opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

       50 best Dutch-language books of the 21st century ?

       NRC and De Standaard have put together a list of the top 50 Dutch-language books of the twenty-first-century, selected by 81 critics, academics, editors, and public figures. The NRC version is paywalled, but see the list at De Standaard -- or, more conveniently, at Athenaeum | Scheltema.
       Quite a few of the works are under review at the complete review

• 3. Tirza, by Arnon Grunberg
• 6. Joe Speedboat, by Tommy Wieringa
• 8. Grand Hotel Europa, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
• 10. La Superba, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
• 12. Your Story, My Story, by Connie Palmen
• 26. Omega Minor, by Paul Verhaeghen
• 27. The Consequences, by Niña Weijers
• 28. The Angel Maker, by Stefan Brijs
• 36. De asielzoeker, by Arnon Grunberg

       Interestingly, the top choice -- Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris, by Anjet Daanje -- doesn't seem to have been translated into English yet, despite being inspired by the Brontës; her The Remembered Soldier -- number 14 on the list -- is, however, forthcoming soon from New Vessel Press in May.

       I certainly agree with the high ranking of Tirza; I certainly don't with that of Joe Speedboat -- and it's good to see Omega Minor make the list (and it could have ranked higher ...).

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       Interviews with the International Booker Prize longlistees

       At the Booker Prize site they have a collection of Interviews with the International Booker Prize 2025 longlistees -- both the authors and the translators.
       Lots that is of interest.

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       Prix Mémorable

       The French prix Mémorable, given out by the library-consortium initiales (who don't keep their official site very up-to-date, *sigh*), is a prize honoring a book that is: 'a new edition of a work by a regrettably forgotten author; a work by a deceased foreign author never previously published in French; or a previously unpublished work or revised, complete translation', and they've announced the winner of this year's prize: the French translation of Il cielo cade, by Lorenza Mazzetti; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.

       Appropriately enough, this book was featured in Lucy Scholes' monthly 'Re-Covered'-column at The Paris Review blog -- dedicated to: "out-of-print and forgotten books that shouldn't be" -- a few years ago, Re-Covered: The Sky Falls by Lorenza Mazzetti -- and, yes, it has been 're-covered' in English since, in a new (and complete) translation from Another Gaze Editions (now as: The Sky is Falling); see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
       (I'm all for the 're-discovery' and re-publication of worthy works, but in recent years this has too often come to feel like a lemming-like exercise by publishers, everyone hopping aboard with the same books and authors -- and, hey, look ! the Germans have new translation of this coming out this year, too: see the Nagel & Kimche publicity page .....)

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       Cynthia Ozick profile

       A big Cynthia Ozick-collection is now out -- In a Yellow Wood; see the Everyman's Library publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk -- and at Vulture Linda Hall profiles her, in Cynthia Ozick is Undiminished.

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       Republic of Consciousness Prize (US/Canada)

       They've announced the winner of this year's Republic of Consciousness Prize (United States and Canada), awarded to a small press, and it is Open Letter for their Melvill, by Rodrigo Fresán.
       I have this, but haven't gotten to it yet.

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       National Book Awards judges

       The (American) National Book Foundation has announced the twenty-five judges for this year's National Book Awards -- five in each category.
       The Translated Literature panel is chaired by Stesha Brandon, and the other judges are Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, Bill Johnston, Annette K. Joseph-Gabriel, and Karen Tei Yamashita.

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       Ingeborg Bachmann exhibit

       At the Casa di Goethe in Rome the exhibit Ingeborg Bachmann – ‘I only exist when I write’ opens today and runs through 31 August.

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       The Little Clay Cart production

       This is the fourth time they're putting on the Oxford Sanskrit Play, where they put on "a Sanskrit play, performed in Sanskrit (with subtitles) by a cast of undergraduate and graduate students", and this year they'll be doing The Little Clay Cart 14 to 16 March; get tickets here.
       You can see their previous production on YouTube; hopefully, they'll stream this one as well.
       See also Benjamin Atkinson's preview article in Cherwell, Sanskrit drama returns to Oxford.

