You might ask yourself, “How far would Stephen King’s fans go to read his latest book before the publication date?” Well, his UK publisher asked themselves the same thing. Then they broke down his latest tome into 5000 pieces and seeded it across various fansites, inviting readers to a game of literary hide and seek. Some people took it to extreme lengths, even hiding snippets of the manuscript by hanging it from bridges and scribbling it on public walls, to hiding it in code online. It is predicted that while Under the Dome is no Lost Symbol, it will certainly hit the bestseller lists, and fast!
King is a self-described voracious reader, and his influences span a number of genres and literary periods. Perhaps the most obvious is H.P. Lovecraft, who is even referred to blatantly in some of King’s works. From Bram Stoker, to William Golding and Tolkien, and the list goes on, there is no doubt that King is one to creatively use inspiration to create highly memorable stories. More notably, it is nice to see a writer of his stature keeping up to date with modern literature, even straying into realms outside of his expertise. While discussing the Harry Potter series, King said “The miracle of the Harry Potter series is that it keeps getting better. The genius of Ms. Rowling was her decision (probably never even seriously considered at the time) to follow Harry through his schooling. As a result, Harry’s fans have never left him behind. The question is whether Ms. Rowling will be bound to him for life, as Arthur Conan Doyle was bound to Sherlock Holmes.”
Have you read Under the Dome yet, or are you planning to purchase it soon? A note to the tech-savvy: the digital e-book retails at $35 and will be available on Dec 24th.
Watch this video to hear Stephen King talk about Under the Dome:
Harper Collins has announced that Sarah Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life (ghost-written with Lynn Vincent) will go on sale November 17, 2009. The 400-page hardcover will release with an initial print run of a whopping 1.5 million copies, and the e-book will follow after Christmas.
Abruptly resigning from her political post as Governor of Alaska earlier this year, Sarah Palin has managed to stir up controversy over and over again, and readers will no doubt be curious to see what she has to say of her own experiences. According to her publisher, Jonathan Burnham, “It’s her words, her life, and it’s all there in full and fascinating detail.”
As with most political figures, Palin has her supporters as well as critics. Late last year, ABC news revealed that back home in Alaska, Palin (then Mayor of Wasillia) had fired a librarian for refusing to ban certain books in the local library, after her church had been lobbying for the book Pastor, I Am Gay to be removed. That, along with numerous strongly conservative views that Palin has tried to implement politially has garnered much publicity.
Palin’s conservative leanings are also reflected in her literary influences. In one interview, she revealed that her top favourite writers are C.S. Lewis (along with his Narnia tales, readers will remember that he was a staunch supporter of religion, liberally incorporating it into his work), as well as Dr. George Sheehan, a one-time columnist for Runner’s World, who had published several works on athletics and battling cancer.
Palin will be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 16th to discuss her book. Incidentally, it will also mark the first time that Palin publicly talks about her book and appears on Oprah.
What are your thoughts on Sarah Palin, and how do you think her new book will be received?
Maurice Sendak, now in his seventies, has long been a classic favourite figure in the world of children’s literature and illustration. His fame skyrocketed following the release of his book, Where the Wild Things Are.
Sendak was born to Polish Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York. At a very young age, he was captivated by the animation in Disney’s Fantasia, and it was exactly that movie that inspired Sendak to become an illustrator. Over the years, he also expanded his line of work to include authoring numerous books, producing an animated TV series, and designed lavish sets for several operas and ballets, including the award-winning production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
A voracious reader, Sendak cites a vast number of influences in his work, ranging from painters to musicians and authors. Possibly the earliest and most lasting influence was none other than his father, Philip Sendak, who used to spin fantastic tales about the ill fates met by relatives in the old country. Beyond that, he used to even embellish stories from the Bible, into racy versions that were quite inappropriate for children. More than once, Sendak was sent home for innocently retelling these stories at school.
As he grew up, Sendak discovered other sources of inspiration. He calls Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, “a genius”, while Emily Dickinson also ranks high up on his list for her passionate writing. Mozart also provides a great sense of calm, as Sendak explains, “I know that if there’s a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart.”
Most recently, Where the Wild Things Are has been produced as a full-length feature film, capturing scores of young new fans across the world. The special effects and 3D animation stay quite true to his original illustrations, and it will appeal even to older fans.
