Posted at 2013.10.27 Category : New York Times
今年の11月22日がちょうどJFK暗殺50年となり、米国ではブームとなっているようです。自分が小さい頃のテレビでは陰謀説や新事実の類いのテレビ番組がよく流れていた印象です。
pbsのテレビ番組のサイトではいろいろな資料が充実しています。
JFK
Coming November 11 & 12, 2013 -- Forever enshrined in myth by an assassin's bullet, Kennedy's presidency long defied objective appraisal. Recent assessments have revealed an administration long on promise and vigor, and somewhat lacking in tangible accomplishment. His proposals for a tax cut and civil rights legislation, however, promised significant gains in the months before his assassination. While maturation, as evidenced in the handling of the Cuban missile crisis, was apparent, the potential legacy of the New Frontier will forever be left to speculation.
日本の洋書売り場でもケネディのコーナーができていて何から読んでいいか分からない状況になっています。そんななか、先日このブログでも取り上げたニューヨークタイムズの編集長Jill Abramsonがケネディ関連図書について大きな見取り図を描いてくれています。
動画のなかでAbramson編集長がオススメするのは以下の評伝と事件直後のケネディ家公認本の2つとニューヨーカーの記事でした。
“The Death of a President”の方はアマゾンで確認してもKindle版が出ていなかったのですが、いわく付きの本だったようです。50年を機に再刊されるようで、Kindle版が出るといいですね。
In a gripping piece from his 1976 collection of essays, “Controversy,” Manchester described what happened next. First there were the many insertions and deletions made by various Kennedy minions, who applied so much pressure that Manchester became a nervous wreck. An especially low point came when Robert Kennedy hunted Manchester down in a New York hotel room and banged on the door, demanding to be let in to argue for still more changes. Next, Jackie Kennedy, who had not bothered to read the manuscript, accepted the view of her factotums that many of its details, like the fact that she carried cigarettes in her purse, were too personal. Further angered by the $665,000 Manchester had received from Look magazine for serial rights, Mrs. Kennedy went to court to enjoin the author from publishing the book. Eventually, she settled out of court and finally read “The Death of a President” when it was published in 1967. She deemed it “fascinating.”
Nevertheless, the Kennedy family, which controlled publication rights to “The Death of a President,” allowed it to go out of print, and for a number of years copies could be found only online or at rummage sales. The good news, maybe the best, of the 50th anniversary is that Little, Brown has now reissued paperback and e-book editions.
ニューヨーカーの方の記事も定期購読者のみにしか読めないようになっています。読んで面白かったらご紹介させていただこうと思います。
A REPORTER AT LARGE
THE BUFFS
BY CALVIN TRILLIN
JUNE 10, 1967
以下の記事では、もっと幅広くいろいろな本を紹介していました。ただ、新事実や新たな視点から考察したものがほとんどなく、信頼に足るものはほとんどないと手厳しいコメントをしています。
Kennedy, the Elusive President
By JILL ABRAMSON
Published: October 22, 2013
ノンフィクションの本が中心に取り上げられていますが、小説もいくつか触れられています。
11/22/63については、At more than 800 pages, the novel demands a commitment that exceeds its entertainment value.と長すぎると暗に批判しています。
Kennedy’s murder was bound to attract novelists, and some have approached the subject inventively, if with strange results. Stephen King’s “11/22/63,” a best seller published in 2011, takes the form of a time-travel romp involving a high school English teacher who finds romance in Texas while keeping tabs on Oswald. At more than 800 pages, the novel demands a commitment that exceeds its entertainment value.
デリーロで一冊を選ぶならという話題では候補にあがるであろうLibraについても厳しめの評価です。
Most critics seem to think the outstanding example of Kennedy assassination fiction is “Libra,” Don DeLillo’s postmodern novel, published in 1988. The narrative is indeed taut and bracing. But the challenge DeLillo set for himself, to provide readers with “a way of thinking about the assassination without being constrained by half-facts or overwhelmed by possibilities, by the tide of speculation that widens with the years,” exceeds even his lavish gifts.
