There is a lot to be said these days about ebooks and Kindle . . .
Before E-book Experimentation, How About A Little Back to Basics?
by Kassia Krozser || PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES || JAN 2010
In an earlier piece for Publishing Perspectives, “‘E’ is for Experimentation,” Guy Le Charles Gonzalez makes the point that industry fetishists tend to salivate over bright and shiny things — and honestly, who among us hasn’t ascribed magical properties to the Apple Unicorn, due to be announced this week? Gonzalez thinks 2010 will be a year of experimentation, and I do, too…with reservations. My hope is that experimentation plays second fiddle to getting the basics right.
Guy pointed out that the print book is a pretty efficient format. You won’t get an argument from me, but I have no interest in improving the print experience. I’m looking to improve the reading experience, which to me going forward means getting digital books right. >>READ MORE
The magic of a good book, lost in digital translation
Ross Anderson || THE NATIONAL || FEB 2010
It was said of the former British prime minister John Major, an otherwise somewhat dull and colourless man, that his great pleasure each night was retiring to bed with a well-thumbed Trollope.
In these days of the Amazon Kindle – and its potential nemesis, we are told, the new Apple iPad – it is hard to see how Mr Major could indulge his passion for the great Victorian novelist and chronicler of Barsetshire.
Having done its calculations at the end of last year’s festive gift-buying season, Amazon announced that e-books had outsold paper ones for the first time. The company took great pleasure in this news, and it’s not hard to work out why.
First, pinging an e-book down the wire – a process in which the purchaser does what little work is required – is a lot less expensive than paying staff to parcel up and dispatch the printed version. Second, when you download an e-book from Amazon you’re not actually “buying” anything; you’re merely leasing the right to read it. The Kindle software comes with DRM (digital rights management) so restrictive that the small print reads like an employment contract with the CIA. >>READ MORE
The e-book Revolution: Publishing Wars, Kindle, and Readers
WOMEN ON WRITING.COM || FEB 2010
Until recently, publishers didn’t take e-books seriously because they only accounted for less than 1% of books sold. But now, according to Jonathan Kirsch, host of “The Politics of Culture” radio show, everyone in the publishing industry is paying attention to what he calls the “e-book revolution.” He says it started with Amazon’s kindle e-book reader–a product that did for e-books what iPod did for music. And last Christmas, e-book sales outnumbered print sales for the first time in history!
In Jonathan Kirsch’s radio show yesterday, he interviewed New York Times digital media columnist Motoko Rich, Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital blogger Peter Kafka, and e-book reader/fan and author herself, Dora Levy Mossanen about kindle, e-books, and ibooks.
Early adopters or mainstream?
Where e-book readers used to be for early adopters, it appears they have migrated to the general public. And surprisingly, these adopters are not the young and tech savvy, a lot of them are in their fifties and sixties and simply love books. With over three million sales in e-book reading devices (e-book readers) it’s surprising to me that I don’t see people using them in the general public. You’d think I’d catch people reading in restaurants on their lunch break, in the doctor’s office, or at a bus stop. But although e-book sales represent the fastest growing proportion of the publishing market, they still only represent about 5% of total book sales, according to Motoko Rich. Rich also says that even though e-book sales occupy a lot of mind space and are the leading cause of anxiety among publishers, it isn’t the way the majority of the world reads. In fact, three million e-book readers is small potatoes compared to the forty plus million print sales. >>READ MORE
Pride, Prejudice, and Kindles: Amazon offers classics for free
by Rich Trenholm || CNET NEWS/CRAVE || FEB 2010
You’ve seen the film, probably with Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson; now read the original book, on your Kindle, for nowt. The works of Dickens and Austen are among 65,000 classics of English literature digitized by the British Library and coming soon, for free, to Amazon’s e-book reader.
The titles were scanned on Microsoft’s dime as part of its now-defunct Live Search book search project. They’re all from the 19th century and are out of copyright. Amazon will offer the e-books to Kindle owners through its Kindle store in late spring or early summer, leaving you with no excuse not to dive into the seminal classics of English literature, such as “Oliver Twist,” “Tess of the d’Urbervilles,” or that one with Gwyneth Paltrow. Fingers crossed for “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”
Read more of “Pride and Prejudice and Kindles: Amazon offers British Library classics for free” at Crave UK.
Dante’s Inferno Review
by Liam Martin, Gaming Reporter || DIGITALSPY || FEB 2010
Some time ago, DS mused over the merits of turning games into silver screen spectacles, as well as the dreaded movie/video game tie-in. It seems like a match made in heaven to pair the action of film with the visceral madness that can be found in many games. Unfortunately though, the finished article sees the release of either a sloppy game, due to the speed in which the product has to be rushed out, or a shoddy movie, due to the lack of depth found in most game scripts.
If games and films at least appear to be a perfect match, then what of games and literature – a match made in hell, surely? What better way to examine this potentially hellish partnership than with Electronic Arts’ recent release Dante’s Inferno?
When first announced, the title raised more than a few eyebrows, as the idea of turning a 14th century epic poem about one man’s descent through hell into a God Of War-style hack ‘n’ slash game seemed ridiculous. However, despite being far from a release of the year candidate, Dante’s Inferno isn’t a bad title at all. It may have its flaws, but the action is pretty solid and the storyline is intriguing – so why does it work to some degree?
