{"id":124907,"date":"2018-05-03T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T17:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=124907"},"modified":"2018-05-04T10:21:45","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T14:21:45","slug":"smoke-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/03\/smoke-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PROLOGUE<\/p>\n

T<\/span>here\u2019s never smoke without fire.<\/em><\/p>\n

This was first said by someone suggesting a rumor might be well-founded.<\/p>\n

Words in the media today often function like a smoke screen for hiding flames.<\/p>\n

The government of North Korea has just announced that they have tested an H-bomb fired from a submarine. Endless discussion about whether this is true or a bluff.<\/p>\n

No reflections around the fact that in the oceans of the world there are about sixty fully armed nuclear submarines awaiting instructions day and night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

O<\/span>nce upon a time, men, women, and (secretly) children smoked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cC<\/span>an I give you a light?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d says the other, holding out a packet. \u201cTake one yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>hilst smoking together, we exchanged our views on the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e described journeys.<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e discussed the class struggle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e swapped dreams.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a companionship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nWe smoked in trains
\nand even in planes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e smoked between games of tennis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e smoked in restaurants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A<\/span>shtrays were gadgets of hospitality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/span>hen something happened, and everything changed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The storyteller, essayist, screenwriter, dramatist, and critic John Berger\u00a0(1926\u20132017) was one of the most internationally influential writers of the past fifty years. His many books include<\/em>\u00a0Ways of Seeing\u00a0<\/i>(1972), the Booker Prize\u2013winning novel\u00a0<\/em>G.\u00a0<\/i>(1972),<\/em>\u00a0Here Is Where We Meet\u00a0<\/i>(2005),<\/em>\u00a0From A to X\u00a0(2008),\u00a0<\/em>Cataract\u00a0(with Sel\u00e7uk Demirel) (2012), and, most recently,<\/em> Confabulations (2016). He died in January 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sel\u00e7uk Demirel\u00a0was born in Artvin, Turkey, in 1954. He trained as an architect and moved to Paris in 1978, where he still lives. His illustrations and books have appeared in many prominent European and American publications. Demirel\u2019s work ranges from book illustrations to magazine covers, from children\u2019s books to postcards and posters.<\/em><\/p>\n

From\u00a0<\/em>Smoke<\/a>,\u00a0by John Berger and Sel\u00e7uk Demirel. Published by Notting Hill Editions. Text copyright \u00a9 2016 John Berger and Sel\u00e7uk Demirel. Drawings copyright \u00a9 2016 Sel\u00e7uk Demirel.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PROLOGUE There\u2019s never smoke without fire. This was first said by someone suggesting a rumor might be well-founded. Words in the media today often function like a smoke screen for hiding flames. The government of North Korea has just announced that they have tested an H-bomb fired from a submarine. Endless discussion about whether this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1480,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[1464,573,14157],"class_list":["post-124907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-cigarettes","tag-john-berger","tag-smoke"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmoke<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A pictorial homage to cigarettes by the late John Berger and the Turkish artist Sel\u00e7uk Demirel.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/03\/smoke-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smoke by John Berger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 3, 2018 \u2013 PROLOGUE There\u2019s never smoke without fire. 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