Garcia Marquez is writing new novel

A report in The Guardian says that "...Fears that Colombia's Nobel prizewinning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, had put down his pen forever were allayed today when a close friend confirmed that the master of magical realism was working on a new novel."

According to him the next book will be a love story. Apparently Garcia Marquez has four versions of it, and is working on the final version by getting the best from each.

Two years ago, Garcia Marquez, 81, said that he had laid his pen down for good. 2005 was the first year in his life that I didn't write a line. And the world moaned.

From his own admission, the problem was one of enthusiasm not inspiration. "With all the practice I've got, I'd have no problems writing a new novel ... But people notice if you haven't put your heart into it."

Rumours that Gabriel Garcia marquez was writing a new novel has been circulating for almost a year. This is the first confirmation.

His last novel, Memories of my Melancholy Whores, was published in 2004. the report also says he is preparing a second volume of memoirs to follow Living to Tell the Tale, published in 2002.

The Guardian

He saw 'the coming'

A long-forgotten Brazilian sci-fi novel novel saw 'the coming', and now it has shot up the bestsellers list and is making a lot of money for the publisher, but not the author who has already passed on. What surprises me is that there is only one such book reported.

The novel written by Monteiro Lobato, a Brazilian children's author who died in 1948, was called The Black President (O Presidente Negro). In the story, Jim Roy, a black politician becomes the 88th President of the USA in the year 2228 that pits him against a feminist called Evelyn Astor -- Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin? It was originally serialised in 1926, with a narrative revolving around a crystal ball-like machine capable of predicting the future.

Unlike George orwell who chose 1984 (a reverse of the year 1948), Lobato chose a date much further along. He was writing science fiction, of course.

A quote from the Observer says: 'Apart from the fact that the President is black, his rival is a blonde woman,' says Lucia Machado, from publisher Globo, which bought the rights to Lobato's entire back catalogue. 'It was a huge coincidence,' she says. 'The US was about to have its elections; we took advantage of that and sped up its release.' The book hit Brazilian shelves earlier this year, as Obama and Hillary Clinton battled it out for the Democratic nomination, accompanied by the slogan: 'Any resemblance to actual events is pure coincidence.'

The Guardian

Is Farish Noor banned?

Early last week a customer asked if Farish Noor's From Majapahit to Putrajaya was banned. We told him that not as far as we knew. But he went on to tell us that he had been to Kinokuniya at KLCC and, apparently, they told him that officials from the KDN had come in and seized the book and had told the bookstore not to sell them. We asked some friends, who did their own investigations and found it to be true.

According to The Nut Graph, the books were taken from Kinokuniya's shelves on the 15th of August, two and a half month ago, together with other titles (mostly on religion). The report says that the book is under 'investigation'. We notice that all titles by Farish Noor have been removed from Kino's online store as well (except the recent Malay translation.)

Of course, this is totally unacceptable besides being absurd. This is not because Farish Noor is the country's leading public intellectual whose non-partisan views are well known, not because the book is almost four years old and everyone who wants to read it already has, but because we have a rule of law that presumes innocence until guilt is proven.

Kinokuniya is a business concern. True, they have probably already written off this loss as one of the costs of doing business in Malaysia. But they should not have too. They should not have to operate under a constant threat, not knowing if they have violated some vague rule, not knowing when they will be raided, and not knowing what for. The rules must be clear and fair for everybody, and KDN have an obligation to explain why they take certain actions.

It is almost seems a waste of time asking the Minister for an explanation. He (or she) probably doesn't know what is going on. But, ask we must.

So Minister, can you please tell us if all books by Farish Noor have been banned?

The Nut Graph

Book sales in Kerala

I was in Kerala some years ago, going through bookshops, as usual, and what struck me was the way Malayalam books filled the space. I have been to, practically, all the major the bookshops in Chennai and New Delhi, (don't even talk about Malaysia and Singapore) and found shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with imported books. Oh yes, there are plenty of local books too, but not like in Kerala.

So I was not surprised to read a recent report from The Hindu that said that '... The emergence of television as a major medium of news and entertainment has failed to dent the reading habit of Keralites where the sale of books continues to keep up growth trend.'

'The sale of Malayalam books have been growing by at least 30 per cent a year and the response to book fairs in all parts of the state have been quite encouraging, according to Ravi Deecee, CEO of a leading publishing house DC Books.'

30 percent a year? Wow! (Among the favourites being MT Vasudevan Nair -- picture.)

"It has become a cliche to wail that reading habit is dying. In fact, printed word is still in great demand even among young generation", Ravi told PTI here.

According to the report the total sales at a recent book fair increased by 50% over last year's figures. The fair had one million books on display. Another positive trend is the way books are penetrating rural areas with the concept that "books should go to people instead of people coming to bookhouses ..." I wonder how that works. But then in India they sell books on the streets like we sell pirated DVDs.

The Hindu

A most expensive and beautiful book

I am, like you, sick of hearing all the negative news about the economy and how nobody reads anymore and so on. Let's face it, reading is a minority activity and it has become sort of cool to be stupid. (How did that happen?) We are a proud minority and, no matter what the idiot brigade might say, if it were not for people like us civilisation could not have risen to this height and man will still be living in caves.

So let us celebrate the book. Let us celebrate what is being billed as the world's most expensive and beautiful book.

It is valued at over US$100,000, is 62-pound and is handmade. It depicts the life and works of Michelangelo and has just been published in Italy. According to the AP report, it takes six months to make each book, using Italian artisan skills dating to the Renaissance, and more than 20 books have been sold.

"Today, things last so little before they disappear, " says Marilena Ferrari, its Italian publisher.

The title of the book is Michelangelo. La Dotta Mano. It has a front cover of white marble bound in red silk velvet. The book is filled with photographs of Michelangelo's sculptures and plates of his drawings, plus images of other creations, from the Sistine Chapel ceiling and his personal poetry.

I am already drooling.

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