Read more about Maurice Sendak’s influences on his Infloox page here, and watch an interview with him below:
Although Audrey Niffenegger had originally published her first novel in 2003, she has found a whole new wave of fans this year following a movie adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Originally an artist and a professor, Niffenegger had an idea to create a graphic novel that portrayed the tale of a simple man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time-travel, and his wife who has to deal with his frequent and sometimes dangerous disappearances. While thinking about it, Niffeneger realised that it was tough to convey time travel through images, and decided to write it as a novel instead. The inital release was relatively small, but once the book was mentioned and endorsed by a fellow author and family friend on The Today Show, Niffenegger’s name soared on the bestseller lists. It wasn’t long before the film production company owned by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston picked up the rights to adapt the novel for the big screen.
So where does an artist derives enough literary influence from in order to create such a massively bestselling first novel? It seems that the answer is actually quite varied. Amongst her favourites, Niffenegger names Tolkien, Poe and Anne Rice as a few that she constantly returns to over the years. Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series is a delight for her “essentially atheist nature,” while authors like Richard Powers and Dorothy L. Sayers were crucial in influencing The Time Traveler’s Wife. More recently, Niffenegger has been working on a second novel, titled Her Fearful Symmetry. Set in the Victorian era, Niffenegger is grateful to the author Henry James, a key figure in 19th century literature. Read more about Niffenegger’s writing style and influences on Infloox.
The 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature has been announced and the winner is… Herta Müller!
Wait, who? It’s a question that most readers across the English-speaking world have been asking today, accompanied by much head-scratching. The facts are that Müller is a 56-year-old Romanian-born German author, whose award-winning writing focuses on the hardships in living under the harsh dictatorship of Romanian leader, Nicolae Ceauşescu. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of her, keep in mind that while most of her numerous works have been published in German, only a mere five have ever been translated to English.
Müller spent over 30 years living in Romania. During her university years, she studied Romanian and German literature, and was a member of Aktionsgruppe Banat, a literary society that fought for freedom of speech. While German is her first language, Muller has also publicly stated that she finds Romanian to be a lot more poetic and poignant, and has derived much influence from its folklore and folk music.
In her working years, Müller had several scary run-ins with the Securitate, the secret police group of Communist Romania – she was threatened, slandered, captured, interrogated, critised by Romanian press and eventually banned from publishing in her own country. Later, she made the move to Germany with her husband, Richard Wagner (also a writer), where she was allowed to publish without fearing censorship. Of her novels, she describes them as “autofiction”, meaning that while the facts are based on her real life and real experiences, the stories are crafted as fiction.
Today, October 8 2009, it was officially announced that Herta Müller has won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature, making her the 12th woman in 108 years to win this prize. The Swedish Academy commended her for her bravery and passion in relating the hardships suffered by an entire nation, saying that “with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, [she] depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”. The awarded prize is a whopping $1.4 million.
I was quite surprised this week to see so much classic literature topping the ALA’s most frequently challenged list for 2009. To clarify, this is a list of books that are challenged by individuals in the community. They have to submit a “challenge form” stating their reasons, to a school or public library.
First off, here’s the list:
And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence
TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence
Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group
Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group
Now, I want to know: should these books actually be *allowed* to be challenged? Doesn’t that basically just amount to censorship, pure and simple? If parents are truly concerned about their children reading non-appropriate material for their age group (which is a valid concern of course!), perhaps books should be getting ratings, the same way movies do. At least to borrow from a public library would set age restrictions on younger patrons. What do you think? Would you also challenge any of these books? Find out more about other banned books over the years on Infloox.
The beloved literary classic, The Picture of Dorian Grey, is getting a facelift on the silverscreen! Oscar Wilde fans can expect a September ’09 UK release, with the North American date following shortly. A dark and moody gothic horror story, it stars Colin Firth, Ben Barnes and Macaulay Culkin.
The story tells the tale of a young man, the title character, who was the subject of a painting by the artist Basil Hallward. Hallward becomes more and more infatuted with Dorian Grey, believing that he is his muse. Through Hallward, Grey meets Lord Henry, who impresses him with a new lifestyle of hedonism and beauty. Realising that his good looks will someday fade, Grey is granted a wish that his looks will remain unspoiled, while only his image in Hallward’s painting will age. As his wish is fulfilled, Grey continues to become entrenched in debauched acts; each act is portrayed as a new disfigurement in the painting of Grey.
Although Oscar Wilde gained high recognition and popularity as an author, Dorian Grey was actually his only published novel. His other work was comprised of short stories, plays and poems. While he was one of the most successful playwrights of the Victorian era, he also created much controversy due to his mentions and convictions of homosexuality. His circle of influence was wide, as he befriended a number of poets, authors and playwrights such as Lord Alfred Douglas, Walt Whitman, Lionel Johnson and several others. In addition, plenty of musicians and composers have also claimed Wilde as an influence upon their music. Visit Infloox to read more about Oscar Wilde and watch the movie trailer below:
From the author who brought you the classics, A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules, now comes another novel slated to be the next bestseller, Last Night in Twisted River! On October 27, Irving fans will finally get their hands on the long-awaited book.
