Reply All | Letters: The 9.29.13 Issue

I've honestly never been a Dave Eggers fan, but this story is amazing, and the magazine was spot on in publishing it. This is one of the jobs of real literature, to sound the alarm while society rushes gleefully toward the latest utopia — to show its dark side and to give us pause. I wrote this before finishing the story, because the young protagonist's experience at the vaunted tech-company paradise was so rapidly becoming a nightmarish violation of her personhood that I had to take a break. ROBERT PFEIFFER, Richmond, Va., posted on nytimes.com

Please, no fiction in The New York Times. We rely on you for amazingly well written, meticulously reported news, feature articles, business updates and what's happening in the world. There are way too many sources for fiction, but fewer and fewer reliable sources for nonfiction. SUSAN MELCHER, Mount Vernon, Me., posted on nytimes.com

At least judging by the excerpt, Dave Eggers strays so far away from verisimilitude that his book barely even feels like satire. Instead, Eggers is preaching to a group of people that has already made up its collective mind that social media is dangerous and who love to one-up each other when talking about where the slippery slope might lead. . . . There are problems with Silicon Valley and with technology — don't get me wrong. But they're insidious rather than overt: executives compete to find products that people want to use, rather than trying to impress upon the public the need to share, or the idea that doing so is so socially beneficial that you're a bad person if you don't do it. FELIX SALMON, Reuters

A few years ago I would not have even thought of broadcasting my opinions after reading something like this, but here I am "zinging" my thoughts on it for all to see! The more we pause and reflect, the better, and for that I am grateful to the author. STEPHEN LIBEN, Montreal, posted on nytimes.com

CAN A GAY, CATHOLIC LEFTIST ACTUALLY SQUELCH CORRUPTION IN SICILY?

For all its socioeconomic woes and provincial sclerosis, Sicily is not "the Greece of Italy." But the roots of Sicily's ills run deep. Spanish Bourbon rule in southern Italy created a culture of administrative mismanagement, economic exploitation and endemic corruption. In 1943, the U.S. Army's Operation Husky enlisted Mafiosi to pave the way for the invasion of Sicily — reviving the criminal contagion that had been largely eradicated in the 1920s. Since 1993, however, Italy has captured and incarcerated a veritable Who's Who of Mafia vermin. Still, Rosario Crocetta would do well to heed Machiavelli: "There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things." ROSARIO A. IACONIS, Mineola, N.Y.

I wish Crocetta every success, but history and this article do not give me much confidence. Crocetta is, if nothing else, courageous. But he comes across as caught up in his ego, his rancor, melodramas and vendettas, his sexuality, his religion, his poetry. In that sense he is no different from Berlusconi or Beppe Grillo. Italians don't elect capable, sober people like Angela Merkel. They want flamboyant, glittering showmen. ANTONIO CASELLA, Lathlain, Australia, posted on nytimes.com

As a Sicilian living abroad, I am proud to witness a man like Crocetta. Let's not call him a hero — as this connotation in Sicily does not always imply a good end — but rather a beauty lover. He is deeply devoted to a fantastic dream that I share with him and the many other Sicilians who, despite all the contradictions of our island, feel deeply attached to it. MARGHERITA, Switzerland, posted on nytimes.com

'CARRIE' IS BACK. SO IS KIMBERLY PEIRCE.

Some time ago, when I heard that Kimberly Peirce was finally directing another film, I was glad, but I was disappointed that it's a remake of "Carrie." I wish she was given the opportunity to direct her own original work. "Silent Star" and "Butch Academy" sound infinitely more interesting to me. But Hollywood does not seem like a place that is very welcoming to original ideas, no matter the filmmaker's gender. VIRGINIA ANTONELLI, New York, posted on nytimes.com

PARADISE, PAVED

"Fascinating. Walmart parking lots as cultural way-stations along the road to finding the American dream." @GammaCounter, about Nolan Conway's photo essay, via Twitter

E-mail letters to magazine@nytimes.com or post comments at nytimes.com/magazine. Letters should include the writer's name, address and daytime telephone number. We are unable to acknowledge or return unpublished submissions. Letters and comments are edited for length and clarity. The address of The New York Times Magazine is 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Reply All | Letters: The 9.29.13 Issue

Dengan url

http://koraninternetonline.blogspot.com/2013/10/reply-all-letters-92913-issue.html

Koran Internet