Last Thursday the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ran the story, "No Canadians on Man Booker longlist". Closer to home, the headlines deployed the term "snubbed", appearing to overlook how active and aggressive that verb is; as if we judges had spent seven months conspiring to edge out certain authors deliberately, as opposed to reading widely and rewarding excellence. It struck me in just how many ways our list could, and is, being interpreted: indeed, on closer examination of all the titles of the longlisted books, I notice that we "snubbed" the words "a" and "an", shoo-ins since 2007, and not since 2009 has the letter "J" been so unjustifiably jilted. And not a single apostrophe! What on earth's going on???
The enduring appeal of Bruce Wayne's Batman is not merely that of the superhero but the super-capitalist; the multibillionaire with so much capital that he turns his attention and wealth to the "superhuman", creating a suit and persona (with no actual superpowers) that will fight evil and save the world. A few seconds' walk up the Euston Road from a javelin train taking spectators to the current crucible of superhuman achievement in Stratford, the ever-brilliant Wellcome Collection continues its philosophical questioning of extreme ideas and innovation in the world of science, technology and medicine. Its current (free) exhibition, Superhuman, examines man's constant attempts to enhance his powers and the sometimes terrifying "add-ons" that we have developed throughout history to ameliorate our natural state, from Icarus to the implant. Metres away from an Olympic traffic lane it proves gold-standard pause for thought.
READ THE REST OF DAN'S WONDERFUL ARTICLE:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booker-prize/9446471/My-week-Dan-Stevens.html
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