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Thursday, November 1, 2012

"Cloud Atlas" and the pleasures of re-reading

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed re-reading a book so much.

Actually I can't remember the last time I re-read a book. Because my greatest fear is that I am going to die before I can read all the books I want to read, I try to get through as many as I can at the same time 12 at the last count. This is crazy, I know. But I can't help it this is what bibliomaniacs do. Despite my best efforts, though, I still haven't managed to read even once all the books I own. So where is the time for re-reading?

I made an exception, however, for Cloud Atlas. I first chanced upon David Mitchell's dazzling novel in the Just Books library three years ago. I loved it so much I recommended it to my wife, Chandrika, who finished it in record time and pronounced it to be brilliant.

A couple of weeks ago we learnt that the movie based on the book would soon be released in India. And that became the motivation for us to pick up Cloud Atlas again. I began re-reading it immediately on my Kindle Fire (on which I have stored some thousand e-books). But my wife insisted we should have our own hard copy, so I purchased one for her last week on HomeShop18, paying Rs.267 for a book that would have cost me Rs.399 in a bookshop (it's now available on the website for Rs.235).

And two days ago, we went to watch the movie at Cinepolis. We knew the book's many-layered structure would be difficult to replicate on film and we were curious to see what Hollywood had come up with. Well, all credit to the three directors (yes, it took three experts in the movie business to realise Mitchell's wondrous vision on celluloid) — they have clearly made a superhuman effort, and an imaginative one at that. I have to say, though, if you haven't read the book, it is going to be difficult to enjoy and appreciate what you're seeing on the screen.

I also have to say the book is infinitely better than the movie. I am three-quarters of the way through the e-book now and how watching the movie has helped is that I can now visualise scenes and characters as I come upon them in my reading. For me, re-reading Cloud Atlas has become twice as pleasurable.

TOM HANKS AND HALLE BERRY PLAY MULTIPLE ROLES IN CLOUD ATLAS.
ADDITIONAL READING from The New York Times:
  • "Souls Tangled Up in Time", by film critic A.O. Scott: "This is by no means the best movie of the year, but it may be the most movie you can get for the price of a single ticket."
  • "Bending Time, Bending Minds", by Charles McGrath: "It might be possible to write a novel more unfilmable than David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, but you would have to work at it."

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Outlook editor makes a forceful case for reading magazines

Writing in the 17th anniversary issue of Outlook, editor Krishna Prasad gives us his view on why newsmagazines will survive "even if they will struggle to thrive":
  • Because the newsmagazine is the only pan-national print media vehicle in our country.
  • Because the newsmagazine has a long shelf-life.
  • Because the newsmagazine is classy a la carte; the newspaper is a rowdy buffet.
  • Because, newsweeklies break stories.
  • Because, newsmagazines provide a vivid, 360-degree view.
  • Because, it is our opinion that the best opinion is in newsmagazines.
  • Because, newsmagazines have a worldview. 
  • Because, a daily newspaper is a habit.... A newsmagazine is a style statement.
  • Because, none of our national newspapers will be able to do an issue like the one you are holding.
KP elaborates sagaciously on each point. Read his column in its entirety here: "Happy birthday to us".

ALSO READ: KP's recommendations on what to read if you want to become a media professional, more specifically a journalist: "What you read is really R-E-A-L-L-Y going to decide what you will write, and how you will write it."

ADDITIONAL READING: "Outlook's peerless issue on the Indian media crisis".

Monday, October 29, 2012

Gutsy Commits student's story in Bangalore Mirror — an inspiration to women everywhere


This article by Ankita Sengupta (Class of 2013) was first published in the college newspaper, The Chronicle (for more details, visit The Commits Chronicle blog).

Reactions poured in almost immediately:

Commitscion NEHA MEHTA KOTHARI (Class of 2010): Read Ankita's story and I must say hats off! Girls like her should be a big deterrent to those who misbehave with women. I'm so proud we have people like Ankita around. I hope all the Commitscions will take some inspiration from her and teach the "over-smart" guys a lesson.

VENKATESH BALIGA (Software professional): WOW! Very Happy to know that JHANSI KI RANI still exists.

SANJAY BHATT (Seattle Times journalist): Wow. She showed some guts to stand up to this and even more to share her story with the public. Thanks for sharing.

