Now for the Nibbies ...

And now it's time for the Nibbies, as the British Book Awards are affectionately known, a whole cluster of awards decided by publishers, booksellers and the general public, and reflecting (i think it's fair to say) more popular, rather than rarefied literary, taste.

Among the winners :

Ian McEwan picks up the Galaxy Book of the Year for On Chesil Beach, and Reader's Digest make him Author of the Year.

Richard and Judy vote Khaled Hossieni's A Thousand Splendid Suns, their Book of the Year.

Catherine O'Flynn is Waterstones' Newcomer of the Year.

Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter wins Sainsbury's Book of the Year.

And J.K. Rowling gets the Book People Outstanding Achievement Award.

The complete list of awards and shortlisted titles here.

Lindsay Irvine takes a look at this year's awards in the Guardian.

Rowling Confronts Ghosts

It was the first time since the mid-Nineties that the J. K. Rowling had set foot inside the small apartment, just two miles from a £2million home she owns in Edinburgh, and this time she had a TV film crew with her, recording footage for a documentary*.

It was an emotional return and Britain's Daily Mail reports that she burst into tears, saying:

This is really where I turned my life around completely. My life really changed in this flat. ... Because it's such a well-worn part of my story now, it's a big yawn to hear how I wrote it, as though it was all some kind of publicity stunt for a year. But it was my life and it was very hard and I didn't know that there was going to be this fairytale resolution - and coming back here is just full of ghosts.

Rowling wrote some of her first book, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, in notebooks in a nearby cafe.

*To be shown on ITV1 next Sunday.

Life Post-Harry

There's an extremely good piece in the New Straits Times today by Johan Jaafar about life in the aftermath of the latest Harry Potter launch. He's spot on when he talks about book selling in Malaysia in general and last weekend's kerfuffle:

... we are dealing with an industry which has too many misses and very few hits. One business magazine calls it "the twisted economics of Harry Potter": The wizard brings both profit and pain to the industry.

Imagine life for the bookstores after the Harry Potter mania subsides.

They will have to be content with very few reasonably successful titles.

Bestsellers are hard to come by. Stores are stacked with titles whose shelf life is the stuff of legend.

The talk among booksellers these days is about inventories, if anything at all. Unsold stocks are devouring booksellers’ profits. What you see in posh, well-lit and well-stocked stores is deceiving.

The cost of operating is prohibitive, the buyers are shying away and foreign books are flooding the market.

Publishers, too, are not getting their money as fast as the books are being churned out of the printing presses. For every successful title, there are hundreds of sluggish ones.

The book industry is as perilous as Harry’s attempt to fight the Dark Lord Voldemort.

It is a thankless industry. In this country, only textbook publishers are smiling all the way to the banks.

Publishers of general titles are struggling to survive in an industry worth a mere RM1.5 billion.

Even the broiler chicken industry is bigger than the book industry.

Little wonder there are very few quality book publishers in the country.

There is not even one specialising in children’s books. Perhaps the book industry is searching for the missing Horcruxes, the secret magical objects that need to be destroyed by Harry Potter in order to kill Voldemort.

There are far too many "dark forces" bedevilling the industry in order for it to rise to the next level.

A supermarket chain in Britain offered the book at about RM35.

Online retailer Amazon.com is offering half the price offered by bookstores.

Understandably, booksellers in US and Britain cried foul but in Malaysia they did something about it.

As much as the Potter brand is seductive, slashing the price the way of the hypermarkets will spell trouble for the book industry.

Yes, I will support anything that will benefit consumers. But an unnecessary price war is detrimental to the industry as a whole.

The industry simply can’t survive on a one-off phenomenon.

This is not even about survival of the fittest. The truth is there is no pot of gold even in such a precious commodity like Harry Potter.

In the wake of the Harry Potter mania lie realities very few outside the industry will ever understand.*

For my daughters it is time to bid farewell to a long-trusted friend.

For the industry, at least in Malaysia, it is a time of reckoning. And to move on.

* My emphasis.

Solved!

Just received from a book industry friend:

MPH, Times, Popular and Harris bookstores are happy to have reached an agreed solution with Penguin Books Malaysia & Singapore with regard to the sale of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and will resume sale of the said book at the recommended retail price of RM109.90 fixed by Penguin Books Malaysia & Singapore with immediate effect. As a goodwill gesture to customers, all 4 bookstore chains have decided to accord customers with the following offer for the purchase of said title: (i) 20% discount for all customers with any purchase; and (ii) 25% for loyalty card members. For loyal customers with pre-orders, please refer to the respective bookstores for more details.