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       Libris Literatuur Prijs shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Libris Literatuur Prijs, a leading Dutch novel prize, paying out €50,000.
       Six titles are left in the running; among the shortlisted authors with books previously translated into English are Marijke Schermer (e.g.) and Joost de Vries (The Republic).
       The winner will be announced 19 May.

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       Wingate Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Wingate Literary Prize, awarded: "to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to convey the idea of Jewishness to the general reader", and it is Lublin, by Manya Wilkinson.
       I have a copy of this, but I haven't gotten to it yet; see also the And Other Stories publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk.

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       Shevchenko National Prize

       They've awarded this year's Taras Shevchenko National Prize(s) of Ukraine, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy taking part in the ceremonies.
       The literature prize went to Колекція by Yuriy Izdyk; see also the prize information page.

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       Athol Fugard (1932-2025)

       South African playwright Athol Fugard has passed away; see, for example, the obituary in The Guardian.

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       The Plains review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Gerald Murnane's 1982 classic, The Plains.

       Rather embarrassingly, I'm rather late to this one: Western Michigan University sent me a review copy in ... the summer of 2003 ..... Yes, it took me 7940 days to get to it -- though I reviewed a number of later-received Murnanes in the meantime (though I still haven't nearly fully caught up with the pile on hand). But, publishers take heart: just because I haven't gotten to your book yet doesn't mean I won't, eventually, possibly .....

       Though by now widely translated (nudged on by the Nobel-for-Murnane speculation of recent years), this one has had difficulty establishing itself in the US. George Braziller brought it out in 1985, but it got practically no attention at the time -- though The Los Angeles Times' critic did rave that: "Not since Alain Robbe-Grillet's Jealousy has a book appeared so impenetrable" -- and the 2003 Western Michigan University/New Issues edition (the one I have) did little better. (Just how poorly the Braziller edition did is suggested also by the Foreword to the 2003 edition, which claims that that WMU/New Issues edition is the first American one .....) The Text edition is apparently meant to be available in the US now, but it doesn't really seem very 'in print' here .....
       For a bit more on its US publishing history, with quotes, see also my thread.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Kazuo Ishiguro profile

       It's apparently the twentieth anniversary of Never Let Me Go, and so at The Guardian Alex Clark has a profile of the author, ‘AI will become very good at manipulating emotions’: Kazuo Ishiguro on the future of fiction and truth.
       I'm a bit surprised to learn that of all his books, Never Let Me Go: "has outsold all his others".

       The Guardian also collects comments by Anne Enright, Mark Romanek, Venki Ramakrishnan, and Christopher Haydon on the book, in ‘The definition of a classic’: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go at 20.

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       Salome-film

       Yet another take on Salome: this time a film on the mounting of a production of the Strauss opera, Atom Egoyan's Seven Veils, starring Amanda Seyfried, as the director putting on the production, now out in cinemas. (As readers know, I keep an eye out for this sort of thing re. my own novel, Salome in Graz.)
       A selection of reviews, at:

• AV Club
• Chicago Reader
• The New York Times (presumably paywalled)
• Paste
• RogerEbert.com
• Slant
• The Washington Post (presumably paywalled)

       You can also see the trailer here, and read a Q & A with the director at BoxOfficePro, Unveiling Obsession: Filmmaker Atom Egoyan on Fusing Film and Opera in SEVEN VEILS; see also Marriska Fernandes' article in S Magazine, Amanda Seyfried and Atom Egoyan Peel Back the Layers of ‘Seven Veils’ and Reflect on the Transformative Power of Art.

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       EUPL Prize finalists

       They've announced the finalists for this year's European Union Prize for Literature.
       This prize is awarded in a three-year cycle, with thirteen or fourteen European countries nominating one title each in each cycle; the countries this year are: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Ukraine.
       The winner will be announced 16 May.

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       New Books in German spring 2025 selections

       New Books in German has announced its jury recommendations for spring 2025 -- a useful overview of recent German-language publications.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Zettels Traum/Bottom's Dream editions

       Tom Ghostly writes On Arno Schmidt’s Zettel(‘)s Traum / Bottom’s Dream: A phenomenology of editions, offering an invaluable overview (with pictures !) of (editions of) Arno Schmidt's classic work.

