Alice Munro (1931-2024)
Canadian author and 2013 Nobel laureate Alice Munro has passed away; see, for example, reports at the CBC and The Guardian.
I am afraid none of her work is under review at the complete review -- mainly because I struggle with reading and especially reviewing short story collections and that was, after all, her
2024 International Booker Prize Goes To Jenny Erpenbeck’s “Kairos”
At Deutsche Welle Suzanne Cords profiles Jenny Erpenbeck: Germany's least-known famous author.
Apparently: "Ask your average German who Jenny Erpenbeck is, and they may very well respond, "Jenny who ?"" (Though Cords also notes: "It's not as if Erpenbeck is totally unknown in Germany -- quite the contrary", so I have no idea what the point here
Oldest Known Human Viruses Found in 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones.
La Maison du Pastel
From Business Insider’s series Still Standing, a look at La Maison du Pastel, a 300-year-old French company that makes pastels for artists by hand. Back in its golden age, the company supplied the likes of Monet & Degas but fell into neglect near the end of the 20th century. The newest generation of ownership has restored the company and they now offer over 1,900 different pastel colors.
Seriously, take a look at their online shop…there’s all sorts of amazing stuff in there. Like this antique watercolors set — get a load of these color names: Violet Lake, Burnt Lake, Carmine, Venice Red, Vermilion, Orange Chrome, Gamboge, Zinc White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Van Dyck Brown, Lamp Black, Payne’s Gray, Indigo, Celestial Blue, Blue Ash, Prussian. You can even order a full set of their pastels for only €29,450.00 (the set comes with a custom-made chest of drawers).
I am not at all an artist but these colors all look so amazing that I’m eyeing one of the smaller sets for myself…
WHEN THE ARTISTS ARE WAY TOO AHEAD OF THE CRITICS: 110 years ago, The Rite of Spring incited a riot in a Paris theater.
It began with a bassoon and ended in a brawl.
One hundred years ago today, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky debuted The Rite of Spring before a packed theater in Paris, with a ballet performance that would go down as one of the most important — and violent — in modern history.
Today, The Rite is widely regarded as a seminal work of modernism — a frenetic, jagged orchestral ballet that boldly rejected the ordered harmonies and comfort of traditional composition. The piece would go on to leave an indelible mark on jazz, minimalism, and other contemporary movements, but to many who saw it on that balmy evening a century ago, it was nothing short of scandalous.
Details surrounding the events of May 29th, 1913 remain hazy. Official records are scarce, and most of what is known is based on eyewitness accounts or newspaper reports. To this day, experts debate over what exactly sparked the incident — was it music or dance? publicity stunt or social warfare? — though most agree on at least one thing: Stravinsky’s grand debut ended in mayhem and chaos.
Teen rapper accidentally kills himself on social media video after pointing gun at his head and pulling trigger New York Post. Unusually visible Darwin Award winner.