It is telling that DeLillo reverts to the shadowy realm of “half-facts.” Their persistence raises the question of just how many secrets remain, not only about Kennedy’s death but also about his life. And if there are secrets, who is guarding them, and why?
キングやデリーロに対してもこのような評価ですから、他の作家のものはほとんど相手にしていないという感じです。とても長い記事ですが、ケネディ関連図書の見取り図として大変参考になるものでした。
彼女の薦めるケネディの評伝はぜひとも読んでみたいと思いますが、英語学習的には以下の本も魅力を感じます。ホワイトハウスでのケネディの音声を書き起こしたもので、CD2枚がついています。Abramsonに言わせれば録音するのを分かっての話だからとそれほど評価はしていないようですが、どんな話をしていたのか、どのような表現が使われているかに興味があります。
The other, “Listening In,” offers White House conversations captured in a secretly installed taping system in the Oval Office. Since Kennedy controlled the device, these conversations are more guarded, but the book includes at least one memorable moment
２冊目はケネディ大統領の父親の評伝です。2012年のニューヨークタイムズの今年の10冊に選ばれているというのと、ケネディ家というのがイマイチピンとこないので読んでみたいと思います。幸い図書館で借りられたので、さっそく読んでいこうと思います。
THE PATRIARCH The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. By David Nasaw. The Penguin Press, $40.
Nasaw took six years to complete this sprawling, arresting account of a banker-cum-speculator-cum-moviemaker-cum-ambassador-cum-dynastic founder. Joe Kennedy was involved in virtually all the history of his time, and his biographer persuasively makes the case that he was the most fascinating member of his large, famous and very formidable family.
あとはデリーロのLibraを読んでみようと思っています。
そろそろ日本でも関連雑誌、図書が出始めるのでしょうね。
pbsのテレビ番組のサイトではいろいろな資料が充実しています。
JFK
Coming November 11 & 12, 2013 -- Forever enshrined in myth by an assassin's bullet, Kennedy's presidency long defied objective appraisal. Recent assessments have revealed an administration long on promise and vigor, and somewhat lacking in tangible accomplishment. His proposals for a tax cut and civil rights legislation, however, promised significant gains in the months before his assassination. While maturation, as evidenced in the handling of the Cuban missile crisis, was apparent, the potential legacy of the New Frontier will forever be left to speculation.
日本の洋書売り場でもケネディのコーナーができていて何から読んでいいか分からない状況になっています。そんななか、先日このブログでも取り上げたニューヨークタイムズの編集長Jill Abramsonがケネディ関連図書について大きな見取り図を描いてくれています。
動画のなかでAbramson編集長がオススメするのは以下の評伝と事件直後のケネディ家公認本の2つとニューヨーカーの記事でした。
 | An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963 (2013/10/08) Robert Dallek 商品詳細を見る |
 | The Death of a President, 1963: November 20 - November 25, 1963 (1977/12/08) William Manchester 商品詳細を見る |
“The Death of a President”の方はアマゾンで確認してもKindle版が出ていなかったのですが、いわく付きの本だったようです。50年を機に再刊されるようで、Kindle版が出るといいですね。
In a gripping piece from his 1976 collection of essays, “Controversy,” Manchester described what happened next. First there were the many insertions and deletions made by various Kennedy minions, who applied so much pressure that Manchester became a nervous wreck. An especially low point came when Robert Kennedy hunted Manchester down in a New York hotel room and banged on the door, demanding to be let in to argue for still more changes. Next, Jackie Kennedy, who had not bothered to read the manuscript, accepted the view of her factotums that many of its details, like the fact that she carried cigarettes in her purse, were too personal. Further angered by the $665,000 Manchester had received from Look magazine for serial rights, Mrs. Kennedy went to court to enjoin the author from publishing the book. Eventually, she settled out of court and finally read “The Death of a President” when it was published in 1967. She deemed it “fascinating.”
