THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE (2008) - Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
A French novelist, essayist and a children’s writer, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been regarded by the French as one of the greatest living writers of all times. The author of about 50 novels, essays and short stories, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio turned famous after the publication of his first novel ‘The Interrogation.’ It is still considered to be one of his finest pieces of writing.
According to a statement made by the Swedish Academy in its Nobel Prize announcement, “He was a conjurer who tried to lift words above the degenerate state of everyday speech and to restore to them the power to invoke an essential reality.” “He has gone through many different phases of his development as a writer and has come to include other civilizations, other modes of living than the Western, in his writing.” Described as a cosmopolitan author, a traveller, a citizen of the world and a nomad, Le Clezierhas lived and taught in many parts of the world. He writes about the native Indians in Mexico, Islanders in the Indian Ocean, and the North American Indians with the same flair as he has written about his own past.
The Interrogation was the first in a series of descriptions of crisis in Western Cities, which includes his short story collection La fièvre (1965; Fever, 1966) and Le déluge (1966; The Flood, 1967). His concern with the environment is accentuated in novels Terra amata (1967; Terra Amata, 1969), Le livre des fuites (1969; The Book of Flights, 1971), La guerre (1970; War, 1973) and Les géants (1973; The Giants, 1975). His next work 1980's Désert, brought about a breakthrough in his career, by winning him the French Academy Prize. This created the groundwork that led to establishing him as one of France’s great writers.
Le Clézio also published his essay collections, which are meditative in nature like L'extase matérielle (1967), Mydriase (1973) and Haï (1971). Voyage de l'autre côté published in 1975, gives an account of Cezio’s experiences in Central America. He then translated many of the major works in Mexican literature, which throw a light on his great interest with Mexican history. These include works such as Les prophéties du Chilam Balam and Le rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue (1998).
Le Clezio’s works have slowly developed from exploring his own world of childhood and moving on to an exploration of his own family history. This began with his work Onitsha and ended with L’Africain. A recent work, Ballaciner, (2007), which is very personal, reveals the powerful effect that film had in his life. This work traces the development of the history of the art of film. Ritournelle de la faim, is one of his very recent works which has just been published.
His books for children and youth have also been popular, some of them are the Lullaby (1980), Celui qui n'avait jamais vu la mer suivi de La montagne du dieu vivant (1982) and Balaabilou (1985).
PULITZER PRIZE 2008 – Junot Díaz for ‘The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao’
One of contemporary fiction’s most exciting voices, Junot Diaz after winning the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best novel of 2007, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was lauded with more showers of literary praise, culminating in the award of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, 2008. Considered one of the most memorable and individual writers of the time, MIT professor Junot Diaz’s debut novel was widely acclaimed and has been considered a true literary triumph.
Junot first found fame as a short story writer for his collection of short stories called Drown. It took Junot Díaz' eleven years to write The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Most of the acclaim for the book has been for its style, which is very relevant to today and the clever juxtaposing of Dominican –American culture- a good blend of politics, pop culture and authentic characterization.
The story set between two cultures - American and Dominican narrated in ‘Spanglish’ has won rave reviews that hailed it as ‘a joy to read, and every bit as exhilarating to reread." The protagonist Oscar’s (an obese good-natured Dominican) life has never been a bed of roses. He lives in New Jersey with his conservative mother and his spunky, rebel sister. Though he dreams of finding love, the Fukoe curse which has haunted the Oscar family for generations turns him into a star crossed lover. He seeks comfort by immersing himself in science fiction novels and Star Trek characters, trying to strike a balance between the American and Dominican cultures, just like Junot did. In the end, his story is all about the triumph of the human spirit and its ability to fight and rise up like a phoenix from the ashes of heartbreak and loss and live again.
MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2008 – Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger
‘I hope The White Tiger delights even more readers and also gets them thinking about the larger issues it raises.' - Aravind Adiga, Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
‘The White Tiger’ is a story of India and its contrasting faces – its dark and sordid face and its ‘India Shining’ face. As the Sunday Times puts it, 'Unlike almost any other Indian novel you might have read in recent years, this page-turner offers a completely bald, angry, unadorned portrait of the country as seen from the bottom of the heap; there's not a sniff of saffron or a swirl of sari anywhere... The Indian tourist board won't be pleased, but you'll read it in a trice and find yourself gripped’.
In his suspense filled, debut novel Anand Adiga sets out to reveal a facet of India that is hidden most of the time: the underbelly of its emerging economy. The story is written in the form of a chain of letters written by the protagonist Balram Halwai aka the White Tiger to the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao.
