NM & OP: 4 common features and many more differences

As said, I am getting back to talking of Orhan Pamuk [OP], yet this is now in conjuction with talking of Naguib Mahfouz [NM]: the two most recent writers that have enchanted me with their crafts; as I wrote of their 4 common features, here's what I was referring to:

• the fact that both of them wrote stories from and about times and places which are very different from our daily lives,
• their crafts having won each of them the Nobel Prize for literature,
• that they both belong to the very large family of Islam-touched patterns of thought,
• and that they've both written stories of stories, of transformation.

Orhan Pamuk's novel is a philosophical thriller constructed around the clash between [two] views of artistic meaning, which is also a chasm between two world civilisations. Great fiction speaks to its time; in the week of the American suicide bombings, this outstanding novel clamours to be heard.
Frankish novelty is represented by the brilliance of Venetian painting, which sweeps all before it with its portraits of faces set on achieving death-defying immortality through the palette. On the other hand is a tradition which seeks to record the objective truth as it might appear to Allah's dispassionate gaze (and may therefore be a subtle form of blasphemy). We all know that appearance deceives. A fool, thought Blake, sees not the same truth as the wise. But even the wise see differently. Islamic art took - and takes - its iconoclastic cue from that fact.
What followed was the rejection of the image in the name of a higher realism. Horses saunter in unison with forelegs simultaneously, "unnaturally", extended. What matters is the perfection of the single unvarying red, compounded from the dried beetle found in the hottest part of Hindustan - not the Frankish delicacy of graded shades. Pamuk's miniaturists grow blind in the obsessive service of art.

This fragment, think I, probably does a much better job appreciating My Name is Red than I could at the time, and you can keep reading Hywel Williams's review in The Guardian.

Arabian Nights and Days is [yet] a[nother] novel written in the episodic form that Mahfouz came to favour. In it he chooses tales from the classic Thousand and One Nights and reforges them into narratives dealing with those themes he was always occupied with: good and evil, man's social responsibility, and, increasingly with time, death. The novel is set in an Arabian Nights atmosphere, but many of the issues relate to Egypt's present problems: the corruption of those in power, social justice and the rise of the fundamentalist movement. [...] Mahfouz also rendered Arabic literature a great service by developing, over the years, a form of language in which many of the archaisms and cliches that had become fashionable were discarded, a language that could serve as an adequate instrument for the writing of fiction in these times.

- as summarised here.

From bringing the stories to their natural political connotations to reversing that same process, these two controversial story-tellers tend to help one remember not only that there's always more than meets the eye, but that visions and worlds [of thought, and not only] had been built on such concepts; and, of course, there are always the juicy historical bits to add to the picture.
My fondness of controversial Islam writings has been raised to a new level!

Tomar: part ii

The gridded streets of the old town converge on the central Praça da República.

Here stands an elegant seventeenth-century town hall, a ring of houses of the same period and the church of São João Baptista, remarkable for its octagonal belfry, elaborate Manueline doorway and six religious panels attributed to Gregório Lopes, one of the finest artists to emerge from the so-called "Portuguese School" of the sixteenth century.

Nearby is an excellently preserved fifteenth-century synagogue*, now the Museu Luso-Hebraico Abraham Zacuto, named after the Spanish astronomer, Abraham Zacuto, who prepared navigational aids for Vasco da Gama. Its stark interior, with plain vaults supported by four slender columns, houses a collection of thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Hebraic inscriptions, but the interest lies more in its very survival in a town dominated for so long by crusading Christian Defenders of the Faith. In 1496 Dom Manuel followed the example of the Catholic Kings of Spain and ordered the conversion or expulsion of all Portuguese Jews. The synagogue at Tomar was one of the very few to survive so far south

* and the very first I have visited, which makes it much more special.

Lastly, one more town image deserves to be added for the mere reason that it's unvisited, slightly remote and generally a pleasure to the eye: the out-of-the-city-centre church of St. Maria dos Olivais - next to which archaeological works are still in progress.

Out of town, the highlight is the stunning seventeenth-century Aqueduto Pegões, built to supply the convent with water.

Walking to this place was the best choice for a Saturday morning and, oh boy, that was definitely worth! Here's why: the very first aqueduct I got to climb on, and enough to get me feeling the wind's breeze instilling a sense of ... well, take-off!
To sum it up, this was a great place to spend the 50h we've dedicated and possibly a place to return. A reminder is however useful: bring along some extra memory for the photos - it'll be missed!
Once again, guiding lines picked up from here.
And, once again, extra photos are located here.

You might have heard by now that:

... At a scientific conference on climate change held this week in Copenhagen, four environmental experts announced that sea levels appear to be rising almost twice as rapidly as had been forecast by the United Nations just two years ago. The warning is aimed at politicians who will meet in the same city in December to discuss the same subject and, perhaps, to thrash out an international agreement to counter it.
The reason for the rapid change in the predicted rise in sea levels is a rapid increase in the information available. In 2007, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change convened by the UN made its prediction that sea levels would rise by between 18cm and 59cm by 2100, a lack of knowledge about how the polar ice caps were behaving was behind much of the uncertainty. Since then they have been closely monitored, and the results are disturbing. Both the Greenland and the Antarctic caps have been melting at an accelerating rate. It is this melting ice that is raising sea levels much faster than had been expected. Indeed, scientists now reckon that sea levels will rise by between 50cm and 100cm by 2100, unless action is taken to curb climate change....