It's a Scramble!

So what do the papers have to say today about the scramble for the new Harry Potter?

Predictably there were fans queuing for hours outside all the stores still selling the book before the mad grab began at 7.01 a.m Malaysian time.

And there were some rather ugly scenes.

Borders at the Curve had a larger crush of people than anticipated. One disabled man reported yelling and threats, and had to be rescued from the pushing and shoving by bookshop staff when the shutters were lifted. Potter fans fans surged forward regardless, eager kids egged on by their (kiasu?) parents even before the shutters were fully lifted.

At Borders at Berjaya Times Square fans broke into a frenzy when they saw a staff member with a door key and almost broke down the door.

There was some discord too at Kinokuniya where thirteen Potter fans who streamed in as soon as the building opened at 5.15 a.m. found another ten people in the queue ahead of them at the bookshop. (So where did they hide all night, ah? In the toilet?) When the store opened, some 400 people surged forward and one girl was injured (but got a free copy of the book). (Eternal Wanderer gives an eye witness account.)

The hypermarkets, of course did a brisk trade but each branch had only limited stock to offer the public. (How could they have known about the pullout by the other bookstores?) Carrefour Mid Valley sold almost half its stock of the book in just 45 minutes and only enough copies to last until 10 a.m. Most of the other hypermarkets had sold out by the end of the day. But of course the book was used as a loss leader to tempt folk to do their grocery shopping at the same time.

Take a look at this Wiki page on Harry potter and the Deadly Hallows - but only if you don't mind, or can ignore the spoilers - to read about the worldwide price wars over this book, because in fact what happened here is symptomatic of a global threat to book retail.

Says the NST:

In Ipoh Tesco enjoyed roaring sales, thanks to walk-in customers who rewarded the hypermarket for the cheaper price by purchasing other goods.

Many were not happy with the protest by the other bookshops who seen by many as the boo-hiss villains when they are the victims of (to put it kindly) opportunistic business practices ... but of course just try telling that to the kids.

As Popular Bookstores executive director Lim Lee Ngoh says:

What are books to a hypermarket? For bookstores, that’s all we have.

Representatives from the four will be meeting sole distributor Penguin books next week to resolve the pricing dispute.

You can read more about loss leaders in publishing here. It's good to remember this:

Loss leaders are a fact of life, but don’t forget that your bookseller supports you all year round. If you don’t support them, you may find they are not there next time you need them.

Especially as our bookshops are already under threat.

Postscript (1):

Madcap Machinist posted a link to this article in the Sunday Independent which reveals that the amount from each books sale going to the publisher is £10.74 a copy. That's RM75.37.

Of course other costs are incurred for our books - warehousing, shipping, transport, advertising. This means that by selling the book at RM 69.90 the hypermarkets are making a substantial loss on each copy they sell to undercut the booksellers. Fill in all the dots yourselves.

I disagree with Machinist though when he says the shops should have continued to sell the book. At some point a stand has to be made.

And although it sounds a real joke, the only way independent booksellers around the world can avoid making a loss on selling the book is to buy from the supermarkets/hypermarkets, which they sell on for the same price in their own stores just to make customers happy.

Postscript (2):

From an article by Manjit Kaur just added on the Star website:

The Malaysia Bookseller Association's 100-odd members nationwide will meet next week to decide their next course of action over the Harry Potter price war that has erupted here.

"The worst case scenario would be to return the books to the publisher," said its president Cheah Thye Wee. ...

... They said they were protesting the "indiscriminate price discount," adding that it was not fair of distributor Penguin Books to "allow hypermarkets to sell such a popular book when they are not in the book business."

... Penguin Singapore and Malaysia managing director Eddy Teo said the hypermarkets would incur losses by selling the novel at a cheaper price, pointing out that their purchase price was actually higher.

He said there would be no replenishment on top of the opening order due to unavailability of stocks and the British publisher of the novel, Bloomsbury, had no plans for reprints now.

Cheah said his association was shocked and disappointed with the price under-cutting of the seventh and final book in British author J.K. Rowling's bestselling series.

Hypermarkets should be giving discounts on milk power, rice and other necessities that benefited a larger population of the country, and not use bestsellers to attract customers to their outlets, he said on Saturday.

He said those in the business had waited for two years for the book to be released, and it would have been understandable if the hypermarkets sold the book for RM69.90 a year later, but to do so on the day of its launch was "ridiculous."

