Contemporary Campus Life

D. McCracken
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

It is with a certain hesitation that one opens a new book about the work experience written by a former colleague. Flicking nervously to the index I am relieved to see my name is not mentioned, only moments later to be mortified on flicking through his 244-page apologia to see my name up in lights. So, we shall start with a shoddy index. That and the 1970s drab brown cover do not speak well for a good read. Then the acknowledgements contain this ominous paragraph: ‘These chapters are constituted and rewritten from columns published in UKZNdabaOnline, with others from UKZNtouch, SUBtext, Wits Review, the Sunday Times and some other published and original materials. The first of these he wrote as the Griot, the oral storyteller of African communities. The chapters have been edited, updated and the original ideas elaborated on and offered here in essay form, rather than as columns.’ So, the 1970s are pushed back to the 1950s when in South Africa the common if quaintly outdated practice of selected published columns actually sold books. A quarter of a century ago I recall advising a celebrated journalist and broadcaster not to even think of such a retrograde step. And yet, like some remarkable madcap Grand Design, Tomaselli has succeeded where others have failed. The book is a success.
当代校园生活
当你打开一本由前同事写的关于工作经历的新书时,你会有些犹豫。我紧张地翻到索引上,看到我的名字没有被提到,我松了一口气,但过了一会儿,我又羞愧地翻看他244页的道歉信,看到我的名字出现在聚光灯下。因此,我们将从劣质指数开始。这和20世纪70年代的灰褐色封面并不能说明这是一本好书。然后致谢包含了这段不祥的段落:“这些章节是根据UKZNdabaOnline上发表的专栏组成和重写的,其他章节来自UKZNtouch、SUBtext、Wits Review、Sunday Times和其他一些已发表的原创材料。”第一部是他写的格里奥,非洲社区的口述故事者。章节已被编辑,更新和原始思想的阐述,并提供在这里的论文形式,而不是作为专栏。因此,20世纪70年代被推回到了20世纪50年代,当时在南非,精选出版专栏这种普遍但过时的做法实际上是卖书的。记得在25年前,我曾建议一位著名的记者和播音员,甚至不要考虑这样的退步。然而,就像一些了不起的疯狂大设计一样,托马塞利在别人失败的地方取得了成功。这本书很成功。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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