Locations of events.

Can real Socialism overcome man’s greed for money? If you read the book “The Golden Calf” authored by the two Soviet writers Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, you have to answer the question clearly with a “no”.

As early as 1860 the author of “Max Havelaar” called attention to the exploitative and inhuman conditions under which colonial goods were produced and traded. Unfortunately, most of the products we consume today are still not “fair trade.”

Being obsessed with an idea is perhaps a problem in real life but it does make for good literature. Viktor Frankenstein is obsessed with bringing a dead back to life. Jay Gatsby with the American Dream. And Captain Ahab with hunting the white whale.

The “Knigge” has suffered the same fate as many other famous books: It says something completely different than what we think it says. The real Knigge, after all, was not interested in prescribing stiff rules of behavior but in creating respectful interpersonal relations.

Do you know psycho thrillers which feature uncanny children or children possessed by demons as protagonists? The innocence we associate with the child in combination with its apparent corruption always makes for a particularly spine-chilling experience. Henry James wrote an early precursor of such modern thrillers.