He strongly supported the decision of the four major bookstore chains to not sell the book.

"We will stand by them," he added.

The Malaysian news even made the International Herald Tribune.

Postscript (3):

Kervin does a very good job of explaining the economics. Glad someone gets it!

(Photo scanned from NST shows the crush in Tesco Mutiara Damansara)

Harry Potter and The Evil Price War

Big drama. Front page news in the Star.

Because of Tesco and Carrefour undercutting the price of HP7 (both selling at RM69.90 instead of the recommended price of Rm109.90) the four major bookshop chains, MPH, Times, Popular and Harris, have decided not to sell the book! Good for the retailers sticking together. Sad sad sad for all those who were planning to launch the book in a fun way this morning, and for the fans. (Those who pre-booked will still be able to collect their copies.)

Says MPH's chief operating officer, Patricia Chen:

It's not fair to allow hypermarkets to sell such a popular book when they are not in the book business.

I wholeheartedly agree with her. Stick to your baked beans and chicken portions and ikan bilis, hypermarkets, and if my credit card doesn't go through your till for a good long while you'll know it's my small way of making a protest. (Actually you probably won't notice, as the only thing I go out of my way to buy at Tesco is ground coffee, which is really rather good ... but I can live without that!)

On a happier note, there are some very nice pictures of last night's Sorceror's ball at MPH 1 Utama in the print version of the paper but sadly not online.

Update:

Raman of Silverfish (who said he couldn't afford to sell the book anyway) is laughing long and hard at all this and seems to feel it serves the chain bookshops right. Under the charming heading:

In Malaysia, the Harry Potter Shit Hits the fan

he writes:

Guess it was bound to happen. Major bookshop chains in the city have decided to boycott the latest Harry Potter book in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to 'unfair' pricing by Tesco and Carrefour hypermarkets. Isn't that simply delicious? Unfair pricing? Well, well, well. Who's talking now? Now, isn't that exactly what major chains have been doing to independent bookshops all these years? When they sold the latest release of a best-selling author below cost at their four-times-a-year 'warehouse' sales to attract customers, what did they think they were doing? Now they are protesting? Is that rich or what? Does anyone remember how JRR Tolkein's latest book Children of Hurin was sold below cost at a recent warehouse sale even before it was even released to the public.

Well, talk about poetic justice. Oh poor thing ... boo, hoo, hoo ...

I think what has happened with Harry Potter is the best thing that has happened to the industry. Time to put the house in order, right?

Meanwhile, some other bloggers have posted on the issue including The Malaysian, Georgette Tan, Eyeris, and Eric Forbes.

Yinny the Yinn works at Borders (which was selling the book) and tells how she almost got crushed in the rush.

This is the biggest local bookshop crisis ever, I think, and brings to a head issues that have been bubbling under for a long time.

(Photo of newspaper ad scanned in by Raman and nicked from his website.)

In Advance of Potter Pottiness

Potter pottiness will hit the world again this Saturday as the final book, in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is launched. Because of an embargo, booksellers are not permitted to sell the book until 12.01 a.m. in the UK (7 a.m. Malaysian time).

The magic actually begins a few hours earlier at MPH, I Utama where you are invited to a Harry Potter themed party dressed up as a witch or a wizard, and participate in games, Harry Potterish food, dancing and lots more! Register at 03 7781 1800 with Aliza or Farhana. (More news of Potter parties around the country in this Starmag article.)

The series has sold 325 million copies worldwide and made its author very rich indeed.

But back in the world of the Muggles, not everything is so hunky-dory.

First, of course, there was there was the killjoy hacker who posted a spoiler on the internet, claiming that he had managed to tap into publisher Bloomsbury's computer. (Was he right or wrong? Well we will know soon!)

The logistics of getting the book to the stores for Saturday morning while safeguarding its secrecy are staggering. (Just look at what "Operation Harry" in Australia involves!)

No doubt there will be tales of piracy and skullduggery as the deadline nears, as there was last time. There's some speculation also that some non-bookshop businesses could break the embargo to make a quick buck in the UK.

Not all booksellers are rubbing their hands in glee. Back in April Mr. Raman of Silverfish Books highlighted the fact that it makes little economic sense for independent booksellers to stock the book ... and I learned the other day that he will be interviewed by the BBC about this!*

But shouldn't we all be celebrating the fact that the series lures the young onto the righteous path of reading and gets 'em hooked? Says Motoko Rich in the New York Times.