Commitscion MONIKA KHANGEMBAM (Class of 2012),  posted on Ankita Sengupta's Facebook wall: Sweetie, I just read your piece in The Chronicle and I must tell you I am so proud of you! What you did was exceptionally brave and trust me many of us cannot muster that courage. Be brave, strong and smart, as always. All the best. :)

SHAGORIKA EASWAR (Senior journalist and editor of two Toronto-based magazines): Oh, wow! Good for Ankita! There aren't too many young girls/women who would dare do what she did for the reaction she provoked is all too common. The victim is made to feel dirty. We have all heard/read of the revictimisation that goes on and the initial reaction of the bystanders and cops sent shivers down my spine. But the spunky kid stood up to them all alone at that. It's easier to feel brave with a back-up. Give her a big high five from me!

CHANDRAN IYER (Senior journalist, former editor of Mid Day, Pune): Wonderful. India needs more such women.

SPUNK AND BITE: ANKITA SENGUPTA
MARIANNE DE NAZARETH (Senior journalist and Commits guest faculty): Good for you, girl! More power to your pen and to your empowering of women who would normally have backed off and kept quiet.

ASHISH SEN (Communications professional, theatre personality, and Commits guest faculty): Congratulations, Ankita! This IS inspiring. 

VASANTHI HARIPRAKASH (Independent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media trainer): Damn good one! Here is a promising journo.

AMIT NAIK (Pharma professional): Atta Girl!

JESSU JOHN (Communications executive): Yes, atta girl. Very proud of you.

VIDYA NAYAK (Homemaker): God bless you Ankita. You have made all women proud!

Commitscion ANKITA BHATTACHERJEE (Class of 2014): This is one awe-inspiring article!

Commitscion ARPAN BHATTACHARYYA (Class of 2010): Good on you, Ankita. And I'm glad you didn't leave all the reprimanding to the police. A nail is a small price to pay.

RAJEEV GUPTE (Merchant navy captain): A girl full of guts and grit.

MAIMUNA MOTAFRAM (Homemaker):  Am so proud of Ankita. May other girls learn to emulate her in similar circumstances and stand up to such reprehensible behaviour with the same courage and guts.
  • You can read letters from Bangalore Mirror readers here.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

How do newspapers attract and engage readers in this age of social media?

Here's one way:


This cover is the work of Commits alumnus DAVID TUSING (Class of 2005), deputy editor of tabloid!, the features section of the Dubai-based Gulf News. Tusing posted this image on Facebook earlier this week with his comments: "Everyone's talking about Skyfall. So we thought we'd do something slightly different with our cover today. Thoughts?"

David (pictured at left) wrote later in an e-mail that he takes full credit for this cover. "I love to experiment with our covers whenever I get the opportunity," he wrote. Because of the internet and Facebook and Twitter, he continued, "I think the print medium has had to constantly find new ways and means to engage readers, not just with our covers but with the way we cover stories.

"We often find ourselves having to come up with fresh ideas to say something they may already know but in an innovative and interesting way that's still relevant and that will make them pick up an issue from the stands.

"Needless to say, I love that challenge."

That's the spirit, David.

He wanted to know what I thought of this cover. So I wrote back, "Inventive, innovative, imaginative. And sure to draw in the inquisitive."

Friday, October 26, 2012

The world's worst typos – in pictures

From The Guardian: "A new book details the crime de la creme of typographical errors, from hotel brochures advertising a 'French widow in every bedroom' to political banners declaring President Obama's 'crisis of competnce'. Here are some of the finest."

Early in 2010, Gregorio Iniguez, managing director of the Chilean Mint, was sacked after he authorised the production of 1.5m 50-peso coins that spelled the country's name 'C-H-I-I-E'. By the time he was kicked out it was too late; the coins remain in circulation to this day.

You can take a look at some of the other typos described in the book here. (Thank you for the tip-off, Faye D'Souza.)

A five-star book, all the way


A worthy winner of the Man Booker Prize. A worthy sequel to a Booker winner (Wolf Hall, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading two years ago). And the reason I'm now reading The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory, on my Kindle Fire. And the reason I also want to read The Wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser.

A college newspaper professional journalists will be proud of

The second issue of The Chronicle, produced by the First Year students of Commits, arrived on the evening of October 16 and what a brilliant issue it is!

Congratulations are in order to all who made such a HUGE effort to ensure there's something for every reader on every page. This eight-page issue (with a two-page "Commits Chronicle" section) not only looks good but also "reads good".

The First Years have raised the bar again!

