Word: avoidance
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...delirious dreamscape, an incantatory religious ritual, a shower of aimless verbal fireworks or perhaps a murmured hint of psychotic menace. Too often setting such moods has been an end in itself rather than a means to what satisfies audiences: telling a coherent, affecting story. In the effort to avoid being old-fashioned, to prove that the stage has an authentic voice beyond the naturalism commonly found in film and TV, theater directors often turn their backs on narrative or at least overlook basic flaws in the plausibility of characters and the logic of plots. They take, in effect, a rock...
...life is getting better, fast, for many Chinese. Industrial production has leaped along with food output. Early in 1985 it was increasing at an annual rate of 23%, a pace Deng and his planners judged too rapid. They ordered a slowdown to avoid shortages and worsening inflation. In Mao's days, Chinese consumers dreamed of buying the "three bigs": a bicycle, a wristwatch and a sewing machine. Now the three bigs are a refrigerator, a washing machine and a TV set. "Imagine," says a Western diplomat. "Some people living in the heart of Guizhou province now see the evening news...
...bothers with ideology, which is not very far, he certainly tends to a minimalist definition of Marxism. As Deng told TIME: "In carrying on socialism, I think we should uphold two things. First, public ownership should always play a dominant role in our economy. Second, we should try to avoid [class] polarization and we should always keep to the road of common prosperity." Beyond that, he implies, pretty much anything goes if it "will lead China to development...
...making anything like the case against Deng that might be expected. In private, they fear that China will be come an even greater military threat if the reforms succeed. But in public, Soviet journals have noted China's economic progress and expressed only mild doctrinal qualms. The Soviets must avoid name calling if they want to continue smoothing political relations with Peking. Also, suggests an Asian diplomat in Moscow, they "may want to keep their options open in case they decide, five years from now, that they want to try some of these things themselves. They will not be inviting...
...that have become a hallmark of Murdoch's dialogue. But in raising expectations that all the frantic activity she describes will finally lead to some sort of understanding, the author finally sets herself up for a fall. A last word of sorts is left to Harry: "No one can avoid muddle." That is probably true. But Murdoch's fans are entitled to the wish that she had tried a bit harder to clarify her entertaining confusion. --By Paul Gray