Finnegans Wake is a bestseller in China and Ulysses is the inspiration behind two successful plays. As Bloomsday approaches, Scarlett Baron considers his growing reputation in Beijing and beyondJoyce’s image in China holds a strange fascination in the west. When the first third of Finnegans Wake, his last and most notoriously difficult book, was published in Shanghai in 2013, newspapers in Britain and America greeted the announcement as a momentous event. Certainly, the salient details of the story are arresting: 72 years had passed since the publication of the novel in London in 1941; seven years had elapsed since Dai Congrong had agreed to undertake the formidable task of translation; and when the book appeared between luxuriously silky dark-green boards, heavy with pages of explanatory notes, it became an immediate commercial success.By what miracles of linguistic mastery and literary imagination could Chinese characters be made to capture Joyce’s mind-bending manipulations of the alphabet? By what subtleties of cross-cultural understanding could the specificities of Ireland and its mythologies be translated for a Chinese audience? Could the translation be trusted if it made Finnegans Wake a bestseller? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
Google’s interactive Doodle today celebrates the life and accomplishments of video game pioneer Gerald “Jerry” Lawson on what would have been his 82nd birthday. The Doodle lets you play five retro pixel-art platformers in your browser — with two even letting you play as Lawson. The Doodles’... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-12-01 18:15:43 UTC ]
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The DJ and writer on coming to terms with being a novelist, the appeal of middle-aged men and the book that broke her heartRadio 2 DJ Sara Cox has come a long way since the 1990s when Channel 4’s The Girlie Show made her one of the original ladettes. In 2019, her memoir Till the Cows Come Home:... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-07 17:00:05 UTC ]
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Hachette has succumbed to moral outrage in rejecting his autobiographyWhen Hachette bought Woody Allen’s autobiography, they no doubt expected it to be controversial. And no doubt they expected it to be a commercial success.He is, after all, one of the great American writers and directors. And... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-03-07 19:00:13 UTC ]
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In the publishing world, it seems like winning the Nobel Prize just isn’t what it used to be. A Deutsche Welle interview with Lucien Leitess, director of the Swiss publishing house Unionsverlag, explored the business of predicting a Nobel laureate’s commercial success. The controversy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-11 19:54:24 UTC ]
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The British Indian writer and literary director of the JCB Prize for Literature explains how a prize backed by a construction giant is enhancing the prestige and commercial success of contemporary Indian literature. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A bookseller explains how Kamila Shamsie’s call for gender equality in the industry, and the fiery debate it provoked, could lead to greater diversity all aroundKamila Shamsie calling for a year of publishing only women has certainly unleashed a storm. Some disagree that gender bias exists,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Finnegans Wake is a bestseller in China and Ulysses is the inspiration behind two successful plays. As Bloomsday approaches, Scarlett Baron considers his growing reputation in Beijing and beyondJoyce’s image in China holds a strange fascination in the west. When the first third of Finnegans... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The success of Penguin’s highly portable commute-sized gobbets says much about what modern readers wantReleased to mark Penguin Books’ 80th birthday, the pocket-sized, 80p-a-pop Little Black Classics have been a hit, selling 70,545 copies in the first week of publication.The commercial success... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books about the natural world are now huge sellers, tapping into a new appreciation for the countryside and scepticism about material wealthBondage is so last year. Publishers who spent much of the past year in search of the next Fifty Shades of Grey are now seeking to exploit another literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Skybound Entertainment has had success with The Walking Dead across all mediums. Robert Kirkman’s comic book company has expanded into television with the AMC series, which is now the most popular show in the world. They’ve also enjoyed the same level of critical and commercial success through... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Having been turned down by his long-standing publisher Hanser Verlag, dark comedy finds home with Kein and AberMartin Amis’s latest novel, The Zone of Interest, has finally found a German-language home six months after it was turned down by his long-standing German publishing house, thought by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The "polymath" author will offer "unique insight into critical and commercial success across books, film, and T.V." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The National Book Awards are getting a rewrite.New rules announced Tuesday include a "long list" of 10 nominees to be offered for each of the four competitive categories before being narrowed to the traditional five finalists. And the pool of judges will be expanded beyond writers to include... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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