Nevertheless, the Kennedy family, which controlled publication rights to “The Death of a President,” allowed it to go out of print, and for a number of years copies could be found only online or at rummage sales. The good news, maybe the best, of the 50th anniversary is that Little, Brown has now reissued paperback and e-book editions.
ニューヨーカーの方の記事も定期購読者のみにしか読めないようになっています。読んで面白かったらご紹介させていただこうと思います。
A REPORTER AT LARGE
THE BUFFS
BY CALVIN TRILLIN
JUNE 10, 1967
以下の記事では、もっと幅広くいろいろな本を紹介していました。ただ、新事実や新たな視点から考察したものがほとんどなく、信頼に足るものはほとんどないと手厳しいコメントをしています。
Kennedy, the Elusive President
By JILL ABRAMSON
Published: October 22, 2013
ノンフィクションの本が中心に取り上げられていますが、小説もいくつか触れられています。
11/22/63については、At more than 800 pages, the novel demands a commitment that exceeds its entertainment value.と長すぎると暗に批判しています。
Kennedy’s murder was bound to attract novelists, and some have approached the subject inventively, if with strange results. Stephen King’s “11/22/63,” a best seller published in 2011, takes the form of a time-travel romp involving a high school English teacher who finds romance in Texas while keeping tabs on Oswald. At more than 800 pages, the novel demands a commitment that exceeds its entertainment value.
デリーロで一冊を選ぶならという話題では候補にあがるであろうLibraについても厳しめの評価です。
Most critics seem to think the outstanding example of Kennedy assassination fiction is “Libra,” Don DeLillo’s postmodern novel, published in 1988. The narrative is indeed taut and bracing. But the challenge DeLillo set for himself, to provide readers with “a way of thinking about the assassination without being constrained by half-facts or overwhelmed by possibilities, by the tide of speculation that widens with the years,” exceeds even his lavish gifts.
It is telling that DeLillo reverts to the shadowy realm of “half-facts.” Their persistence raises the question of just how many secrets remain, not only about Kennedy’s death but also about his life. And if there are secrets, who is guarding them, and why?
キングやデリーロに対してもこのような評価ですから、他の作家のものはほとんど相手にしていないという感じです。とても長い記事ですが、ケネディ関連図書の見取り図として大変参考になるものでした。
彼女の薦めるケネディの評伝はぜひとも読んでみたいと思いますが、英語学習的には以下の本も魅力を感じます。ホワイトハウスでのケネディの音声を書き起こしたもので、CD2枚がついています。Abramsonに言わせれば録音するのを分かっての話だからとそれほど評価はしていないようですが、どんな話をしていたのか、どのような表現が使われているかに興味があります。
 | Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy (2012/09/25) Ted Widmer、Caroline Kennedy 他 商品詳細を見る |
The other, “Listening In,” offers White House conversations captured in a secretly installed taping system in the Oval Office. Since Kennedy controlled the device, these conversations are more guarded, but the book includes at least one memorable moment
２冊目はケネディ大統領の父親の評伝です。2012年のニューヨークタイムズの今年の10冊に選ばれているというのと、ケネディ家というのがイマイチピンとこないので読んでみたいと思います。幸い図書館で借りられたので、さっそく読んでいこうと思います。
 | The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy (2012/11/13) David Nasaw 商品詳細を見る |
THE PATRIARCH The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. By David Nasaw. The Penguin Press, $40.
Nasaw took six years to complete this sprawling, arresting account of a banker-cum-speculator-cum-moviemaker-cum-ambassador-cum-dynastic founder. Joe Kennedy was involved in virtually all the history of his time, and his biographer persuasively makes the case that he was the most fascinating member of his large, famous and very formidable family.
あとはデリーロのLibraを読んでみようと思っています。
 | Libra (2011/09/29) Don DeLillo 商品詳細を見る |
そろそろ日本でも関連雑誌、図書が出始めるのでしょうね。
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