Before Harry Potter, it was virtually unheard of for kids to queue up for a mere book. Children who had previously read short chapter books were suddenly plowing through more than 700 pages in a matter of days.

Unfortunately, according to studies carried out in the US:

... the series, in the end, has not permanently tempted children to put down their Game Boys and curl up with a book instead. Some kids have found themselves daunted by the growing size of the books (“Sorcerer’s Stone” was 309 pages; “Deathly Hallows,” will be 784). Others say that Harry Potter does not have as much resonance as titles that more realistically reflect their daily lives. “The Harry Potter craze was a very positive thing for kids,” said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts ... “It got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading.”

But let's not end on such a low note. if you're taking part in the Potter mania this weekend, I hope you have a great time and a thoroughly delicious read.

And don't forget that helpline for distraught Potter fans who can't believe the series has actually come to an end! (Eyeris' take on this very funny!)

Postscript:

*Some bookshops in Britain are also set to lose out. Says Nicholas Clee of Harry Potter on the Guardian blog:

He was one of the factors contributing to the demise of Ottakar's, which incurred big marketing costs in promoting him before seeing supermarkets and Amazon cream off most of the sales. Waterstone's, which bought Ottakar's, has warned that it will not make any money out of The Deathly Hallows. Independent booksellers cannot compete with their loss-leading rivals; a quarter of them have said that they will not stock the book.

Nicholas Lezard, meanwhile, has problems with Rowling's style.

Postscript 2

Skulduggery indeed. Some one has posted photos of pages of what could be the book on the internet, The Australian reports.

Someone posted a spoiler in the comments on this blog - but I erased it. It really isn't fair on the fans.

(Photo above from the Sydney Morning Herald shows copies of the book arriving in the warehouse.)

HP7 - Coming Your Way Soon?

Was much tickled to see a sign up in MPH 1 Utama which said simply:

HP7

21/7/07

Ah, the Malaysian love of abbreviation!

But independent bookseller Raman won't be selling the latest Harry Potter he says, and who can blame him:

With the big stores all offering a 20% discount on the book we had to follow suit. The operating cost of an average bookstore is approximately 20%. And after we gave away another 20% in discount, we were actually selling the book at a substantial loss. Why do that? (In the US and UK the discount was 50%. Go figure. The book industry is bizarre. Bookstores, especially the mega ones, have been defying gravity for far too long. The music industry does not sell newly released, best-selling CDs at 50% discount, does it? No wonder Borders is losing money, and has to pull out of UK.)

Bookshops in the UK are in a lot of trouble these days with supermarkets buying in bulk and undercutting them. In Malaysia we may be the beneficiaries as yesterdays' pile-'em-high-and-sell -'em-cheap best-sellers are shipped here by the container load to create a crisis for the established bookshops here.

Just Plain Potty!

Goodness. UK book retailer Waterstone's, realising that fans are going to be somewhat distraught when the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is launched on July 21st are setting up a helpline.

Two of the characters (we don't know which yet) are due to meet an untimely demise. One could well be the boy wizard.

This could be a similar moment to when Take That split up

said a Waterstone's spokesperson, anticipating emotional trauma of staggering proportions.

The book is already at the top of the best seller list in the UK thanks to the number of pre-orders received, whilst the adult version of the book occupies the no. 2 slot!

I actually love Rowling. Not only for being patron saint of getting kids to read and keeping them hooked, but also for generating lots of lovely cash for publisher Bloomsbury, which has allowed the company to take risks on more non-mainstream titles.

Liar! Liar! Books on Fire!

Cast your eyes down this list and tell me, how many of the books on it have you read?

1. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien
2. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
3. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
4. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus – John Gray
5. 1984 – George Orwell
6. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone – J.K Rowling
7. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
8. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
9. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
10. Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank

Honestly?

Or were you just bluffing to impress me?

According to a poll of over 4000 bookworms conducted by the Museums, Libraries and Archive Council (MLA), a third of British adults have lied about reading a book to appear more intelligent according to a new survey.

The poll revealed that:

40 per cent of people said they lied about reading certain books just so they could join in with conversation. ... Most people expand on their literary repertoire to impress a new date, 15 per cent have lied about the books they have read to a new colleague and five per cent have told porkies about their reading habits to their employer.

As Head of Library Policy, John Dolan, says:

It’s fascinating to see that so many people are trying to impress others with the books they haven’t actually read.

And the top ten above lists the books the Brits most often lie about.

