Category: literary life

The Observer‘s David Smith reports on Kenya’s use of camels as book mobiles to reach out to remote villages.

There was excitement when the library camels appeared on the horizon, refusing to be hurried from their patient progress. The animals set down their cargo, and the staff from the Garissa Provincial Library assembled the tent, laid down mats and unpacked the books.

For the children who have no television, music or computer, the sight of a book offers the promise of escape and self-improvement. Soon they were scrambling over each other to get the latest delivery of titles ranging from How Pig Got His Snout, The Orange Thieves and Shaka Zulu to the more prosaic Practical Primary English, Comprehensive Mathematics and Improve Your Science and Agriculture

You can help the program by donating through the Observer’s Book Aid page.

Related: You can also read about Africa’s tradition of camel book mobiles in an MG post last year.

(Observer link cribbed from the Lit Saloon.)

Novelist Ahdaf Soueif has a long piece in the Guardian about the latest round of parliamentary elections in Egypt, which have been marked by such democractic practices as the beating of voters, closing down poll stations, and molesting of opposition figures. The situation there sounds rather catastrophic, judging from the diary Soueif kept. Here’s a snippet:

Earlier today Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president for the last 24 years, was sworn in for a further six. Cairo traffic came to a standstill for two hours as all routes to the People’s Assembly were closed off to the people. Now the protesters are gathering with their banners and a pair of kettledrums: “Dumdu-du-dumdum, Batel, Dum du-du-dum-dum, Batel, Hosni M’barak, Batel …” Batel means not valid, without legitimacy. Fortuitously, it rhymes with atel, unemployed, and so serves the protesters’ preferencefor chanting in rhyme: “In the name of 12 million atel, Hosni Mubarak’s rule is batel.” A new poster showing the president’s face with the word batel in flowing calligraphy across it has become overnight as iconic as the black on yellow Kefaya logo. “Dum du-dudum- dum …” They clap and drum and the posters bob up and down. And because the police – tonight – are keeping their presence light, they march.

More here.

Uzodinma Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation, a tale of a child soldier in an unnamed West African country, received a largely positive review by Simon Baker in this Sunday’s New York Times. Here’s a snippet

The acute characterization, the adroit mixture of color and restraint, and the horrific emotional force of the narrative are impressive. Still more impressive is Iweala’s ability to maintain not only our sympathy but our affection for his central character.

In addition, my friend Chimamanda mentioned his novel when she was asked by the Guardian which books she liked in 2005. There’s a Q&A in Time, a nice review in the Plain Dealer, and an interview in the Pittsburgh Tribune. And, well, there’s also that little recommendation by Salman Rushdie. Lots of buzz, to be sure, but I’m really interested in the subject and look forward to reading it (just got a copy this week).

Every major paper has released or is about to release their ‘best of’ lists, and it’s been entertaining comparing the selections. I was thrilled that the L.A. Times picked Luis Alberto Urrea’s The Hummingbird’s Daughter, a wonderful novel that was released last spring and which I absolutely loved. I also liked that the N.Y Times included Nadeem Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers, a lyrical and disturbing novel set in a Pakistani community in England, as well as Sam Lipsyte’s Home Land, a fresh and funny novel that was championed by several bloggers.

But there’s a lot that’s frightfully similar between the two lists, particularly in terms of gender. Of the twenty books on the L.A. Times favorite books of 2005, fifteen (i.e. 75%) were written by men. Meanwhile, twenty-two of the thirty-four books of fiction on the N.Y. Times notables list were by men (that’s 64%).

NPR’s Liane Hansen talks to architect and memoirist Suad Amiry about her new book, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, which humorously describes what life in Ramallah is like.

The Lannan Awards for 2005 have been announced. Among the literary fellowship winners are Nadeem Aslam (Maps for Lost Lovers) and Judy Budnitz (Nice Big American Baby). The lifetime achievement award went to Gilbert Sorrentino. You can see the full list here.