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       US State Department axes IWP funding

       As the University of Iowa's Office of Strategic Communication now reports, US Department of State halts International Writing Program funding.
       *Sigh*.

       As the U.S. Department of State's most recent Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) reports -- see page 57 -- the International Writing Program received for the fiscal years:

• 2019: US$740,000
• 2020: US$740,000
• 2021: US$860,000
• 2022: US$740,000
• 2023: US$914,000

       Support of US$814,000 was planned for the fiscal year 2024.
       While federal support is not the only source of funding for the IWP, this is a devatsating blow to it, as:

Due to this loss of federal funding, totaling nearly $1 million, the program’s leaders will cancel its summer youth program, dissolve distance learning courses, and discontinue the Emerging Voices Mentorship Program. Because the program’s Fall Residency also receives funding through a combination of gifts, grants, support from foreign ministries of culture and nongovernmental organizations, the 2025 cohort will be reduced by about half. The fall program usually hosts about 30 writers.

       The State Department's own annual report notes that the IWP's: "programs contribute to freedom of expression, counter disinformation, and further democratic ideals", while their recent blow-off letter apparently states: "that the awards “no longer effectuate agency priorities,” nor align “with agency priorities and national interest.”". It makes you wonder what the new administration's priorities and perceived national interest are ....

       As the university press release notes:

More than 1,600 established writers from more than 160 countries have participated since the program was founded in 1967. For their efforts to promote cultural diplomacy by convening writers from around the world, IWP co-founders Paul and Hualing Engle were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.

       And three participants have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature !

       Cultural (or pretty much any kind of what we used to consider 'diplomacy') do not seem to interest the current American administration in the least, and this seems like (yet another, among so, so many) short-sighted, penny-(not-so-)wise/pound-(very-very-)foolish actions it has taken to disengage from the world at large.

       See also Vanessa Miller's article in The Gazette, State Department: UI International Writing Program no longer of ‘national interest’; terminates $1M funding.

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       Zadie Smith Q & A

       At npr Rachel Martin has a Q & A with the author, in Zadie Smith is learning to accept the limits of time.
       Among Smith's responses:

I just wish I was less selfish. Writing is a very selfish thing to have done with your time and it takes up all the time. I wish I had done a bit less of it or thought about what else I could have done in that time. Because it's all I did, I just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Which is great, but there are a lot of other things in life that you can do apart from that.

       I also like the response:

When I left New York, for the first few weeks in London, I was still walking like a New Yorker. And people would be like, what the hell is wrong with you ?

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       Preis(e) der Leipziger Buchmesse

       They've announced the shortlists for this year's prize(s) of the Leipzig Book Fair -- five books each in the three categories.
       The Fiction ('Belletristik') finalists include books by Wolf Haas, Christian Kracht, and Esther Dischereit, while there are two translations from the English in the translation category: Samantha Harvey's Orbital and a new translation of Erica Jong's Fear of Flying
       The winners will be announced 27 March, at the book fair.

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       (Not) reading in ... the UK

       YouGov reports that:

In the last year, the median Briton has only read or listened to three books, with 40% of the public not reading or listening to a single book in that time.

       Interesting also that:

British readers tend to favour fiction, with 55% of those who at least occasionally read or listen to saying so, including 18% who say they “only” read fiction. This compares to just 19% who say they mostly or only read non-fiction books

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       The Peach Blossom Fan review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of a new translation of Kong Shangren's The Peach Blossom Fan, recently out in a bilingual edition in Oxford University Press' Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature.

       Attentive (long-suffering ?) readers will recall that I already reviewed a previous translation of this a few years ago -- but it's not the first title of which there are multiple translations under review -- and I'd actually like to do more of these.

       The (relatively new) Hsu-Tang Library has gotten some attention -- the Wall Street Journal did review (paywalled) one of the volumes -- but I'm a bit disappointed that I appear to be the most enthusiastic reviewer of these titles so far (having reviewed four of them). No doubt, they'll eventually be covered in the academic journals etc. but they surely already deserve more/better attention than an amateur like myself can offer -- aimed also at a (more) general audience; despite their scholarly 'look', they're hardly forbidding reads. (I assume The New York Review of Books will have an overview-review sometime in the next year or two, but other outlets -- including online -- should have a look (and spread the word) too.)

