' to 'Schindler's List,' John Williams has infused movie scores with adventure and emotion Jared Bahir Browsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Jaws' and the two musical notes that changed Hollywood forever
'Da, duh.' Two simple notes – E and F – have become synonymous with tension, fear and sharks, representing the primal dread of being stalked by a predator. And they largely have 'Jaws' to thank. Fifty years ago, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film – along with its spooky score composed by John Williams – convinced generations of swimmers to think twice before going in the water. As a scholar of media history and popular culture, I decided to take a deeper dive into the staying power of these two notes and learned about how they're influenced by 19th-century classical music, Mickey Mouse and Alfred Hitchcock. YouTube video not showing up for me In 1964, fisherman Frank Mundus killed a 4,500-pound great white shark off Long Island. After hearing the story, freelance journalist Peter Benchley began pitching a novel based on three men's attempt to capture a man-eating shark, basing the character of Quint off of Mundus. Doubleday commissioned Benchley to write the novel, and in 1973, Universal Studios producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown purchased the film rights to the novel before it was published. The 26-year-old Spielberg was signed on to be the director. Tapping into both mythical and real fears regarding great white sharks – including an infamous set of shark attacks along the Jersey Shore in 1916 – Benchley's 1974 novel became a bestseller. The book was a key part of Universal's marketing campaign, which began several months before the film's release. Starting in the fall of 1974, Zanuck, Brown and Benchley appeared on a number of radio and television programs to simultaneously promote the release of the paperback edition of the novel and the upcoming film. The marketing also included a national television advertising campaign that featured emerging composer Williams' two-note theme. The plan was for a summer release, which, at the time, was reserved for films with less than stellar reviews. Films at the time typically were released market by market, preceded by local reviews. However, Universal's decision to release the film in hundreds of theaters across the country on June 20, 1975, led to huge up-front profits, sparking a 14-week run as the No. 1 film in the U.S. Many consider 'Jaws' the first true summer blockbuster. It catapulted Spielberg to fame and kicked off the director's long collaboration with Williams, who would go on to earn the second-highest number of Academy Award nominations in history – 54 – behind only Walt Disney's 59. Though it's now considered one of the greatest scores in film history, when Williams proposed the two-note theme, Spielberg initially thought it was a joke. But Williams had been inspired by 19th and 20th century composers, including Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and especially Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, 'From the New World.' In the 'Jaws' theme, you can hear echoes of the end of Dvorak's symphony, as well as the sounds of another character-driven musical piece, Sergei Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf.' 'Peter and the Wolf' and the score from 'Jaws' are both prime examples of leitmotifs, or a musical piece that represents a place or character. The varying pace of the ostinato – a musical motif that repeats itself – elicits intensifying degrees of emotion and fear. This became more integral as Spielberg and the technical team struggled with the malfunctioning pneumatic sharks that they'd nicknamed 'Bruce,' after Spielberg's lawyer. As a result, the shark does not appear until the 81-minute mark of the 124-minute film. But its presence is felt through Williams' theme, which some music scholars have theorized evoke the shark's heartbeat. Williams also has Disney to thank for revolutionizing character-driven music in film. The two don't just share a brimming trophy case. They also understood how music can heighten emotion and magnify action for audiences. Although his career started in the silent film era, Disney became a titan of film, and later media, by leveraging sound to establish one of the greatest stars in media history, Mickey Mouse. When Disney saw 'The Jazz Singer' in 1927, he knew that sound would be the future of film. On Nov. 18, 1928, 'Steamboat Willie' premiered at Universal's Colony Theater in New York City as Disney's first animated film to incorporate synchronized sound. Unlike previous attempts to bring sound to film by having record players concurrently play or deploying live musicians to perform in the theater, Disney used technology that recorded sound directly on the film reel. It wasn't the first animated film with synchronized sound, but it was a technical improvement to previous attempts at it, and 'Steamboat Willie' became an international hit, launching Mickey's – and Disney's – career. The use of music or sound to match the rhythm of the characters on screen became known as 'Mickey Mousing.' 