Three cheers and two thumbs up for the co-editors, writers, layout artists, photographers, illustrators, proofreaders... and everyone else who provided moral support and encouragement.

Hip-hip-hurray!

And now to take a closer look at the newspaper:

ON PAGE 1 (see below)
1. A must-read inspirational lead story by Second Year AVC student ANKITA SENGUPTA, an inspiration to women everywhere. I salute her courage in doing what she did and then agreeing to write about it. (I want to add here that her interview with Lesle Lewis in the previous issue of The Chronicle was something a professional journalist would have been proud of.)

2. A gutsy and thought-provoking piece by NATASHA REGO on "18 Again" and other so-called "woman empowerment" products.

3. SONAKSHI NANDY's personal take on sharing her Facebook password with her mother.




ON PAGE 2 (see below)
An unusual heart-felt feature by NINNITA SAHA on the advantages and disadvantages of being an only child. Plus, two stories continued from the front page.



ON PAGE 3 (see below)
Four intelligently written articles that combine wit, irony, and sarcasm. And the topic? Men and women and the gender wars. And the writers? ABHILASH PAUL, ANJALI SURESH, SONAKSHI NANDY, and RAJARSHI BHATTACHARJEE. And the accompanying illustration, which is the best I have had the privilege to publish in the college newspaper EVER, is by SNEHA SUKUMAR.



ON PAGES 4-5 (see below)
1. A report by ANKITA MITRA on the exciting quiz conducted at Commits by senior media professional and veteran quiz master Pratibha Umashankar.


2. The three co-editors MAITREYA J.A., NATASHA REGO, and SONAKSHI NANDY share their experience of working on their first issue of The Chronicle.

3. "Notable & Quotable" interesting highlights of events and happenings, at Commits and in the lives of Commitscions.


ON PAGE 6 (see below)
1. "Aftertaste convinces you that power can blind any human being. Even a mother." POORVI KOTHARI reviews Namita Devidayal's best-selling novel.


2. Manga fan(atic) SAUMYA IYER gives us the lowdown on the Japanese comics that have gained popularity the world over.

3. RAJARSHI BHATTACHARJEE reviews How Will You Measure Your Life?, a book that will help you to "understand what counts".

4. The editors pick the books they love and the books they don't. (They know how to stoke a controversy, don't they?)


ON PAGE 7 (see below)
1. Think seriously about playing Scrabble on Facebook and doing something useful on the social networking site
— for a change. That's good advice from MAITREYA J.A., who elaborates on this theme in the lead piece.

2. The always popular "Horror-scope", written in limerick form this time by LEANNE PAIS and SAUMYA IYER. Read the dire "predictions" to understand why this column is called "Horror-scope".

3. Check out the Clueword, put together by MAITREYA J.A. give your grey cells a light work-out.


ON PAGE 8 (see below)
1. Yes, girls love playing video games. And they love blowing up things, too, ANKITA BHATTACHARJEE and RISA MONICA KHARMUTEE tell us.


2. A first-hand report by SWATI GARG and LYNSIA PATRAO on why playing Laser Tag is "a lot of fun".

  • YOU CAN ALSO READ THE CHRONICLE ON THE COMMITS WEBSITE HERE.
Now, back to ANKITA SENGUPTA's incredible Page 1 story and the many encouraging comments that have been pouring in. Here are a few of them:

Commitscion NEHA MEHTA KOTHARI (Class of 2010): Read Ankita's story and I must say hats off! Girls like her should be a big deterrent to those who misbehave with women. I'm so proud we have people like Ankita around. I hope all the Commitscions will take some inspiration from her and teach the "over-smart" guys a lesson.

VENKATESH BALIGA (Software professional): WOW! Very Happy to know that JHANSI KI RANI still exists.

SANJAY BHATT (Seattle Times journalist): Wow. She showed some guts to stand up to this and even more to share her story with the public. Thanks for sharing.

Commitscion MONIKA KHANGEMBAM (Class of 2012),  posted on Ankita Sengupta's Facebook wall: Sweetie, I just read your piece in The Chronicle and I must tell you I am so proud of you! What you did was exceptionally brave and trust me many of us cannot muster that courage. Be brave, strong and smart, as always. All the best. :)

SHAGORIKA EASWAR (Senior journalist and editor of two Toronto-based magazines): Oh, wow! Good for Ankita! There aren't too many young girls/women who would dare do what she did for the reaction she provoked is all too common. The victim is made to feel dirty. We have all heard/read of the revictimisation that goes on and the initial reaction of the bystanders and cops sent shivers down my spine. But the spunky kid stood up to them all alone at that. It's easier to feel brave with a back-up. Give her a big high five from me!

