Thursday, June 03, 2010

"Lost bet"

So that's what it was: a bet.

Via zunguzungu, whose earlier post on Atwood and Ghosh is a must-read.

7 comments:

Cheshire Cat said...

Apparently, Ghosh does not believe in "embargoes and boycotts when they concern matters of culture and learning". How convenient. I suppose this means he would have been equally happy to accept a prize from the South African government during the apartheid era. Shame on him (and Atwood).

He may not believe in boycotts, but a lot of the rest of us do. I won't be buying any of his, or Atwood's, books.

km said...

@Cheshire Cat:

I'm confused. Atwood's tweet suggests she's being ironic and accepting that Israel continues to be a big a*hole. So why shame on Atwood? (Unless you are referring not to this tweet but to something else she said or did....)

Cheshire Cat said...

AFAIK, she still accepted the Dan David prize.

It's not really a gamble when you're guaranteed 500,000 dollars.

km said...

OK, so she accepted the prize (which, AFAIK, is not awarded by the State - but that's not the point here) and is now openly saying Israel screwed up.

How's that a bad thing?

Space Bar said...

km: it's great she now thinks israel screwed up, but it's too little too late (one tweet?!)

she and ghosh were both urged not to accept the prize, by any number of people and organisations. instead, they wrote a lot of self-exculpatory bosh and probably the worst acceptance speech in recent history.

will they return the prize? i will be very surprised if they do.

for the rest, let me once again point you to the other article i've linked to, which pretty much says what i might have liked to say, on the issue.

i realise that many, many people don't see things the way i or cat do. what can i say? the issue (and the region) *is* polarising.

Unknown said...

Cat, SB: Should people not accept awards connected with the US government as well? I am just curious as to where you think the line should be drawn.

km said...

it's great she now thinks israel screwed up, but it's too little too late (one tweet?!)

Don't think of it as just one tweet. Think of it as 140 characters.