'King Kong' in 1933 would deftly deploy Mickey Mousing in a live action film, with music mimicking the giant gorilla's movements. For example, in one scene, Kong carries away Ann Darrow, who's played by actress Fay Wray. Composer Max Steiner uses lighter tones to convey Kong's curiosity as he holds Ann, followed by ominous, faster, tones as Ann escapes and Kong chases after her. In doing so, Steiner encourages viewers to both fear and connect with the beast throughout the film, helping them suspend disbelief and enter a world of fantasy. Mickey Mousing declined in popularity after World War II. Many filmmakers saw it as juvenile and too simplistic for the evolving and advancing film industry. In spite of this criticism, the technique was still used to score some iconic scenes, like the playing of violins in the shower as Marion Crane is stabbed in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho.' Spielberg idolized Hitchcock. A young Spielberg was even kicked off the Universal lot after sneaking on to watch the production of Hitchcock's 1966 film 'Torn Curtain.' Although Hitchcock and Spielberg never met, 'Jaws' clearly exhibits the influence of Hitchcock, the 'Master of Suspense.' And maybe that's why Spielberg initially overcame his doubts about using something so simple to represent tension in the thriller. The use of the two-note motif helps overcome the production issues Spielberg faced directing the first feature length movie to be filmed on the ocean. The malfunctioning animatronic shark forced Spielberg to leverage Williams' minimalist theme to represent the shark's ominous presence in spite of the limited appearances by the eponymous predatory star. As Williams continued his legendary career, he would deploy a similar sonic motif for certain 'Star Wars' characters. Each time Darth Vader appeared, the 'Imperial March' was played to set the tone for the leader of the dark side. As movie budgets creep closer to a half-billion dollars, the 'Jaws' theme – and the way those two notes manipulate tension – is a reminder that in film, sometimes less can be more. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jared Bahir Browsh, University of Colorado Boulder Read more: How the sounds of 'Succession' shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project 'Jaws' portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists From 'Jaws' to 'Schindler's List,' John Williams has infused movie scores with adventure and emotion Jared Bahir Browsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Tatler Asia
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Tatler Asia
Your next read: 8 provocative books curated by Natalie Portman
'Autocracy, Inc.' by Anne Applebaum Above 'Autocracy, Inc.' by Anne Applebaum uncovers how authoritarian leaders share propaganda techniques to maintain power. (Photo: Doubleday) Pulitzer Prize-winner Anne Applebaum delivers a chilling exposé that reframes our understanding of modern dictatorship. Rather than viewing autocratic regimes as isolated entities, this meticulously researched work reveals a sophisticated global network of collaboration. Applebaum's investigation uncovers how authoritarian leaders share strategies, resources and propaganda techniques to maintain power against democratic nations. For readers comfortable with traditional geopolitical narratives, this book presents a disturbing alternative reality where dictatorships operate as a unified, calculated force—a revelation that demands urgent attention and action. 'Saving Time' by Jenny Odell Above 'Saving Time' by Jenny Odell dismantles our fundamental assumptions about productivity and progress. (Photo: Random House Trade Paperbacks) Portman describes her pick as 'an exploration of how we can revise our relationship with time to inspire hope and action'. This radical critique by Jenny Odell dismantles our most fundamental assumptions about productivity and progress. Building on her acclaimed book How to Do Nothing , this work challenges the very foundation of our clock-driven society, arguing that our temporal structures serve profit rather than human flourishing. Odell draws from pre-industrial cultures, ecological rhythms and geological timescales to propose revolutionary alternatives to capitalist time consciousness. This isn't merely lifestyle advice—it's a comprehensive reimagining of how we might structure existence itself, demanding readers question everything they've