The Chinese language only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one, suggests JANET DAVEY
Latest editorial
Witnessing homelessness
JOHN KENDALL HAWKINS recommends a compassionate survey of the global scourge of homelessness, and those who help them
ALEX HALL is intrigued by a detailed history of Gaza that demonstrates its historic resilience and changing economy
RON JACOBS welcomes the long overdue translation of an epic work that chronicles resistance to fascism during WWII
MAYER WAKEFIELD is chilled by the co-dependency of two lost souls as portrayed by German communist playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz
The Star's critics BRETT GREGORY, JOHN GREEN, MICHAEL BONCZA and ANGUS REID review The Stimming Pool, Misericordia, La Cocina, Irena’s Vow, and The End
CHRIS MOSS welcomes a radical history that brings marginalised stories and overlooked people and agencies to the centre
ANDREW HEDGECOCK relishes visual storytelling with no respect for genres, movements or styles
Rough Sleepers
Tracy Kidder, Random House, £17.27
PULITZER Prize-winning writer Tracy Kidder has a new book out, Rough Sleepers, that is timely, poignant, and depressingly true as an indictment of the fracturing values of our time.
Kidder, who won his Pulitzer for describing the symbiotic relationship between humans and computers in The Soul of a New Machine (1981), here chronicles the soul-sucking conditions of everyday people living on the streets.
As Kidder points out, “rough sleeping” is a 19th century British term to describe homelessness. That an old term is still fresh as a descriptor is the first depressing note about the book to swallow. One thinks of George Orwell’s slightly later memoir, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), which paints a picture of the tramp’s life.
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
Similar stories
Pauper funerals have increased at a dramatic rate, writes DEBORAH HOBSON, asking why is this swept under the carpet by media and politicians alike
