In Malaysia, the Harry Potter shit hits the fan

Guess it was bound to happen. Major bookshop chains in the city have decided to boycott the latest Harry Potter book in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to 'unfair' pricing by Tesco and Carrefour hypermarkets. Isn't that simply delicious? Unfair pricing? Well, well, well. Who's talking now? Isn't that exactly what major chains have been doing to independent bookshops all these years? When they sell the latest release of a best-selling author below cost at their four-times-a-year 'warehouse' sales to attract customers, what did they think they were doing? Now they are protesting? Is that rich or what? Does anyone remember how JRR Tolkein's latest book Children of Hurin was sold below cost at a recent warehouse sale even before it was even released to the public.

Talk about poetic justice. Oh, you poor thing ... boo, hoo, hoo ...

I think what has happened with Harry Potter is the best thing for the industry. Time to put the house in order, right? But knowing Malaysians we will be back doing whatever we were doing before long - whinging and whining about everything but not doing anything about anything.

Oh BTW, you may wish to listen to the recent BBC broadcast Hurray for Harry here. You may wish to hear the bit about how "independent bookshops won't be able to make any profit from the publisher's draconian arrangements."

Malaysia bans 14 books

A Bernama report states that The Internal Security Ministry (in their infinite wisdom to protect the impressionable) has banned 14 books (I counted 16) under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and it was gazetted effective May 31.

"The ministry's Publication and Quranic Text Control Division secretary Che Din Yusoh said some of the books were found to contain facts that deviated from the Islamic teaching to the extent of possibly endangering the moral of readers and causing public disorder.

"He said the rest were banned because they contained explicit sexual descriptions and were not suitable for public reading."

The books are:

1. Al-Kafilah Siapakah Yang Dikatakan Gadis by Mohamad Abdul Hamid
2. Rahsia Di Kamar & Kunci Wanita by Tok Nujum
3. Rahsia Nombor 1 Untuk Wanita II by Tok Nujum
4. Rahsia Kenikmatan Rumahtangga by Tabib Haji Anwar Khan Enterprise
5. Masalah Seksual Lelaki & Rawatan Alternatif by Teguh Ringgit Publishing House
6. Pendidikan Seks Rumahtangga Kemuncak Rahsia Kebahgiaan by Jaafar Salleh
7. Kasih Sayang Sejati Rahsia Menguatkan Tenaga Batin by Jaafar Salleh
8. Teknik Bercumbu dan Berjimak by Jaafar Salleh
9. Onward Muslim Soldier by Robert Spencer
10. Islamic Aesthetics: An Introduction by Oliver Leaman
11. Islamic Fundamentalism Since 1945 by Beverley Milton-Edwards
12. Who Can Be Saved? And World Religions by Terrance L.Tiessen
13. War, Terror & Peace In The Quran And In Islam: Insights For Military & Government Leaders by T. P. Schwartz-Barcott
14. The Qoran: Selected Suras by Arthur Jeffrey
15. The Qur'an by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
16. The Koran by M. H. Shakir

Cheng ... cheng ... chenggggg.

Isn't it wonderful to know that someone cares so much for us that they are watching out for us? Now, come children, don't argue. They are only doing it for your own good. When you grow up you will thank them for it. Now run along and play. Oh! Is it raining? Okay, you can stay home and watch some scantily-clad girls and their 'gangster' dudes simulate copulation on MTV. Be good now. You can lip sync and dance to the songs if you like.

James Bond rides again (among other things)

Fourteen and fifteen are wonderful ages, if you have James Bond for company. You are horny like hell but still treated like a child. You take a peek at those naughty passages in Lady Chatterley's Lover, Fanny Hill, Kama Sutra and The Perfumed Garden among others, all wrapped in brown paper. (The Carpetbaggers was later.) Unfortunately you can't read them openly because they are all considered 'dirty' books. But James Bond you can. Nothing is explicit, only suggested, and you can let your imagination fly and think you are going to burst every time you come to those parts …

But it was not just about the sex. There was the constant menacing danger (which the movie versions were never able to handle successfully, except of for the music, substituting it instead with action, gadgetry and special effects), the sudden violence, the delicious villains - Rosa Klebb, Pussy Galore, Auric Goldfinger, Dr M, Ernst Stravro Blofeld ... oh, so many. In Dr No a poisonous centipede (in the movie it was a tarantula - how predictable) crawls all over Bonds naked torso in bed (yes, he sleeps in the raw), you are beside yourself with fear on where it might bite or where it might nuzzle up, now it is crawling all over your own skin, 100 legs and a deadly venom (yikes, I still get the creeps when I think of it … if I can remember that scene from the book after 45 years, it must have been some scene yah?) Cheesy as the Bond series was, it was damn good story telling.

