IAN SINCLAIR draws attention to the powerful role that literature plays in foreseeing the way humanity will deal with climate crisis
Latest editorial
A portrait of the revolutionary as a young man
RON JACOBS recommends an evocative novel that explores the time that Ho Chi Minh spent in Paris
Ho Chi Minh
High quality pulp, rollicking online murders, Abnorman Britain, and high skates drama: reviews of The Get Off, Everyone In The Group Chat Dies, Pagans and First To Fall
DENNIS BROE notes what happens to content when the streaming giants incorporate AI and deregulation into their economic models
New releases from The Tenementals, Nik Bartsch’s Ronin, and Kuunatic
SCOTT ALSWORTH hears the call to burn down and rebuild the video game industry from the bottom up
The Chinese language only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one, suggests JANET DAVEY
ALEX HALL is intrigued by a detailed history of Gaza that demonstrates its historic resilience and changing economy
Faraway the Southern Sky: A Novel
Joseph Andras, Verso, £9.99
IN 1968, as war raged across Vietnam, the Vietnamese revolutionary popularly known as Ho Chi Minh wrote a new year’s message to the worldwide movement against the US war on the Vietnamese.
After somewhat poetically listing the ongoing war crimes of the US military, the letter ended with these words: “We enjoy the support of brothers and friends in the five continents. We shall win and so will you. Thank you for your support for the Vietnamese people.”
I wouldn’t read these words until the fall of that year; my anti-war consciousness was just taking shape. I was 13. I recall that, when I did read them that first time, it was like a light bulb going off. I could no longer consider any Vietnamese as an enemy. To do so would require demonising them — something I could no longer do after reading this simple and honest letter.
More from this author
While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