‘The White Tiger’ throws a light on India’s darker steamier side through the eyes of the once poverty stricken protagonist Balram who travelled from the darkness of village life to the bright, glaring lights of the Indian city life to find his fame and fortune there. The stark contrast between the cruelty and the cut- throat existence of modern India’s cities as compared to the age-old traditional styles of living comes across in the novel.
By the end of this book, Balram Halwai says: "White men will be finished in my lifetime, in 20 years’ time it will just be us brown and yellow men at the top of the pyramid, and we'll rule the world." The author’s message here is clear - India is on its way to rising slowly and steadily as an economic superpower, a "new India," although the path to the top may not be entirely without a share of brutality.
COMMONWEALTH WRITERS'S PRIZE BOOK FROM EUROPE & SOUTH ASIA 2008 – Indra Sinha for Animal’s People
Set in an imaginary city called Khaufpur in Bhopal, Animal’s People plays its part by retelling the story of the tragic lives of some of the people affected by the deadly Union Carbide gas leakage. ‘The novel promises to level a damning indictment against corporate greed and indifference….’ says the Washington Post Book Review.
Animal, the main character in the story is one of the victims maimed by the deadly, poisonous gas leak. With a twisted spine, he is unable to walk upright and like an animal moves on all fours. Brutally frank, compelling, hilarious and heart wrenching, the book is all about the strength and the courage of the human will. Though his body may be wounded and twisted, Animal’s spirit is not one to be quenched.
In a blunt and unflinching manner, Indra Sinha has succeeded in placing Bhopal and this terrible tragedy on the world map. An accomplished writer, Indra Sinha lives in France with his family; his book The Cybergypsies has also won great acclaim. Some of his other works are The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra, The Cult of Ecstasy, The Great Book of Tantra, and The Death of Mr Love.
THE FT/GOLDMAN SACHS AWARD 2008 - Mohamed El-Erian for ‘When Markets Collide –“Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change”’
Every year The FT/Goldman Sachs award seeks a book that elucidates “the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics”. ‘When Markets Collide’ is distinct in its ability to detail its economic and geopolitical analysis as well as offer structured investment advice. It has come right in time when the global economic and financial systems are tottering, offering advice to investors who may be treading the danger zone.The editor of the Financial Times said that the book was “lucid and prescient in its diagnosis of the present financial turmoil” and offered “important prescriptions for the way forward”.
According to reviewers, few people were “as well-positioned to understand markets” as El-Erian. A very popular and respected figure in the world of finance today, Mohamed El-Erian has clearly organized the latest financial events and put them into their respective slots. The book gives us clear insights and tips on how to interpret these events and the changing markets. It tells you how to benefit from this unstable scenario and take calculated risks when necessary.
‘When Markets Collide’ is like a priceless map especially for investors and policy makers around the world. It predicts changes and developments in the future and throws light on ways of capitalizing the changing financial scenario. It breaks down the complex world of investing into a simple and easy to understand formula.
VODAFONE CROSSWORD BOOK AWARDS FOR ENGLISH NON-FICTION – William Dalrymple for The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857
The Last emperor of the Moghul Empire, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, was like a hazy dark cloud on the receding horizon of the Mughal Empire. The glorious Mughal Empire was in its dying days during his reign. No one in recent times had much to say about this Emperor.Outshadowed by his more popular ancestors, there was just barely a mention of him in our history texts.
Thanks to William Dalrymple’s , The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857, deeply researched , accessible and astounding, we now have a picturesque, extensive view of what happened and went on in the Mughal capital during the time of the 1857- Indian Mutiny when Delhi was ruled by Bahadur Shah Zafar II. It traces the path of ‘The Last Mughal’ and maps out the humiliation, destruction and final demise of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, his beloved Delhi and his fading dynasty. With well researched, very informative footnotes almost on every page, it is a must for students of that period in history and also a gripping read for the average reader. Relating to events which happened 150 years ago, the story draws upon the rich resources from the Indian National Archives, a lot of which was never published before.
A senior history scholar, William Dalrymple is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society as well as the Royal Society of Literature. Six of William Dalrymple’s books have won major literary prizes. His points of focus lie in the Muslim world, early Eastern Christianity, India, the Middle East and the Mughal rule. His works include Xanadu, City of Djinns, Sufi Soul - The Mystic Music of Islam, The Age of Kali, Begums, and White Mughals.