There are a few major reasons as to why Dante’s Inferno works as a game, and it’s all largely to do with the fact that it deviates so heavily from its literary source. For one thing, the story has been completely changed in order to give the game, and lead character, a purpose. In the actual Divine Comedy, Dante is in a dark stage of his life (possibly suicidal), which ultimately leads him, with the help of his guide Virgil, into hell itself, up the Mount of Purgatory and finally into heaven – with Beatrice, Dante’s inspiration in life and love, as his new guide. It’s an allegorical tale of the afterlife which attempts to identify and illustrate the punishments and rewards of an existence of sin and virtue. >>READ MORE
Literature course keeps civil rights fight alive
by Maxwell Newfield, ASSOCIATE CAMPUS EDITOR || THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN || FEB 2010
Some students worry upper level courses may focus on incredibly specific subjects, but one 4000-level course in the English department allows students to work on their critical thinking and writing skills, all the while making sure everything relates back to a critical time in American History.
The class is ‘Special Topics in African-American Literature: The Fight for Civil Rights in African American Literature and Culture,’ and it is taught by Susana Morris.
“Students are going to read a diverse set of readings from authors from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s,” Morris said. “There is the more well-known literature such as ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ or Martin Luther King’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail.’ Then we’ll also read things from folks in the black power movement, like Huey Newton, or literature from the black women’s movement.” >>READ MORE
Festival of literature
THE NATIONAL || FEB 2010
Martin Amis, Kate Mosse and Alexander McCall Smith are among more than 100 celebrated writers taking part in this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, between March 10 and 13 at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City. Tickets for the individual events, including author sessions, readings and seminars, are priced from Dh39, although admission to many of the attractions, such as the Fringe Festival, will be free. Tickets are available now from selected Magrudy’s shops or the festival’s website at www.eaifl.com. >>READ MORE
US Magazine Features Korean Modern Literature
by Chung Ah-young, STAFF REPORTER || KOREA TIMES || FEB 2010
Korean literature, particularly the modern genre, is less recognized on the world scene than that of other Asian countries such as China and Japan. Understanding modern Korean literature’s genuine complexities requires a brief look back to some basic contours of the century leading up to the present moment.
U.S.-based magazine World Literature Today features Korean contemporary literature in a wide spectrum over the 16-page-long special section for its January-February edition.
The special article is part of the efforts of the Korea Literature Translation Institute (KLTI) to introduce Korean works to global readers through its support of translations and publications. >>READ MORE
N.Y. professor wins Drue Heinz Literature Prize
by Rege Behe || PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW || FEB 2010
Tina May Hall is the winner of the 2010 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her short-story collection, “The Physics of Imaginary Objects,” was selected from nearly 350 entries by film critic and writer Renata Adler.
Hall, 37, is an Arizona native who teaches English at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. The award includes publication of the book in October and a cash award of $15,000.
The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is administered by the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Amplified Experience: Picture literature
by Gita Wolf || DECCAN HERALD || FEB 2010
When you look at a newspaper article — or an advertisement — what do you see first? The words or the image? And what do you remember later? If you are like most people, the odds are that the picture — the frozen moment or the carefully constructed image — will stay with you longer. Try to remember the caption or the ad copy that accompanied the image, and you will have a harder time. This is simply part of the human condition. Artistic experiments: Moina Chitrakar with a typical scroll.We just happen to be more visually oriented: it’s possible for us to remember an astonishing 80 percent of what we see, but only around 30 percent of what we read. >>READ MORE
by Jam Sajjad Hussain || THE NATION || FEB 2010
LAHORE – Indians write literature on the basis of various situations explained to them by the film people while in Pakistan literature is created by writers to satisfy their own instincts. Their main concern is to highlight real events from life and explain intricacies about universe.
A renowned Urdu Ghazal’s poet Kashif Rehman, a veteran prof of English language expressed these views at The Nation Forum here on Sunday.
He said the focal point of Indian writers was visual art and their masses also like action-oriented literature. He said Pakistan is the land of great civilizations having original art and literature.
Multan-based poet said he learnt the final touches of poetry from an eminent poet Ghulam Hussain Sajid. “I took interest in paintings in my early days but with the passage of time I realised that I can easily express my feelings in words,” Kashif added.
He said the current era presents downfall of literature both in English and Urdu as industrialisation and technological advancement has demolished imagination.
But within few years if democratic system prolonged in Pakistan, he said, we would see the renaissance of Urdu literature. “Government should also provide funds for the promotion of literature besides patronizing literary organisations in the same footings as in the US, Japan and France,” he further said. About literary movements in Pakistan, he said renowned literary icons including Zaffar Iqbal, Ghulam Hussain Sajid and Khalid Ahmad promoted metaphysical poetry while Nasir Kazmi, Aslam Ansari and Ahmad Mushtaq worked on romanticism. He said the poetry of Noon Meem Rashid has the glimpses of western literature while the poems of Majeed Amjad and Faiz Ahmad Faiz depicted the eastern life style and struggle. >>END
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