Issue 114
September 2005
Contents
Principles of a story
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
From Chekhov to James Joyce, the short story defined modern fiction. The form later came to be defined by America. Writing in 1981, one of the great US writers explains why he came to prefer the story to the novel
Cricket's final over
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Despite the renewed interest in cricket generated by a thrilling Ashes series, the English game is still dying and in the next few decades will cease to be a national sport in any meaningful sense. Was cricket inevitably doomed in the modern world? Or have the authorities and their innovations hastened its end?
British commitments
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Since the London bombs, the debate about multiculturalism and national identity has acquired a new urgency. One of Britain's leading thinkers in this field argues that becoming a citizen should involve not only rights and duties, but also a moral and emotional commitment to this country
Smashing open the universe
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
In 2007, a high-energy collider near Geneva could uncover some of the mysteries of the universe. And the search for the missing pieces of the Standard Model of particle physics may provide experimental proof for string theory and extra dimensions
Reclaiming the story
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Prospect is launching a major new annual award designed to honour Britain's finest short story writers and to re-establish the importance of the story as a central literary form. The National Short Story prize will be the largest award in the world for a single story
Human rights and terrorism
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
The Human Rights Act is a welcome constraint on government. But can it threaten our ability to fight terrorism?
Plane to Pakistan
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
My father fled Lahore as a child. I returned with him to find Indo-Pak rapprochement in full swing. But Pakistan's internal politics is fragile, and the country plays a dual role in the war on terror
Looking for Des
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
A writer friend of mine disappeared many years ago. After a sighting of him I try to track him down. But why am I doing this?
Charles Tilly
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
America's most prolific and interesting sociologist is unknown in Britain, which shows how far the discipline has faded here. Tilly offers insights on everything from riots to the persistence of inequality
The Aslam affair
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
The Guardian's dismissal of Dilpazier Aslam should set off a wave of self-examination in British journalism. The newspaper ignored journalistic standards in the name of political correctness
After Fahd
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
King Fahd's death is likely to spark a battle within the al-Saud dynasty over both the succession and the future of Saudi Arabia. And the stakes are high, for waiting in the wings is the most determined faction of all - the followers of Osama bin Laden
Comment (1)France profonde
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Without the Franco-German "motor," the European machine would grind to a halt. This suits Chirac just fine, but Germany's next chancellor sees it as a major problem
Cook of the Balkans
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Robin Cook's finest hours on the political stage came in the former Yugoslavia
The loss of faith
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Our commitment to the values on which our society is based has been hollowed out
Stick to the target
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
The most recent attempt to undermine the Kyoto deal is strikingly inconsistent
Race and loneliness
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Caryl Phillips's new novel is about race in early 20th-century American music-halls. But the subject that has always interested him most is loneliness
The lesson of Deep Throat
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
The myth of Watergate encouraged an adversarial media and a distrust of government. But the result has been transparency without responsibility
Joschka's journey
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Joschka Fischer, Germany's '68er foreign minister, is surprisingly sympathetic to neoconservative ideas for transforming the middle east
Status anxieties
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
We tend to assume that inequality in affluent societies is a sign of economic health and social vigour. But the evidence suggests that it makes us sick
Private view
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
The French have revamped their permanent collection at the Pompidou Centre in imitation of a British, themed style. It alters the way we see the 20th century
Musical notes
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Mahler strived for the Wagnerian ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk—opera as a total work of art. The Kirov failed to attain this at Covent Garden
Widescreen
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
This summer, I have seen every single blockbuster so that you don't have to. What's the state of Hollywood? Great in the first act, terrible in the third
True stories
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
People can be very touchy about their cars. The problem facing me in court was to show that Hassan had not been reckless with a blue Volkswagen Golf
Chairman's corner
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
From Northern Ireland to Iraq, you have to talk to the bad guys
Letter from California
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
One of the pleasures of spending the summer in California has been watching the sudden implosion of Schwarzenegger's political career
Mini interview
25th September 2005 — Issue 114
Abdul Wahid, member of Hizb ut-Tahrir's executive committee and west London GP