More on the actual studies which had been carried out in supporting the above in The Economist's article.

Tomar: part i

The Convento de Cristo at Tomar, 34km east of Fátima, is an artistic tour de force which entwines the most outstanding military, religious and imperial strands in the history of Portugal. The Order of the Knights Templar* and their successors, the Order of Christ, established their headquarters here and successive Grand Masters employed experts in Romanesque, Manueline and Renaissance architecture to embellish and expand the convent in a manner worthy of their power, prestige and wealth.
In addition, Tomar is a handsome small town in its own right, well worth a couple of days of slow exploration. Built on a simple grid plan, it is split in two by the Rio Nabão, with almost everything of interest on the west bank. Here, Tomar's old quarters preserve much of their traditional charm, with whitewashed, terraced cottages lining narrow cobbled streets that frame the convent above.

* See Dom Gualdim Pais (1118 – 1195), founder of the Castle of Tomar in 1160, here.

This is what my Rough Guide told me, and yes, the tingly sensation of excitement was prompt to arrive whilst embarking the train;
the great wheather, the friendliness of the locals and the affordable prices have all been happiness-inducing factors and, for things to get even better, the city seemed to have a rather small density of tourists per square km, giving the photo-freak in me plenty of space and time to collect them images:
Unfortunately, the Charola of the Knights Templar [the 'sacred heart of the whole complex, also known as the Rotunda or Templars' Apse'] constituted the subject of repairs at the time of our visit, so I couldn't even glance at it, let alone photograph it.
Nonetheless, I could catch the ex libris of the place, the Manueline style window (left, below), as well as the old cloister (right, below), as you may note:

Whilst writing these notes, selecting only a few images seems almost wrong and definitely difficult, as I keep focusing and being absorbed by the Convent and its many thought/admiration-enticing details, despite it not having been my intention;







... that's only because of its grand and overwhelming architecture and level of detail, which doesn't allow the easy passage to other features of the city; here's my only solution: Tomar will have a second dedicated post.

For (a few) more images, take a look here.

Presentation & [Social] Communication Skills | Lx Day 337

Seeing an exhibition over the evolution of Lisbon's planning over 2 centuries wasn't a planned but rather a random undertaking: we just entered the open door and asked what it was all about. As written on the leaflet, it was about

aiming to stimulate knowledge and reflection about the excellent and innovative planning instrument used for the rebuilding of [the] Lisbon city centre after the 1755 Earthquake: The 1758 Plano da Baixa - the Plan for Lisbon's Downtown district.

And how did the City Hall aim to 'stimlate' the viewer?, you ask. That's what I've asked myself as well, and decided to step in.
The first bits were not my things, but then here's what the eye and camera cought - the Gaiola [Cage], which happens to be not only the structure deemed as most 'earthquake-proof' back in the reconstruction days, but also one which still exists (!) in Lisbon's downtown and based on which an architectural fashion was built, which tends to "show a bit of the wooden structure by the sides", as I was explained.

Later on, we entered a room demonstrating the various bits of the re-planning spread over the entire floor, with explanations on the walls. Here's what it looked like:
Pretty neat, isn't it?!












We consequently spent the following 15min trying to not only figure out where's our neighbourhood and how had it been designed back in the 18th century, but also whether any of the street names still match the current denominations, etc.

And so, after this [at times, rather interactive] temporary exploration of the city's planning, here's where did the City Hall wanted to bring the viewer - to an exhibition of facts of the status quo of Lisbon's Baixa Plan today, as the title reads. Why? Because the status quo calls for an opinion poll of the ones concerned, i.e. Lisbon's inhabitants; and that's why 4 computers were readily awaiting the visitors' feedback on how to solve the issues of the city's Downtown district. As put by the authorities

250 years [later], the 1758 Plano da Baixa is still with us, in Lisbon,... today! The abandoning or rescue of this plan, its effectiveness and reform are the goal of this exhibition.

This was a pleasant surprise, an informative and well organised exhibition; it made me wish something similar had been in place regarding the Palace of Culture in Iasi and its 'rescue or abandoning'... yet perhaps I'm too optimistic at times?
PS. if interested in more subject-pertinent photos, look here.

The ICC's first ever warrant issued against a sitting head of state

Today’s decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue a warrant of arrest for Sudanese President Omar Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur is a welcome and crucial step towards challenging the impunity that has worsened conflict in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. The Sudanese government must exercise restraint in its response to the decision, and ensure that its actions do not undermine the opportunity to achieve peace in Sudan. [...] The response by the Sudanese people, their government, the region and the international community will help determine whether this is the beginning of genuine democratic transformation in Sudan, or whether Bashir’s regime, including the army and other security services, will continue on their destructive path.

Keep reading International Crisis Group's analysis The ICC Indictment of Bashir: A turning point for Sudan?
... yet keep in mind that:

The war crimes court has already issued two arrest warrants - in 2007 - for Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and the Janjaweed militia leader Ali Abdul Rahman. Sudan has refused to hand them over.
Reacting to the news, a Sudanese presidential adviser dismissed the charges, telling state television that it was part of a "neo-colonialism" plan, Reuters news agency reported.

- as the BBC reminds us.