Click and type in a question or comment
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Author's Post:
Thanks to everyone for your much-appreciated support at the launch of "The Saint Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires" on November 7, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand!
Soon after, a very positive review of "Saint Perpetuus" appeared at grimrictus.blogspot.com
Feel free to check it out.
Thanks again for all the support from friends and fans.
Best,
Eric
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Author's Post:
Dear Readers,
As I mentioned on the main page, "St. Perpetuus" has just come back from the printers and is available on pre-order.
You can contact Tartarus Press directly to order.
Best,
Eric
Author's Post:
Dear Readers,
Many of you have asked me when the "St. Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires" is going to be available for pre-order. The answer is "quite soon".
It's just going to press right now and should be available by October/November 2009 through Tartarus Press: http://freepages.pavilion.net/tartarus/perpetuus.htm
In the mean time, you can see my book listed at: https://www.horror-mall.com/Tartarus-Press-p-2-c-343.html
All the best, and I'll update you soon!
Eric
Click and type in a question or comment
Sorry: I posted the previous comment and did not add my name.
Susanne Zwingel
(Assistant Professor of Politics, SUNY Postdam, NY)
Dear Eric,
your presentation at SUNY Potsdam's Human Rights Day 2009 has impressed our students tremendously. Thanks for being with us over the phone! I, personally, was fascinated by how you approach human rights violations - torture in particular - from a personal, not a theoretical or abstract approach. I am convinced such an approach makes ordinary people better understand what is at stake.
I read the Pear tree after our online encounter; it is a wonderful book. Its history is also telling - I mean the fact that for almost a decade publishers didn't think a book about torture would sell, but then after 9/11 and the Abu Graib scandals everything changed. That was, I think, because for American readers, the issue of torture became painfully close - should "we" be entitled to do it to "them" if it means security for us? - it was not anymore a horrific but remote historical fact from other countries such as Argentina.
It was fascinating to follow you on this exploration of torture. The most powerful idea of the book for me is this: torture requires a division of people into the ones that deserve protection (us, the most vulnerable members of our group - children in particular) and the ones that threaten our well being and safety - those are the others, the monsters. It is very hard, however, to make such a distinction if we understand that "the others" are also someone's children and that they deserve respect and protection as much as we and our children do. For me, this was a very powerful justification of the universal idea of human rights. Thank you very much for thatn!
Dear Professor Hinckley,
It would be a pleasure to discuss my work with your students for International Human Rights Day.
I applaud the faculty of the State University of New York, Potsdam, for taking this initiative of engaging your students in this important event.
My best wishes to you and your fellow professors. Please send me an e-mail via this site, and we'll schedule a talk.
Best,
Eric
Dear Eric,
Here at the State University of New York, Potsdam, several of the faculty organize an annual campus event to celebrate International Human Rights Day. This year we'd be honored if you would join us by phone to discuss your work and experiences.
Thanks for your consideration and congratulations on your many accomplishments.
Rob Hinckley
Dear Eric,
We just want to say a big thank you for a great discussion with you over the phone. We all appreciated it a lot and we continued discussing afterwards as well.
Many thanks again from Sweden; Lotta, Katarina, Karolin and Charlotte
AUTHOR RESPONSE:
Dear Katarina, Lotta, Karolin and Viveka:
Thanks so much for your post.
I'm really happy to hear from practitioners in the Human Rights field and that you've found my book worthwhile.
First of all, congratulations on your own work. I can only imagine how hard it must be to work with refugees who have gone through traumatic experiences.
Second of all, by all means I'd be very happy to set up a "call-in" to discuss my book.
You know, when I did a launching for "The Pear Tree" in Norway a few years ago, the best part was after the "official" launch, when I got to sit down with readers over a cup of coffee and just interact with them, learn where they're coming from and exchange ideas.
Feel free to click on the quick link "Write Eric an e-mail", and we can set up a time for a phone-in. There's quite a time difference between Sweden and Thailand, but I'll be more than happy to set up a time that works for all of us.
Again, congratulations on your own work, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Eric
Dear Eric,
We are group of people in Sweden who work with refugees, mainly from Iraq . We have read your book with great interest and it made us think about torture from many different angles. We will meet up and discuss your book, would it at all be possible for you to participate in a "call-in"?
Katarina, Lotta, Karolin, Viveka
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AUTHOR RESPONSE:
Thanks a lot for your comment. I really appreciate it.
You know, "The Pear Tree" has been making its rounds as required reading at a number of universities (from Political Science to Social Justice and Human Rights).