Malaysians of course don't lie about reading books they haven't read ... even if it would be professionally expedient for them to do so!

Or do they?

Guilty Pleasures

Which writers do you turn to for a comfort read - for something light and enjoyable and page turning ... even if you may not necessarily admit to enjoying them in public?

A survey carried out on behalf of the Costa Book Awards in the UK has revealed that:

Stephen King has beaten JK Rowling to the title of the UK's favourite literary guilty pleasure. ... the thriller writer is the most popular choice among readers looking for an indulgent read, with the adventures of Harry Potter coming a close second. ... 85% of those surveyed admitted to having an author they turn to for sheer gratification, but whom they might not admit to reading in pubic. Third place in the survey was tied between John Grisham and Dan Brown, while the fourth position was split between Danielle Steel and Catherine Cookson. Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels were placed fifth.

And on the Guardian blog, Richard Lea asks which books you'd choose for hangover reading (or, I suppose, a bout of flu) and gets some interesting replies.

I've only read the first book in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, but was so totally charmed that I will save the rest for a relaxing respite from books much heavier. I would read Stephen King and Rowling with great pleasure. Maybe I'd also add Roald Dahl to the list, and Nick Hornby.

I wouldn't be ashamed to read any of my choices in public.

But if those of you with an image to protect feel your choices make you look a little less high-brow or un-cool, those nice people at Costa Coffee offer you free dustjackets to print off and wrap round your embarrassment!

Severe Warning - Plagiarists Around!

My post on the Dan Brown case the other date sparked plenty of discussion about what constitutes plagiarism and your comments raised some very important questions.

I've since found an excellent website about plagiarism of all kinds. John Lesko's Famous Plagiarists blends careful academic argument with humour. It's a topic he clearly feels passionate about:

Plagiarism is an offense against authorship and originality, and we are criminal accomplices in such offenses if we attempt to justify a plagiarist or ameliorate the consequences resulting from such odious behavior.

Strong words, and there's plenty more. He lists some of the most famous literary plagiarists and kleptomaniacal popular writers along with their threat rating (as in the picture I plagi- ... er ... borrowed above).

There are writers we might expect to be there like Mr. Navahoax himself - Tim Barrus and Dan Brown. (The former gets a red rating , the latter only blue.)

But there are surprises - TS Eliot (rated yellow), Jack London (yellow), Stephen King (green), J.K. Rowling (blue) ...

... and the grandaddy of English Literature himself (blue -guarded risk). Shame on you, Billy!

The Magician of Earthsea

Ursula Le Guin is amazed that critics find Rowling "wonderfully original" and complains that the writer "could have been more gracious about her predecessors". Her Earthsea quartet featured a school for wizards long before Potter was a twinkle in Rowling's eye.

As a fantasy writer, she learned that new worlds are not "so much invented as discovered". She says that she learned from Tolkein "... the trick of hinting at a whole background with a few names, so you'd feel situated in a real world, not a fantasy bubble."

She found C.S. Lewis less palatable: "simply Christian apologia, full of hatred and contempt for people who didn't agree."

And she lists works which she considers part of the lineage of modern fantasy writing: Shelley's Frankenstein and Phillip K. Dick, and also some more unlikely literary writers Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Jose Saramago and Marquez. She says she was also influenced by Dickens and Tolstoy. "You have to shoot as high as you can shoot," she says. (Good advice this, for wanne-be fantasy writers nearer home!)

Read more about Le Guin's life and writing in today's Guardian. Her 20th novel, Gifts, now out kicks off a new fantasy series for young adults.

The EVO Approach

Thought this a nice addition to the discussion of getting kids to read I got so carried away with yesterday ...

Daphne Lee in her Tots To Teens column in Starmag today talks about the EVO Approach:

OK, those of you who read this column regularly are probably saying, “Oh, no, there she goes again. She sounds like a broken record.” Well, I’m also writing Tots to Teens for people who have only just come across it; new parents maybe; or educators; people who would like to nurture the reading habit in their little ones, or people who are simply interested in promoting literacy, and who maybe need help in figuring out what they can do to make a difference.

And so ... EVO! This is a little something I’ve come up with to act as a simple guide to what you need to give children if you want them to love reading and books. Exposure. Variety. Own choice. EVO!

To elaborate: Kids need to be surrounded by books and reading from the word go; they need to know that there are lots of different kinds of books out there for their enjoyment, not just, say, mysteries or fairytales or, heaven forbid, workbooks. And they need to be allowed to say, “I don’t really fancy J.K. Rowling. Give me Louisa Alcott instead.” Or vice versa.

