Al

@SarahTheHaider @KatCongleton @BBCWorld Okay but get over that. What are the reasons?

@KatCongleton @BBCWorld I would, but the way you phrased that makes me think you already think you are a "good person", while I am a bad one (like the rest of the super geniuses in my replies). So no thanks!

I’m sick of the braindead outrage at every headline. Yes, Afghanistan is hell for women, but these guys are literally choosing between one child being sold for marriage/domestic servitude vs starvation of the entire family. The story is complex and grim.

@SarahTheHaider How is this substantially different to what rich fathers do to their daughters in Afghanistan?

@AjaTheEmpress @notgwendalupe ATTENTION EVERYONE: FIRST TIME VIOLENCE AGAINST FEMALES BY MALES HAS EVER BEEN PORTRAYED ON SCREEN. I'm as TERF as it gets but this is fucking stupid.

@notgwendalupe Male violence against women, but the male is in a dress so its ok?

here's Jules slapping tf out of Rue on today's episode of Euphoria

@janeclarejones I still don't understand how it's possible for someone like you to ignore the obvious and disproportionate malevolence of Islam. This worries me a lot because I don't want the conversation monopolysed by the likes of Tommy Robinson and Posy Parker

The fact that you think acting in good faith and clarifying what you meant is embarassing speaks volumes.

@CapelLofft No P.G Wodehouse? Instant dismissal

If you wish to ignore the fact that, by God's unsearchable providence, all great novels were written in Britain between the 1720s and 1950s, then feel free to beclown yourself. If you think it's not diverse enough, I included novels by several unitarians and even some Papists

I have conducted an infallible survey of international experts (*me) and these are the greatest novels of all time. I don't want to hear any whining from fricassee-fancying Frenchie fops or tax-dodging Yankee parvenus: you can disagree, of course, but you're objectively wrong.

@dfkodsi What do you think of Beloved though? How would you rate it?

I do not think that Beloved is the second-best novel ever published in English, or that Virginia Woolf wrote five of the hundred best novels.

@iconawrites True but it could also be that what they learnt wasn't worth learning anyway.

I know many people my age who feel they have “wasted time” getting their humanities degree because their career is not directly related to it. A reminder that the notion that getting an education is only useful if it converts into profit is, in itself, a perverse capitalist idea.

@EBotena1 @DKThomp Presumably you're as equally outraged that the film is in English rather than Greek then right?

You’re disrespectful to a whole country. Why are you so comfortable with blatant racism against Greeks? Shaming them. You wouldn’t have a vocabulary to spew your stupidity if it wasn’t for them. You think it’s funny. You’re a coward, if it was a tale out of South America or Africa you bend over for cultural appropriation in the Atlantic

it's a poem about a thing that never happened, credited to an author who probably never existed, and helen is introduced within the mythology as the daughter of ZEUS, a figure literally nobody in this country even believes in, if you're emotionally invested in the historicity of her pigmentation you need a life and also medication, not necessarily in that order

@elladorn_ This is fascinating. I'm absolutely astounded that 1984 is 4 in the list. Have you read the Chinese translation? If so is it true to the original?

If anyone else is interested in literary polls - these are the top 100 highest-rated books on Douban Books (basically Chinese Goodreads) w/ number of ratings. I have translated some titles, indicated w ?. All books pretty much sit within a point of each other on a 10-point scale

@AlastairGi1990 @FaringForwards @dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq An "obviously political list" because it has one black author in the top 20. To me it seems like an extremely obvious and conservative list.

@FaringForwards @dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq The top four (other than perhaps Middlemarch, at a stretch) don’t belong there. The top ten are extremely dubious. Meanwhile, ‘Crime and Punishment’ sits at no. 69. It’s a reflection of the drabness and shallowness of leftwing culture. It’s an obviously *political* list.

The Guardian's much-debated list of the greatest novels is ... a perfectly good and sensible list. The people whining about it can't have read the books. But don't worry. We'll cover them all on @bookclubpodhq eventually.

@lanzadelquijote @dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq There are two Russian and two French novels in the top 10 for a start. You're taking this far too seriously - this is one of many such lists that are made every few years.

@DavesMateAl @dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq There are in fact lists of "greatest books" writed in spanish and french, yes, but not pretend to be the "greatests literature ever". It's completely fine made a list of novels writed in english, but c'mon, pretend they are the "greatest ever" when ignores entire traditions?

@lanzadelquijote @dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq For crying out loud what do you think other countries do when they do their lists?

@dcsandbrook @bookclubpodhq Yeah, so why they not called it "grestest english novels" or something? But they called "greatest literature ever"; if they think that not a single novel writed in romanian, polish, chinese, arabic, modern greek, etc., deserves to be included, it's pure anglocentric narcissism 🤷‍♂️

@bernardtjoy I mean history didn't even happen let alone myth

Myth did really happen. It has structures at least as deep and probably deeper than history. And we disturb its balance at our very real peril.

One disturbing thing I've heard over and again in the last few days is people saying that The Odyssey is myth, not history, and so "it didn't really happen" and therefore we can play as fast and loose with it as we wish. This shows a deep, dangerous misunderstanding of myth.

@elonmusk @JonnyRoot_ Explain to me how skin colour is important to the story. I'm extremely anti-woke but even I think you're a disgrace for getting upset about this. Fucking snowflake.

@JonnyRoot_ Shame on Chris Nolan for desecrating Homer! He will never live it down.

60 Minutes is now doing damage control for Christopher Nolan/The Odyssey. The View’s Sonny Hostin claims “you don’t know history” if you don’t agree Helen of Troy could be black. Variety tried shaming critics/Elon for calling out DEI nonsense. Typical.

@owenjonesjourno Much as I'm not a fan of you, you're totally right here. That's despicable.

This GB News regular has shared a deliberately out-of-context clip. It reverses the meaning of what I actually said. I've asked her to delete it, and she's not responded. Here's the full clip. I'd be grateful if you'd ask her to delete it. Thanks!

@DAaronovitch The Gordon Brown incident was famous precisely because he accused a perfectly normal person of being racist.

@DavesMateAl We never stop talking about it. We have been talking about it ever since Gordon Brown was rude about that lady during the 2010 election. We have talked about it until it has driven us completely crazy. There is not a single subject we have talked about more.

Call me a crass empiricist but when I see something like this, I immediately want to know what concretely people are talking about. What exactly would you do that Starmer doesn't to show that you respect ordinary people? I'm not saying that there isn't anything, but it would be nice if someone was to give us a clue

@CorianderSoap @DAaronovitch "You're a racist" and nuance is wasted on me? You're beyond parody. And btw you are obviously a paedophile.

@DavesMateAl @DAaronovitch I don't think anything of the sort. I'm just sick of racists like you, who go on about how we have to slash immigration but won't actually admit the main reason they want that to happen. Quite frankly, nuance would be wasted on you.

@CorianderSoap @DAaronovitch You just don't get it do you? And you think you're "self-aware" and a "critical thinker" don't you? And someone who understands "nuance" right?

@DavesMateAl @DAaronovitch How do people like me lead to more Trumps when it's people like you who vote for their policies? Riddle me that!

@anyotherleader1 @DAaronovitch Is this for me or David?

@DavesMateAl @DAaronovitch Reform got 26% in this election. are they the only ordinary people?

@CorianderSoap @DAaronovitch So perfect - you, and people like you, are the reason why we'll get more Trumps. And the fact that you don't even understand why is scary.

@DavesMateAl @DAaronovitch Still don't understand what? That you are a racist? I think you've made the clear in this thread.