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       Women's Prize for Fiction longlist

       They've announced the sixteen title-strong longlist for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction.
       I haven't seen any of these.
       The shortlist will be announced 2 April, and the winner on 12 June.

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       Ockham NZ Book Awards shortlists

       They've announced the shortlists for this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
       The winners will be announced 14 May.

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       Sono Ayako (1931-2025)

       Japanese author Sono Ayako has passed away; see, for example, the nippon.com report.
       Several of her works have been translated into English, but her Maximilian Kolbe-novel Miracles seems to be the only one in print; see the Wiseblood Books publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk.

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       Shortlists: Sheikh Zayed Book Awards

       They've announced the shortlists for this year's Sheikh Zayed Book Awards -- "One of the Arab World's most prestigious and well-funded prizes" -- though: "Sheikh Zayed Book Award decided to withhold the Award from the "Young Author" and "Publishing and Technology" categories for this edition".
       The titles were selected from over 4,000 nominations from 75 countries.

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       Shortlists: PEN/Faulkner Award

       They've announced the five finalists for this year's PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction -- selected from 414 (unfortunately not revealed) eligible novels and short story collections.

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       Non-fiction (not) in paperback

       In the Wall Street Journal Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg reports that: 'Publishers increasingly give nonfiction authors one shot at print stardom, ditching paperbacks as priorities shift', in Waiting for the Paperback ? Good Luck (possibly paywalled ?).
       Yes:

Traditionally, the paperback would hit the shelves about a year after the hardcover. Today, book publishers are printing fewer of them, closing a second-chance window for writers counting on a new cover or marketing campaign to spark sales. The shift reflects changing reader habits, the popularity of audiobooks and ebooks, and the power a few major retailers hold over the publishing industry.

       Stunningly:

New adult nonfiction paperback titles tumbled by 42% from 2019 to 2024, to just under 40,000, according to Bowker Books in Print, a bibliographic database.

The number of adult hardcover nonfiction titles fell by 9% during that same period.

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       Academy Awards - Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

       The big American film awards, the Academy Awards (the Oscars®) were held yesterday, and Peter Straughan's screenplay of the Robert Harris novel Conclave took the prize in the Writing (Adapted Screenplay) category.

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       Banu Mushtaq Q & A

       Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp was longlisted for this year's International Booker Prize; it's apparently not out yet -- see the And Other Stories publicity page -- but the Times of India has Shrinivasa M's TNN Q & A with the author, 'Need for more translations to take our literary treasures to the global stage'
       Mushtaq points out:

Though Kannada has produced diverse literary genres, its international exposure remains limited, unlike Malayalam literature where translations into English happen promptly. Despite the vast volume of Kannada literature published daily, less than 1% is translated. Many masterpieces remain inaccessible to international readers, and this recognition highlights the need to bridge that gap.

       (Indeed, only six translations from Kannada are under review at the complete review.)

       Mushtaq also responds:

With ‘Heart Lamp’ gaining global recognition, will you write more for an international audience ?

I have always written for myself and Kannada readers, without considering a global audience. My commitment remains to human experiences. My style and expression may evolve, but my core themes will not change.

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       Salome in Riga

       The protagonists in my novel Salome in Graz discuss and debate any number of Salome-variations, especially versions (translations, editions, performances) of the Wilde play and the Strauss opera and I wonder what they would have made of the new production of the opera from the Latvijas Nacionālā opera un balets which recently premiered.
       Certainly an unusual look, from the Amy Winehousesque take on the title character to ... well, whatever this take on Jochanaan is. Certainly some ... arresting imagery:


       And:


       Mike Hardy reviews it at OperaWire -- finding: "it is impossible to fathom what [Stage Director and Set Designer Alvis Hermanis] was aiming for here or what message he wished to convey". He does allow that: "Conductor Mārtiņš Ozoliņš does a fine job with Strauss’s score and the orchestra are exemplary" and that, in the title role, Astrid Kessler: "gave a convincing portrayal of a spoiled teenage brat", but generally finds the production ... far from a success (and borderline offensive, in numerous ways).
       Ah, well. But if you're in the neighborhood, you can catch a performance today (as well as on 20 March and 6 June). And you can see some scenes in the YouTube promotional video.

