 |
 |
|
|
 Vol. 31 No. 8 · 30 April 2009The Money that PraysJeremy Harding: Sharia FinanceLast September, as dust and debris from the tellers’ floors began raining onto the empty vaults below, a note of satisfaction was sounded by bankers in the Arab world. Financial institutions sticking to the tenets of Islam, they announced, were largely immune from the debt crisis. Devout Muslims may lend and borrow under certain conditions; they can even buy and sell debt in the form of ‘Islamic’ bonds, but most other kinds of debt trading are frowned on. [ read more . . . ] James Wood writes about the manipulations of Ian McEwanAt a formal level, the confession of any withheld revelation, even an unsettling one, is satisfying. It contains and closes; it solves a narrative puzzle. This manipulation of surprise is reproduced at the level of McEwan's sentences. He writes very distinguished prose, but is fond of a kind of thrillerish defamiliarisation, in which he lulls the reader into thinking one thing while preparing something else. [ read more . . . ] DiaryDaniel Finn: IRA Splinter GroupsIt’s difficult to fathom the enthusiasm for armed struggle among hardline Republicans: if the British establishment wasn’t prepared to withdraw in 1972, when the Provos killed a hundred soldiers and wounded more than five hundred, why would they capitulate now to groups incapable of fighting a war at that pitch? [ read more . . . ] PlusShort CutsThomas Jones retreats to his caveAt the New WhitechapelPeter Campbell on Isa GenzkenLetters from Abraham Foxman, Louis Harovitz, Lesley Beaven, Aldo Agosti, Alfio Bernabei, Gabriel Kahn, Robin Blake, Kate Soper, Mark Dow, Garth Clarke, Loren Biggs, Roger Mallion, Editor, ‘London Review’Registered subscribers to the print edition of the LRB can also read the following: Colin Burrow: Wolf Hall
|
The LRB is looking for an editorial intern. The job, which will involve fact-checking and other less glamorous duties, would suit a recent graduate and is paid. CVs should be sent to jobs@lrb.co.uk. |
