Beautiful Day!

The Fall of Language in the Age of English, by the Japanese novelist and scholar Minae Mizumura, has all the ingredients of a rage-read. Indeed, when it was published in Japan in 2008, it infuriated commentators, who dismissed Mizumura as “reactionary,” “jingoistic,” or “elitist” and swarmed across Amazon deleting positive reviews. More than 65,000 copies have sold since then—which suggests the slender work’s declinist soothsaying continues to touch a nerve. The book appears this month in English (enemy territory!), where—if we Yanks could be trusted to read something first penned in a non-Western tongue—it would likely inspire more umbrage, more name-calling, more amorphous unease. The book’s basic premise, developed in a sinuous line through seven chapters, is that every language creates and nourishes untranslatable truths. Dominant languages infuse their verities into the wider world, crowding out alternative visions from more minor tongues. Linguistic asymmetry isn’t new—over the past two centuries, Latin, classical Chinese, and French each took a turn in the sun—but never has one language so completely eclipsed the rest, Mizumura says, as today, in the age of the Internet, with English. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2015-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #wider world

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Evaristo spotlights 20 Black women writers for International Women's Day

Booker-winning writer Bernardine Evaristo has marked International Women’s Day by curating a top 20 list of recently published Black British writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-08 03:11:09 UTC ]
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Seven days later

This time last week, when I asked someone at one of the bigger publishers whether they had called off their London Book Fair party yet, I could feel the baffled response down the telephone line—“as if”. A week is a long time during pandemics (we are learning), but for Reed Exhibitions, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-06 04:53:02 UTC ]
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The UK’s 2020 World Book Day: ‘Reading in Sharp Decline’

Armed with new and disturbing survey information about youth reading from the National Literary Trust, this year's UK World Book Day hands out book tokens. The post The UK’s 2020 World Book Day: ‘Reading in Sharp Decline’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-05 15:46:41 UTC ]
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Boris Johnson joins schoolchildren for Downing Street World Book Day celebration

Prime Minister Boris Johnson took time out to celebrate World Book Day at 10 Downing Street with Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell and children from Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 18:40:51 UTC ]
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‘The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom’ beautifully demonstrates the evolution of a genre

The book is a sumptuous scrapbook of photographs, magazine covers, artwork and hundreds of articles. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-04 17:19:27 UTC ]
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Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for March 4, 2020

Daily Deals is sponsored by Hachette Audio, and Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, read by Jason Reynolds. ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-04 15:17:43 UTC ]
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Wimbledon BookFest cancels World Book Day event over local coronavirus case

Wimbledon BookFest has been forced to cancel its World Book Day event featuring authors Sita Brachmachari, Konnie Huq and Karyn Parsons, because of a local coronavirus case.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 10:24:07 UTC ]
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World Book Day 2020: Duchess of Cornwall, Cowell and O'Leary lead celebrations

The Duchess of Cornwall, Dermot O'Leary and Cressida Cowell will lead celebrations for World Book Day 2020 today (Thursday 5th March). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 07:51:05 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid by Yao Xiao

'Everything is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection' by Yao Xiao is delightful and poetic graphic memoir by a China-born, queer, immigrant illustrator and cartoonist who has lived in the U.S since 2006. This is a 16 page excerpt. The book will be published in March by Andews McMeel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day's Supertato smashes into the top spot

Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s World Book Day title Supertato: Books are Rubbish (Simon & Schuster Children's) has racked up a 671% increase in sales week on week, selling 26,884 copies in the week leading up to 5th March. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 11:15:11 UTC ]
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Beano launches special comic for World Book Day

Beano is today (Wednesday 26th February) launching a special comic in support of World Book Day (WBD) (March 5th) with a free £1 WBD token. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-26 07:46:04 UTC ]
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Scholastic UK to publish YA exploration of modern-day antisemitism

Scholastic UK is publishing Keren David’s “highly topical, thrilling and thought-provoking” YA book exploring modern-day antisemitism in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-19 12:22:42 UTC ]
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A.D. Miller’s ‘Independence Day’ imagines how one diplomat tried to secretly manage Ukraine’s revolution

Miller draws on his experience as a foreign correspondent to re-create the turmoil in Kiev in 2004. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-18 18:21:24 UTC ]
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Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Burns, Adiga, Taylor, Phillips, Vollmann, and More

Our own Thomas Beckwith take a look at some notable books publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Burns, Adiga, Taylor, Phillips, Vollmann, and More appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2020-02-18 10:59:25 UTC ]
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Book-ish closes for day after Storm Dennis hits

Crickhowell store Book-ish in south Wales was forced to close on Monday after flooding in the town from storm Dennis meant bookselling staff could not get to the shop. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 10:27:11 UTC ]
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Friday Fund Day: Drop Some Dollars and Help Some Classrooms

Do some good and help these classrooms build inclusive libraries by donating or spreading the word about their projects. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-02-14 11:41:33 UTC ]
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First published in 1924, ‘Still She Wished for Company’ makes for a delicious, if bittersweet, Valentine’s Day treat

The novel, which enters the public domain this year, is one of the pioneering works of paranormal or “time-slip” romance. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-12 19:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #time-slip romance #pioneering works #public domain #day treat


First published in 1924, ‘Still She Wished for Company’ makes for a delicious, if bittersweet, Valentine’s Day treat

The novel, which enters the public domain this year, is one of the pioneering works of paranormal or “time-slip” romance. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-12 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #time-slip romance #pioneering works #public domain #day treat


Stationery stores are in trouble, but our love for Valentine’s Day cards burns hotter than ever

In a world determined to dematerialize our interactions with each other, we still crave the tactile experience of an actual card. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-11 16:53:38 UTC ]
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