I think its frank - sometimes brutal - language is a refreshing change from the overly-philosophical or legal "sterilized" approach to teaching about torture.
Torture is brutal. Torture is awful. And it should be discussed on a personal level, because we first authorize it in our hearts before we authorize our leaders to commit it.
The topic may be too graphic for a high school level, and I think the professor would need to be really in touch with the students' emotions and be ready to provide counselling if needed.
At the same time, remarks by some commentators downplaying what happened at Abu Ghraib by comparing it to "fraternity pranks" makes me think we need to start talking about respecting bodily integrity and dignity way before students begin university.
Thanks a lot for your comments.
If you or any of the other visitors to my page are educators, I can always talk to my publisher about sending you a review copy for your course. I'm also very happy to give lectures by teleconference.
Best,
Eric
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In the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, it could be a very good idea to include books like “The Pear Tree” as a mandatory reading in High School, what do you think?
AUTHOR RESPONSE:
Thanks very much for your comments on "The Pear Tree."
I tried to write it in accessible language. You know, I've written a lot of academic articles on human rights and torture, and that's just not what's needed right now.
Now is a time for all of us - not just academics or politicians - to discuss this issue because it's something that touches us all personally.
No, most of us don't torture. However, many people torture in our name, and we're either for it or against it. We just can't close our eyes to it and pretend we're not somehow connected.
My stance in my book was (and may still be) a bit unpopular, because I do not lay all the blame on the doorstep of politics. Yes, politics can spur on torture, and governments can put into place systems or campaigns of fear to promote torture.
But, in the end, it's a personal choice, on a personal level, to accept that people are tortured in our name. If we all say "never again", then governments that promote torture simply don't stand a chance.
In an ideal case, governments should save us from ourselves. They should be entities of reason and informed decision, so that when we, full of passion and fear, want to torture our "enemies", governments should stop us, should make quiet our dark passions and should remind us that the rule of law and unfailing respect for human rights protects us all.
As I write in my book, however, in recent times, it is the people who must calm the passions of governments, and remind them it is their job to protect human rights, across the board, whether they be our rights, or the rights of our "enemies".
As for current projects, I recently wrote an article - in Spanish - on Juan Vucetich, the Croat-Argentine inventor of the modern fingerprinting techniques. In the late 1800s, Vucetich developed fingerprinting precisely to prevent mistreatment and torture of suspects. He believed that science should be rationally - and humanely - applied to solving crimes, so that police would not force confessions from suspects.
More than 100 years on, Vucetich's technology - and more important, his philosophy - is fascinating. If we just applied Vucetich's ideals of professional police investigation, guided by a profound respect for human rights, we would be a lot better off.
So, nothing new under the sun. But it helps us to remember we don't have to invent respect for human rights...We just have to apply it. My article appears in a recent edition of "Todo es historia", and I'm planning an English-language translation of it soon.
Thanks, again, for writing, and feel free to post whenever you like.
Best,
Eric
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READER POST:
Some people say "never say never" I say, its very important to "say never" sometimes. It is a cornerstone of civilization that governments prohibit certain actions. And it is critical that governments *never* are responsible for perpetrating the actions they are charged with prohibiting. I hope in 50 years we are living in a world where this debate is settled and no one would attempt to defend such actions as we see being defended now. Keep fighting the good fight Mr. Carlson.
I read The Pear Tree right after it came out. It was a very thoughtful and thought provoking piece of work. You caused me to rethink and reprocess everything I thought I knew about the subject of torture. Your very personal and frank writing style was great - an easy read for a very challenging subject. I think you got your with - the public debate is in full swing. What is coming next? Do you have other works in progress on this topic?
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Click and type in a question or comment
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AUTHOR'S RESPONSE:
Hi, Tom.
Thanks a lot for checking out the site and making a comment.
Also, thanks for the kind words. . .Yes, about struggle. All my work has been about trying to come to grips with the darker side of all of us.
Why do we commit torture? Why do we engage in mass murder?
Why do we tend to build up belief systems that are based on protecting people who look like us, talk like us, and demonize "the other" - people with different points of view, religion, skin colour...etc?
I still haven't figured that out, but I've met a lot of good, brave, decent people along the way.
Thanks again, and let's keep talking!
All the best,
Eric
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Eric what a triumph! I recall many a discussion as children. You struggled even then believing that such actions were even possible for one person to do to another. Your humanity even then was so much more refined than some adults we knew at the time. Much success with your novel I look forward to it.
Tom P.
