How does his engagement with rather sobering subject matter function on a comedic level?
A foamy, delightful novel that concerns distinctly sober subjects, like fidelity, responsibility and greed, all evoked in strife between two sisters (one a collector of boyfriends, the other a hard-line businesswoman) for the orphaned baby of a third.
A self-described "court jester in the Palace of Science," Dr. Jones is an expert in chemical spectroscopy and other sober subjects, and since 1988 his column has been published weekly by the impeccably serious scientific journal Nature.
Fasting facilitates DCS absorption (Zhu et al. 2001), and plasma concentrations peak within 2 h in sober subjects (van Berckel et al. 1998).
For those who want a break from such sober subject matter, there will be a lot of other choices.
This unorthodox style, many reviewers said, was even less well suited to the sober subject of Mr. Cramer's 2004 book, "How Israel Lost: The Four Questions," about the painful consequences of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
"Halil," a nocturne for flute and orchestra from 1981 dedicated to an Israeli flutist killed in the Sinai eight years before, provided soberer subject matter and grittier backup harmonies and textures, but its main theme, representing the dead musician, is so sweet that it is hard to take the sentiment entirely seriously.
That it continues a hallowed style is a tonic; that people were still laboring too hard, the subject of the print, is sobering.
With many of her subjects, she makes use of biographical material, to sobering effect.
There is, of course, a wide variety of films at this year's festival that center on subjects that are happy, or at least less sobering.
But it is sobering also to realize that it is not exactly clear what this decision amounts to when subjected to philosophical scrutiny.
