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 ]
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The number of events held for this year’s National Writing Day increased 83% compared to 2017, according to the organisers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Everyone who has seen 'The Social Network' knows the story of Facebook's founding," Adam Fisher writes at the start of "Sex, Beer, and Coding: Inside Facebook's Wild Early Days" in Wired. The article sets up an excerpt from "Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley," Fisher's... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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REVIEW: Duck, Death & the Tulip by acclaimed writer/illustrator Wolf Erlbruch, is a beautiful and unsettling children's picture book which can be enjoyed by all ages. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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4th Estate has pre-empted a novel inspired by Marilyn Monroe and her Korean translator. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An independent bookshop in Harrogate has experienced a "phenomenal" response to a desperate Twitter plea for sales after only taking £12.34 in a day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#independent bookshop
Award-winning science author and neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan will move to Picador from Penguin Random House after her “waking coma” book was snapped up at auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In her entertaining début the former White House stenographer reflects on her time spent working for the 44th president and extols the virtues of a ‘yes, we can’ approach. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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President Obama during a news conference in 2012. The former president has shared his recent reading list. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Attending Palomar Fire Academy’s graduation ceremonies on May 31, 3-year-old Evie Iverson looked at the other families in the audience — and noticed how her family looked different. “I don’t have a daddy,” Evie told her mother. Ashley Iverson’s response was immediate: “You have a daddy,” the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s laureate Lauren Child and author-illustrator Benji Davies are taking part in an event at Waterstones Piccadilly to mark this year’s Empathy Day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The endorsement of a Chinese actor powers Yu Hua's 'To Live' to the top of China's April fiction charts, when fellow celebrities spread the word and young readers hear the call. The post April 2018 Bestseller Lists From China: Young Readers Cheer a Celebrity-Powered World Book Day appeared first... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Otter-Barry Books will this autumn publish Poetry For a Change, the official children’s anthology for National Poetry Day on 4th October. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has signed a "beauty bible" aimed at women of colour by Vogue contributing beauty editor Funmi Fetto. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The way to open a new poetry bookstore at a communal office, says the UK's Second Home, is to hold a poetry festival on the premises. The company's Holland Park facility is the venue in June. The post Five-Day Poetry Fest Will Launch London’s New Second Home Bookstore appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Week in Libraries, May 4, 2018: Among this week's headlines, librarians prepare to make their case to lawmakers in Washington D.C. as a rescission package looms; Congress could wade into the net neutrality battle. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 500 bookstores participated in this year's Independent Bookstore Day, which took place across the U.S. this past Saturday, April 28. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#past saturday
Hay Festival is launching a new initiative to live stream its “Schools Days” UK-wide following last year's pilot in Wales. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From The Forsyth Saga to Game of Thrones, The Man in the High Tower and The Handmaid's Tale, books have provided the inspiration for some of television's most memorable shows. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s enough to make your head spin, but the New York Times journalist and novelist wouldn’t have it any other way. Emma Brockes meets her in New YorkWhen Hanya Yanagihara was 10 years old, her father let her visit a pathologist’s lab. He was a doctor and an artist, twin interests his young... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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President Trump’s immigration policies, L.A.’s homeless crisis, the women’s movement and the culture of food were just a few of the topics covered during the first day of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC campus. The 23rd annual festival, which celebrates reading and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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