Of course, the sooner they experience all of the above, the better. Above all else, read, read and read to your kids. At bedtime is always nice, but if little Jon crawls into your lap first thing in the morning and hands you Dr Seuss, seize the moment and run with it. And if you’re too tired, you can just look at the pictures together.

EVO? It's a winning formula!

Rowling Revealed

JK Rowling last night unveiled a portrait of herself by Stuart Pearson Wright, winner of the 2001 BP portrait award, at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It's supposed to show her in the early days, writing in a cafe, living on boiled eggs.

Ah, the romantic image of a writer ...

Someday, someone will paint me eating gummy bear cakes as I write on the verandah at Delicious.

Harry Potter and Quickbuck Pirates

I told you we'd soon be seeing pirated Potters. This from today's Malay Mail. It will be interesting to see if Bloomsbury take action against the pirates. Or is there someone much bigger behind this scam?

Pirated copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, have found their way here and are selling like magic at a fraction of the original cost.

The genuine hardcover books retail for RM99.90 each while the bootleg paperback versions are sold at RM48; slightly less than half the price of the original.

The pirated versions, at a glance, appear similar to the originals except that they are paperback versions. The originals are only available in hardcover.

The laminated cover features the same illustrations as the original.

Following a tip-off, The Malay Mail visited a bookstore on the ground floor of Tesco hypermarket in Puchong yesterday, and purchased a copy.

The store, selling mostly Chinese magazines and books, had a bookcase near the entrance, where several pirated copies were displayed.

The lone cashier claimed ignorance when asked why the books were in paperback and sold at half the price of the originals.

She declined to reveal where the books were obtained from and the number sold so far.

The shop has been in operation for more than a year.

Meanwhile, an industry source said the pirates are reaping a huge profit.

According to the source, the average cost of printing a 607- page paperback of that size would cost around S$5 (RM11.25) at the most.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Pansing Distributors, the sole distributor of Harry Potter books in Malaysia and Singapore, said they were unable to comment on the matter as they were awaiting approval from Bloomsbury, the publisher.

In the first 24 hours of its release on July 16, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold 6.9 million copies in the US and more than two million in Britain, smashing all previous sales records of Harry Potter books.

The book has already become a victim of piracy in India, where pirated copies flooded the streets of Mumbai two days after the book’s launch.

A race has also begun in China, where the People’s Literature Publishing House is frantically attempting to release the Chinese version of the book before the pirates do.

That Old Potter Magic

Bumped into Voldemort today.

He seemed a little alarmed at my scream of terror and whisked off his mask to reveal a perfectly sweet smile, a young Chinese guy on his first work assignment after graduating, which was, he told me, to spook the kids who came to buy the book. Nice work if you can get it, I say.

At a counter near the door cauldrons smoked and evil green liquid bubbled in a test tube. Giant spiders and green snakes lurked, while witchily-clad sales assistants handed out forms for the treasure hunt to locate the half-blood prince somewhere in the store.

Today of course was Harry Potter day and around the world the same joyous lunacy prevailed. MPH opened at 7a.m. for the fans. At this one branch alone there were 1,000 pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just multiply that by bookshops across the city, by the bookshops of the world!

I love you, J.K. Rowling, Patron Saint of Getting Kids to Read!

How many kids will are holed up in their rooms in complete and eerie silence right now? How many will be forgetting to eat and going without sleep the whole night?

And along the way learning the best lesson of all ... with books comes pleasure and there are books you just want to devour whole.

(The cynical Mr. Raman says the problem is that kids just don't make the move from Potter to other writers. The trouble with Mr. Raman is that he is a mere muggle.)

Here I must confess I've read only Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. But loved it and am saving the rest for a time when I need to feel a kid again.

For adult readers who something more substantial than Potter, let me direct you to a novel I truly love and must read again pretty soon: Haruki Murakami's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

It has a hero who goes through the back of a cupboard to discover a strange underground world. (Wherever did he dream up that idea?) It has horrible monsters called Inklings ... and a wood with unicorns in it, a passing nod to Harry Potter.

Rowling hasn't cornered the market in magic, thank goodness.

Postscript:

Was I over-hasty extolling the virtues of Potterdom? I laughed at this review from Kitabkhana.

Harry Potter and the Missing Gun

Unbelievable, this!

Hmmm .... Methinks our local Harry Potter pirater will be limbering up for his own reduplicatory feat. Apparently, he has friends in very high places ...