Far From The Madding Crowd

The late Beatle’s views on his political outlook, his music, class struggle and his tirade against the establishment…

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Author JK Rowling, of the famed Harry Potter series, has revealed the title of the seventh (and final) Harry Potter book.

It will be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows according to an announcement made on the writer’s official website.

Speculation about the plot has surrounded the book after Rowling admitted two characters will die - some think it could be Harry Potter himself. This has led to the book being tipped to be a best seller, although the publication date of the book is not yet known.

For more on this, view this article

In its December 31, 2006 issue, Business Today reports of an English-cum-Hindi tabloid that is in the works.

In a novel experiment, the Dainik Jagran Group, which publishes Dainik Jagran, the country’s largest selling and most read Hindi newspaper is planning to launch a bi-lingual tabloid. To be called Inext the tabloid will have content in both Hindi and English….in that the Roman Script will be used for English words and Devanagari for Hindi.

Beginning from December 11th, for three days the grounds of Rabindra Sadan in Kolkata has been the venue of Soi mela, a book fair specifically targeting women. Organised by author Nabaneeta Dev Sen, this book fair of women’s writings was conceived after the author met women writers in a project which involved travelling to different cities in India. When the time came to say goodbye, the writers felt they should meet again. So a forum was set up to enable all women writers to interact.

In only its second year, Soi mela has garnered support from publishers and readers. Held on a much larger scale this year, the event has attracted participants from publishing houses based outside Kolkata, like Zubaan and The Little Magazine. Besides, the women studies department of Calcutta and Jadavpur universities, NGOs like Sappho, Sanlaap and Durbar, West Bengal women’s commission, Sahitya Academy, Pashchim Banga Academy and Publishers and Booksellers Guild also participated. Meanwhile, besides attracting noted writers from the east such as Temsula Ao, Nirupama Barogohai, Meenakshi Sen and Pratibha Rai, amateur, lesser-known women writers who were given a platform to read out some of their writings.

Primarily established to spread awareness about women’s issues and writings, Soi mela is still in its early stages. However, with enough support, the organizers are ambitious in their plans. They want to hold the fair in other cities such as the metros. This will only mean good times for all concerned.

After a barrage of complaints from overseas publishers, the Chinese government recently imposed a ban on photocopying foreign textbooks. The question now is: Will the Indian government follow suit?

The laws are already in place. There is the Copyright Act and the Intellectual Property Right of the author. The problem is one of enforcing the law.

For the students this is a familiar sight. Whole books being photocopied, many times cover included. But while photocopying entire books is a violation of these laws, so is photocopying even a single page, if even for reference.

There are arguments to both side of this story. Students argue that the books are too expensive, even by Indian standards, and given the large number of books that need to be referenced, it is not possible to purchase all of them. Subroto Majumdar, Chairman, Anti-piracy, Copyright and International Relations Committee, however, begs to differ. He claims that if the books are indeed so important, students should purchase them. Especially since the price of books in India is the cheapest compared to their price in any other country. Further, he counters, if students wish to refer to just a couple of pages from a book, they should visit the local library and jot down the main points (like there were many of those in India).

The issue gets complicated when any textbook photocopied for personal use cannot be seen as a violation of the Copyright Act, so students cannot be seen defaulters. Only those making an earning of such copyright violations can be punished, so perhaps those actually photocopying these books can be punished. But with laws so difficult to implement here in India, the jury is out on this one.

A couple of weeks ago, Orhan Pamuk delivered his Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Titled “Babamin bavulu,” which translates as “My Father’s Suitcase,” it’s about Pamuk’s relationship with his father, a man who loved to read and hoped to be a writer, but in the end preferred to enjoy life rather than devote himself fully to the craft. Pamuk , of course, followed his calling and, in his speech, passionately speaks about his love for literature. It is quite evident from Pamuk’s speech that he firmly believes in the influencing power of the written word.

I believe literature to be the most valuable tool that humanity has found in its quest to understand itself. Societies, tribes, and peoples grow more intelligent, richer, and more advanced as they pay attention to the troubled words of their authors–and, as we all know, the burning of books and the denigration of writers are both signs that dark and improvident times are upon us. But literature is never just a national concern. The writer who shuts himself up in a room and goes on a journey inside himself will, over the years, discover literature’s eternal rule: he must have the artistry to tell his own stories as if they were other people’s stories, and to tell other people’s stories as if they were his own, for that is what literature is.

Orhan Pamuk’s lecture, originally in Turkish, can be found in the English-language version here, reprinted in the New Yorker magazine.

What do you do when you decide to appear for the Civil Service examinations but cannot clear them because you do not have enough resources to help you out? Well, when faced with a similar predicament, Vraj Patel, a Central Excise Customs officer did quite the unimaginable - he opened a library to provide the needed resources.

The Maharishi Dayanand Foundation Library, located in Dadar, Mumbai, was established by Vraj Patel with a specific purpose - to cater to the needs of the students who are preparing for management exams, particularly the Civil Service entrance exams. At a nominal annual fee of Rs. 2000/-, students can avail of reference books, textbooks and guides for 25 optional subjects of the Civil Service exams. Besides, a faculty of experienced teachers guide students appearing for these exams by giving lectures during the weekends.

Google has recently announced that it has developed a partnership with India’s publishers for Google Book Search, an indication of the clout that the Indian publishing industry has around the world. Sage Publications are among the companies already involved, along with Orient Longman, Roli Books, Orient Paperbacks, Diamond Publications and New Age International. Google,meanwhile, is still looking around in an effort to expand its affiliate base.

Google Book Search is a service offered by the online search giant that allows people to browse portions of a book online and search it for specific terms. Additionally, the service connects with publishers, websites, and local bookstores that carry that title. To protect those titles which still lie under copyright, no more than 20% of the book can be viewed, no more than 5 pages can be scrolled through consecutively, and no text can be downloaded or printed.

The service is highly advantageous for the publishers, who recieve a share of the advertising revenue, and the entire portion of any book sales. It’s free for the publisher to provide their books, and it will give Indian publications an even larger presence worldwide. With various forms of media fighting for eyeballs, this initiative by Google is certainly a welcome one.

I know this one isn’t in India but is it a sign of things to come? Murder Ink, the first (and oldest) independent mystery bookstore, will shut its doors on its Upper West Side location in New York City on December 31, as will its younger sister store, Ivy’s Books and Curiosities.

For the full story, read this article. The owner of the bookstore says he saw the inevitable end coming when people started selling box-loads of books their parents once owned. People simply no longer read. This particular bookstore was a landmark in New York City but there’s only so much you can earn just by being famous.

With the advent of swanky bookstores and online booksellers, are those good old booksellers that sell those simply-hard-to-get masterpieces doomed? The way things have changed on Kolkata’s famed College Street, one cannot but fear the worst.

In case you too happen to be one of those who simply cannot get enough of Asterix and Tintin, you will understand what the fuss is all about. These are timeless classics, masterpieces you cannot get enough, time machines that transport you to a far-away, spectacular land.

And, for those cant-get-enough-of-Tintin-clan members, here’s an article you might enjoy.