CHANDRAN IYER (Senior journalist, former editor of Mid Day, Pune): Wonderful. India needs more such women.

SPUNK AND BITE: ANKITA SENGUPTA
MARIANNE DE NAZARETH (Senior journalist and Commits guest faculty): Good for you, girl! More power to your pen and to your empowering of women who would normally have backed off and kept quiet.

ASHISH SEN (Communications professional, theatre personality, and Commits guest faculty): Congratulations, Ankita! This IS inspiring. 

VASANTHI HARIPRAKASH (Independent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media trainer): Damn good one! Here is a promising journo.

AMIT NAIK (Pharma professional): Atta Girl!

JESSU JOHN (Communications executive): Yes, atta girl. Very proud of you.

VIDYA NAYAK (Homemaker): God bless you Ankita. You have made all women proud!

Commitscion ANKITA BHATTACHERJEE (Class of 2014): This is one awe-inspiring article!

Commitscion ARPAN BHATTACHARYYA (Class of 2010): Good on you, Ankita. And I'm glad you didn't leave all the reprimanding to the police. A nail is a small price to pay.

RAJEEV GUPTE (Merchant navy captain): A girl full of guts and grit.

MAIMUNA MOTAFRAM (Homemaker):  Am so proud of Ankita. May other girls learn to emulate her in similar circumstances and stand up to such reprehensible behaviour with the same courage and guts.

  • Along with pursuing her Master's at Commits, Ankita Sengupta has been working as a freelance journalist with Deccan Herald. Like the good professional she is, Ankita knows she has to deliver the goods; if her commissioning editor wants her to write about fashion trends, then that is what she will write about. So last month, Ankita turned in a piece about shrugs. This month, Deccan Herald published her feature on jeans; and she has just submitted, at the commissioning editor's request, an in-depth piece on how women can get ready for work in a jiffy. At the same time, she is hoping to publish her story about dragging the molester to the police in Tehelka's "Personal Histories" section. We wish you all success, Ankita!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

A birthday tribute to the best teacher of writing ever

Regular followers of The Reading Room will be familiar with Dr. Mardy Grothe. They will also know that I subscribe to the good doctor's "Quotes of the Week" e-newsletter.

Today's newsletter contained, among other things, this gem on William Zinsser, the legendary author of that legendary guide to writing nonfiction, On Writing Well:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

By Dr. Mardy Grothe

On October 7, 1922, William Zinsser was born in New York City (he celebrates his 90th birthday this week). After attending Princeton University, he served in the U. S. Army during WWII. After the war, he achieved a lifelong dream when he was hired by the New York Herald Tribune. For the next 13 years, he worked as a feature writer, drama editor, film critic, and editorial writer. He left the paper in 1959 to pursue a freelance writing career that ultimately produced books, magazine articles, and columns for Look, Life, and The New York Times.

In 1970, Zinsser joined the faculty at Yale University, and it didn't take long for his classes on nonfiction and humorous writing to become some of the English Department's most popular courses. In 1979, he left Yale to become executive editor of the Book-of-the-Month club, a position he held until 1987. For the past 25 years, he has been a freelance writer, an occasional jazz pianist at Manhattan jazz clubs, and a part-time instructor at The New School and Columbia University.


WILLIAM ZINSSER'S BEST-KNOWN BOOK HAS SOLD MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES.

Zinsser has authored 17 books on a variety of subjects, but he is best known for On Writing Well, a book that grew out of his writing classes at Yale. Originally published in 1976, the book has appeared in numerous editions, selling well over a million copies (it is my all-time favourite book on writing). If you're not familiar with the book, I highly recommend it. And if you ever become interested in writing about yourself and your life, you'll do yourself a big favour if you check out his 1987 book, Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir and his 2004 book, Writing About Your Life: A Journey Into the Past.

Zinsser's observations on writing are among my favourite quotations. Here's a baker's dozen of his best:


Writing is thinking on paper.

Thought is action in rehearsal.

Too short is always better than too long.

There's no sentence that's too short in the eyes of God.

Never forget that you are practising a craft with certain principles.

Never let anything go out into the world that you don't understand.

What I want to do is to make people laugh
so that they'll see things seriously. 

Hard writing makes easy reading. 
Easy writing makes hard reading.