been taught about efficiency and value. Now read: 7 inspiring wellness books for a grounded, mindful life 'The Safekeep' by Yael Van Der Wouden Above 'The Safekeep' by Yael Van Der Wouden explores the unreliable nature of memory. (Photo: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster) Van Der Wouden's stunning debut operates as both psychological thriller and historical reckoning. Set in post-war Netherlands, this tense narrative explores the unreliable nature of memory and the buried traumas that shape entire communities. Through the unsettling relationship between Isabel and Eva, the novel forces readers to confront how personal and collective histories can be manipulated, hidden or conveniently forgotten. This isn't comfortable historical fiction—it's a probing examination of how we construct truth from fragments of experience, challenging readers to question their relationship with inherited narratives. 'Saving Five' by Amanda Nguyen Above 'Saving Five' by Amanda Nguyen is an unflinching account of fighting to pass the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act. (Photo: AUWA) Portman thanks author Amanda Nguyen 'for sharing your truth, your light and for writing your story'. Nguyen's memoir transcends typical survivor narratives to become a blueprint for systemic change. Her unflinching account of fighting to pass the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights Act exposes the failures within America's justice system whilst demonstrating the power of individual activism. Uniquely weaving her personal trauma with imagined conversations with her younger selves, Nguyen creates a work that's simultaneously intimate and politically urgent. This book challenges readers to move beyond sympathy toward action, questioning their role in perpetuating or dismantling unjust systems. 'The English Understand Wool' by Helen DeWitt Above 'The English Understand Wool' by Helen DeWitt asks whether cultural preferences reflect learned class signalling. (Photo: New Directions) DeWitt's deceptively sharp novella dismantles our assumptions about cultural sophistication and good taste. Through the story of a young woman raised with impossibly high aesthetic standards, this work exposes how markers of refinement often function as instruments of social control. The protagonist's confrontation with New York's cultural sharks becomes a broader examination of authenticity versus performance in contemporary society. The author challenges readers to question whether their cultural preferences reflect genuine appreciation or learned class signalling, making this brief work surprisingly unsettling in its implications. Natalie Portman sums up the novella best: 'darkly funny but honest look at the exploitation of trauma within publishing'. 'The Coin' by Yasmin Zaher Above 'The Coin' by Yasmin Zaher presents a protagonist whose moral complexity defies easy categorisation. (Photo: Catapult) Zaher's bold debut refuses to provide a comfortable immigrant narrative. Following a young Palestinian woman navigating New York's cultural and economic landscapes, this novel presents a protagonist whose moral complexity defies easy categorisation. Through her eccentric teaching methods and involvement in luxury goods schemes, the narrator challenges conventional expectations about assimilation and ambition. Zaher forces readers to sit with discomfort, presenting a character who embodies contradictions rather than resolution. Portman lauds the author's writing, especially 'about the tension between the body and mind.' 'Consider Yourself Kissed' by Jessica Stanley Above 'Consider Yourself Kissed' by Jessica Stanley examine love's survival against unglamorous reality. (Photo: Riverhead Books) Stanley's novel transcends typical romance to examine love's survival against unglamorous reality. Set against a decade marked by Brexit and Covid, this work asks challenging questions about commitment in an era of constant disruption. Rather than offering fairy-tale conclusions, Stanley presents the complicated negotiations required for long-term partnership, acknowledging both love's resilience and its frequent failures. For readers accustomed to romantic fantasy, this book provides a more truthful—if sometimes uncomfortable—exploration of what sustaining love actually requires in our fractured contemporary world. For Natalie Portman, the book is 'a look at how relationships shift over time as Coralie navigates motherhood, love and her own desires'. NOW READ Female action heroes: 8 women who redefined courage long before 'Ballerina' pirouetted in From screen to your stove: 6 star-studded celebrity cookbooks worth trying 'Mission: Impossible': 7 stunts that redefined high-stakes action cinema Credits This article was created with the assistance of AI tools