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       Martin Puchner Q & A

       In The Harvard Crimson Kate J. Kaufman has Fifteen Questions: Martin Puchner on Philosopher Chatbots, AI Writing, and the Future.
       Among Puchner's responses:

FM: What advice would you give to current students who are grappling with how to use AI in their writing classes this semester ?

MP: I think there is only one use of AI, especially if you’re trying to learn how to write, that’s not good. And that is, just produce a couple of prompts and let it write the first draft. I think everything else is great. It’s great as a search engine. I think it’s really great as a sparring partner. I think a lot of students have trouble incorporating counter-arguments and counter-evidence into their writing.

So there are actually lots of uses, and I’m all for them. The one use where you just push a button and use the first answer it gives — I think that’s the one use where I feel like you would actually cheat yourself because you wouldn’t learn good writing.

       See also Puchner's Custom GPTs page, where you can: "Time-travel to converse with philosophers".

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       Andrey Kurkov's 'books of my life'

       The latest The Guardian 'The books of my life'-column features Death and the Penguin-author Andrey Kurkov: ‘At 17, I got my hands on an illegal copy of The Gulag Archipelago’.
       Among his responses:

My favourite book growing up

Martin Eden by Jack London. The main character’s dream of becoming a writer -- his tremendously strong will -- was probably what captivated me most.

       (This is also the book he selected for: "The book I could never read again".)
       And:

The book that made me want to be a writer

Goat Song by the Russian poet and novelist Konstantin Vaginov. Banned in the USSR, it was given to me by an American professor of literature who, when I was about 19, visited the university in Kyiv where I was studying English and French. You'll find traces of Goat Song in my novel The Silver Bone.

       Conveniently, New York Review Books is bringing out a translation of Goat Song in May; see their publicity page, or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk

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       The Aesthetics of Resistance - the play

       With the third volume of Peter Weiss' The Aesthetics of Resistance finally coming out in English later this month -- 25 March; mark your calendars ! see the Duke University Press publicity page -- it's worth noting that there is a French stage-version, L'Esthétique de la résistance, which, conveniently is being revived at the Théâtre National de l'Odéon, running today through the sixteenth -- see their publicity page.
       Play-time is three hours and twenty minutes, with two intermissions extending the whole to four hours.

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       Nordic Council Literature Prize nominees

       They've announced the nominees for this year's Nordic Council Literature Prize, the leading Scandinavian book prize, with entries from all the countries and territories in the region -- fourteen finalists.
       Several of the nominees have had books translated into English before, including Madame Nielsen (Denmark), Johan Harstad (Norway), and Andrzej Tichý (Sweden).
       This prize has a very good track record and we can expect to see the winning title translated into English; ten previous winners are under review at the complete review.
       The winner will be announced on 21 October.

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       Pierre Joris (1946-2025)

       Poet and translator Pierre Joris has passed away; see, for example, Claudia Kollwelter's report, De Lëtzebuerger Auteur Pierre Joris ass gestuerwen at RTL (as Joris was also Luxembourgeois).

       I have and have been meaning to get to Always the Many, Never the One -- Pierre Joris in conversation with Florent Toniello; see the Contra Mundum publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk.

       See also his official site.

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       Republic of Consciousness Prize shortlist

       The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses (in the UK and Ireland) has announced their shortlist for this year's prize -- though not yet at the official site, last I checked -- but see, for example, their Substack post.

       The Republic of Consciousness Prize - USA and Canada has apparently also announced their shortlist -- but not yet at the official site, last I checked, and they don't seem to have a 'Substack'.

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       The book market in ... Russia

       At Realnoe Vremya "Director General of AST-Azbuka Publishing House Tatyana Gorskaya spoke about who reads and buys books the most, how literary niches have changed in 2024 and how the low birth rate affects the book industry", in Literature in a demographic pit.
       Only 6.8 million men bought books in Russia last year -- compared to 10.8 million women who bought books.
       One positive sign:

Book purchases among young people are also the highest: 46.4% of young people buy books at the age of 16-19, and 44% in the 20-24 age group.