There's not much to be said about the period
except that most writers don't reach it soon enough.

Don't ever become the prisoner of a preconceived plan.
Writing is no respecter of blueprints.

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not
the subject being written about, but who he or she is.

Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere.
Try to commit an act of writing
and they will jump overboard to get away.

Conclude with a sentence that jolts....
The perfect ending should take your readers
slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right.

In 2010, at age 88, Zinsser began writing a weekly blog ("Zinsser on Friday") for The American Scholar. After nearly two years and 82 posts, he recently brought his blogging career to an end. But his posts are all archived and available for your reading pleasure here: "The Complete Zinsser on Friday".


WILLIAM ZINSSER NOW HAS HIS OWN WEBSITE.
  • Additional reading: Michael Dirda, author of Classics for Pleasure, a book I prize, took over William Zinsser's column in The American Scholar. Read Dirda's tribute to Zinsser here.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

In the New Yorker — "Citizens Jain: Why India's newspaper industry is thriving"


Call it coincidence. Call it irony. Just a day after I published a post about the late Arthur Ochs Sulzberger of The New York Times ("A newspaper publisher like no other"), I learn from Outlook editor Krishna Prasad's blog that another venerable American publication, The New Yorker, has devoted a nine-page article to The Times of India and its owners, Samir and Vineet Jain.

Read Krishna Prasad's post here: "Samir Jain, Vineet Jain and TOI in The New Yorker".

And you can read the New Yorker article here: "Citizens Jain".
  • EXTERNAL READING: On April 27, 2013, Mint, too, provided evidence of the appeal newspapers have for Indians:

 Take a look at Mint's photo essay here: "Newspaper Nation".
  • UPDATE (May 7, 2013): The New Yorker has just published a letter by the executive editor of The Times of India regarding the "Citizens Jain" article. Read the letter here.

Monday, October 1, 2012

A newspaper publisher like no other

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher (owner) of The New York Times, died on Saturday at the age of 86.

Reading his obituary and the other articles remembering an extraordinary personality, I could not help but wonder if such a publisher exists in India.

Here is an excerpt from the tribute written by a former Times editor, Max Frankel:

[Punch, as everyone called him,] was a media mogul who never ordered an article to be printed or deleted from the news columns of his paper. In a quarter-century in which I reported directly to him, he never once summoned me to his office to complain about our journalistic decisions. As he always insisted, The Times sold not just news, but judgment about the importance and interest of news, and once invested in his choice of subordinates he wanted them to feel secure in their labors, comfortable with their judgments. He had our backs.

Read Max Frankel's appreciation here: Punch Sulzberger and His Times.

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger in 1992, the year he relinquished the position of publisher to his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.  The portrait in the background is of his grandfather, Adolph S. Ochs, who bought The New York Times in 1896.

Here is a telling passage from the column written by Arthur Gelb, who joined The Times in 1944 as a copy boy and retired in 1989 as managing editor:

Punch’s punctuality could feel like a reproach. In 1951, as part of Punch’s training, [managing editor Turner] Catledge had arranged for him to spend two weeks with me when I was a beat reporter at the Municipal Building. When I arrived there at 10, my regular time, Punch was waiting for me.

The next morning I arrived at 9:45. Punch was already there. The third day I arrived at 9 and there he was. Defeated, I went back to my normal arrival time.

Punch shared my love for the ambience of that old newsroom. When the newsroom’s brass spittoons were declared obsolete, he claimed one and later installed it in the den of his Fifth Avenue apartment. As publisher, he sometimes waited for the paper — still warm to the touch — to be brought up from the basement presses.

Read Arthur Gelb's column in its entirety here: "A Newsroom and a Beloved Publisher".

Nicholas D. Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Times columnist, also remembers Punch fondly and recalls his leadership style, which is something Indian newspaper proprietors (I can think of one in particular) would do well to emulate:

In a newsroom of titanic egos, often clashing, he was typically gentle and his concern was the paper rather than himself. I remember one occasion when the Times was publishing a brutal article about one of his close friends: he read the article in its entirety the day before publication, but never asked for a word to be changed. He picked the best editors, and then left the journalism to the journalists.

You can read Nicholas D. Kristof's remembrance here: "Punch Sulzberger, R.I.P.".

For the complete obituary, which also gives us an insight into the workings of a legendary institution, go to "Publisher Who Transformed The Times for New Era".
  • Photograph courtesy: The New York Times/Burk Uzzle