And the quotes (Goldfinger was a master at that):

JB: Do you expect me to talk?
AG: No Mr Bond, I expect you to die.

Or how about this one, probably the most famous quote of them all?

AG: "In Chicago, Mr Bond, they have a saying: once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time is enemy action.

(Makes you wonder what kind of kick fourteen-year-olds get out of Harry Potter these days, doesn't it?)

Anyway James Bond is back (again). But this time Sebastian Faulks will write it. I was not too excited by the previous efforts, but his one is something I am looking forward to. It should be good (as long as SF does not take himself too seriously.)

Sebastian Faulks has been commissioned by the Fleming estate to write this sequel to commemorate the centenary of Fleming's birth. Devil May Care, will be published May 2008.

[Others commissioned by Fleming's estate to resurrect Bond have been: Kingsley Amis (Colonel Sun), John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson (The Man with the Red Tattoo), all pretty forgettable efforts.]

More than 100m copies of Fleming's 14 original Bond novels have been sold since Casino Royale was published in 1954.

Full report: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2123271,00.html

The coolest wizard of them all

Guardian Unlimited reports that Ian McKellen as Gandalf has been voted the UK's favourite film wizard. Yay! He received 44% of the vote in a poll of 3000 movie fans. Must be that beard.

Prof Albus Dumbledore was next with 17% of the votes, though I wonder if it was for Richard Harris or Sir Michael John Gambon that the votes went. I would have voted for Richard Harris.

Harry Potter came in a lame third with 9%. Look, the rules are simple. If you want to be taken seriously as a wizard grow a beard and make sure it is white. It doesn't matter if the wizard is a Brit, Indian or Chinese. The same rules apply.

The full list:

1. Gandalf (The Lord Of The Rings) 44%
2. Dumbledore (Harry Potter) 17%
3. Harry Potter (Harry Potter) 9%
4. Merlin (The Sword in the Stone) 6%
5. The Wizard of Oz (The Wizard of Oz) 2%

Full story: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2122097,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10

In an unrelated story The New York Times says that "Potter Has Limited Effect on Reading Habits".

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/books/11potter.html?ex=1341806400&en=b75927fcab608871&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Are book groups killing reading?

From The Herald.

That's an interesting one. We always thought bookclubs promoted reading. They got people to buy books, read them, discuss them with friends and elevate their conversations to a slightly higher level than television watchers. Of course, there are wide ranges of bookclubs, even in a small city like Kuala Lumpur. Some are gatherings of like minded friends meeting once a month to discuss something more interesting than the next contestant to be eliminated from American Idol (duhhh…), some focus on certain types of subjects the members would like to know about, then there are those exclusive by-recommendation-and-personal-invitation-only type, and many in between. All in all, bookclubs have had pretty good press.

Then came Oprah, and with her a host of others, and with them the bookclub went mainstream and became industry. It has now become another cynical marketing by giant publishers with huge resources. Now everyone who watches Oprah must have 'her' book on his/her shelf (in the living room presumably, where everyone can see the book) mostly unread. Yes, the question has been raised: does Oprah even read 'her' books, or does she base her choice purely on reviews done by her staff or, worse still, publishers' lobbies? I would pose the same question to Richard and Judy. According to the report, apart from the 'homogenisation of our reading culture' by reducing the choices available to the reader, it promotes one 'driven by social desperation more than by a love of literature'. It appears that reading is now more and more being dictated by a tiny minority. But still, there is the joy of sharing with friends a newly discovered obscure gem. We don't see this new kind of bookclub involving the TV, radio, the internet and the newspapers usurping the role of the less formal meetings at homes, in libraries and coffee houses.

The bookclub is dead. Long live the bookclub.

Full story: http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.1494594.0.0.php