       Two areas that declined were: books on esotericism, and 'oriental comics' -- though the latter may be down to the fact that: "The American company that provided us with comics left the Russian market" and manga-juggernaut "Shueisha stopped cooperating with Russia".

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       The Hashish Films of Customs Officer Henri Rousseau and Tatyana Joukof Shuffles the Cards review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of A Novel against Psicho-Analise by Emil Szittya, The Hashish Films of Customs Officer Henri Rousseau and Tatyana Joukof Shuffles the Cards -- just about out from Wakefield Press.

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       International Booker Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's International Booker Prize -- thirteen books (11 novels; 2 short story collections), selected from 154 (unfortunately not revealed) submissions.
       Only two of the longlisted books are under review at the complete review:

• On the Calculation of Volume (I) by Solvej Balle
  
  
• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami

       I just got a copy of Vincenzo Latronico's Perfection on Monday, and I also have Solenoid, but I haven't seen any of the others.
       The shortlist will be announced 8 April, and the winner on 20 May.

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       Iran's Book of the Year Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's Iran Book of the Year Awards, in its many categories -- see the full list here or, for example, the Tehran Times report, Iran's Book of the Year Awards reveals winners.
       Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian handed out the awards, with Majid Qeisari's سنگ اقبال ('Stone of Iqbal') winning for best novel; see also the Cheshmeh publicity page.

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       Die Trying review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Lee Child's Die Trying -- the second of his Jack Reacher-novels (and the twelfth under review here).

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       Krasznahorkai László Q & A

       At The Yale Review Hari Kunzru has a Q & A with Krasznahorkai László.
       Krasznahorkai concludes:

Only the ordinary person exists. And they are sacred.

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       Mass-market paperback distribution

       At Publishers Weekly Jim Milliot reports that Readerlink Will Stop Distributing Mass Market Paperbacks at the End of 2025 (paywalled) -- a major blow, as: "Readerlink’s customers [...] account for as much as 60–70% of mass market paperback sales in the U.S.".
       As Milliot notes:

According to BookScan, mass market paperback sales fell 19.3% in 2024, to roughly 21 million units sold.

       I am baffled by this fall-out-of-fashion: the mass-market paperback size remains -- by far ! -- my favorite: it's handier (than trade paperbacks, much less hardcovers) and I can fit more books on my shelves. Every book -- at least every work of fiction -- should come in this format ! But this will presumably only hasten its near-demise (at least in the US).

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Percival Everett Q & A

       At The Observer Tim Lewis has a Q & A with James-Writer Percival Everett: ‘Deciding to write a book is like knowingly entering a bad marriage’.
       Among Everett's repsonses re. James:

You must be thrilled by the response to the book, no ?

Of course, it’s a positive thing, but I’m so sick of this book. [...] I don’t delude myself; my self-worth is not invested in this and it has very little to do with me at this point. Am I proud of it ? I don’t think so. But it’s interesting to watch.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Anime and Manga

       At nippon.com Nakano Haruyuki considers Anime or Manga ? Examining the Different Hit Formulas in Japan and Abroad.
       Among the observations:

Despite Astro Boy making its US debut as an anime in the 1960s, it took over 30 years for its translated Japanese manga to gain significant attention. This delay can be attributed to several factors, including the absence of a Japanese-style manga magazine culture overseas, the complexity of right-to-left reading, and the relative simplicity of anime as a medium. Fundamentally, the lag in manga’s popularity abroad can be traced to the tendency for manga volumes to follow in the wake of anime adaptations.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Books in fashion-advertising

       In the Wall Street Journal Katie Deighton writes about The Hottest Thing in Fashion Advertising ? Books.
       As one 'brand consultant' explains:

Reading -- not being always online, not always being connected, not having the phone constantly next to you -- has come to imply that you are just operating at a different level.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Dulat Issabekov (1942-2025)

       Kazakh author Dulat Issabekov has passed away; see, for example, the Kazinform News Agency report, Kazakh classic literature author Dulat Issabekov passes away.

       Several of his works have been translated into English: The Confrontation -- get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk --, The Little Pearl -- get your copy at Amazon.co.uk --, and the play Bonaparte's Wedding -- get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- but I haven't seen any of these.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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