His twelfth novel to date takes place in the mid 1900s, when a scared 12-year old mistakes an innocent girl for a bear. Forced to flee, he and his father run from city to city, pursued by an unstoppable constable, with only a strange lone logger as their protector.
John Irving was born in 1942 and started writing early on. His first novel was published at the age of 26. Some of his favourite authors included the great Charles Dickens (to whom he was often named as a “literary heir”), Gunter Grass, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Find out more about Irving’s favourites at Infloox.
Which of Irving’s books is your favourite? What did you love about it? The Cider House Rules was previously adapted for film with much success. Do you see any of his other books being made into movies as well?
September 13th – today is officially Roald Dahl Day, where we celebrate the much-loved author’s birthday around the world!
Dahl was born to Norwegian parents in Wales on September 13, 1916. In a world far removed from the fantastical lands and characters he wrote about in his books for children, Dahl excelled as a pilot for the Royal Air Force and also served as an intelligence agent.
He first got his start in writing when a story he had penned about his war-time adventures was published in the newspaper. Following that, he started to churn out a number of books, including some that are widely regarded as classic children’s literature, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and The Twits. For these he derived inspiration from his own childhood – pranks played at boarding school, the chocolate samples sent to the students from the Cadbury company, antagonistic teachers and sumer holidays in Norway. However, all of his stories were not for kids. Dahl also published several works that told of life on the frontlines of the war, in addition to screenplays and non-fiction titles. Years later, his books still line bookshelves around the world, and several of his works have been adapted for film and television.
For those with young readers around, have a look at the official Roald Dahl Day website, featuring tons of free downloads and a free Roald Dahl Day activity kit. Older readers can head over to Infloox to learn more about Dahl as an author, and find out which books and writers he enjoyed the most himself.
For all the cipher-loving conspiracy theorists, the wait is soon over – Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol, will finally be out September 15th. Brown himself mentioned, ‘This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey. Weaving five years of research into the story’s 12-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine.”
Before turning into a full-time novelist, Dan Brown switched between teaching English and being a musician. It was only after vacationing in Tahiti and reading Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon, that he realised that he too could be a writer.
Curiously enough, as Washington Post book editor, Ron Charles mentioned on Twitter, as of late August, close to 200 people have given the book a rating of 3 out of 5, despite not having read it yet. Needless to say, Brown has a knack for unapologetically stirring up plenty of controversy, but along with the high-octane thrillers, he also gives his readers some food for thought. What are your thoughts and speculations on The Lost Symbol?
book before the publication date?” Well, his UK publisher asked themselves the same thing. Then they broke down his latest tome into 5000 pieces and seeded it across various fansites, inviting readers to a game of literary hide and seek. Some people took it to extreme lengths, even hiding snippets of the manuscript by hanging it from bridges and scribbling it on public walls, to hiding it in code online. It is predicted that while Under the Dome is no Lost Symbol, it will certainly hit the bestseller lists, and fast!
Harper Collins has announced that 
most lasting influence was none other than his father, Philip Sendak, who used to spin fantastic tales about the ill fates met by relatives in the old country. Beyond that, he used to even 
Although 
endorsed by a fellow author and family friend on The Today Show, Niffenegger’s name soared on the bestseller lists. It wasn’t long before the film production company owned by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston picked up the rights to adapt the novel for the big screen.
were crucial in influencing The Time Traveler’s Wife. More recently, Niffenegger has been working on a second novel, titled Her Fearful Symmetry. Set in the Victorian era, Niffenegger is grateful to the author 
world have been asking today, accompanied by much head-scratching. The facts are that Müller is a 56-year-old Romanian-born German author, whose award-winning writing focuses on the hardships in living under the harsh dictatorship of Romanian leader, Nicolae Ceauşescu. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of her, keep in mind that while most of her numerous works have been published in German, only a mere five have ever been translated to English.
I was quite surprised this week to see so much classic literature topping the ALA’s most frequently challenged list for 2009. To clarify, this is a list of books that are challenged by individuals in the community. They have to submit a “challenge form” stating their reasons, to a school or public library.
From the author who brought you the classics, A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules, now comes another novel slated to be the next bestseller, Last Night in Twisted River! On October 27, Irving fans will finally get their hands on the long-awaited book.
For those with young readers around, have a look at the 
The Official Infloox Blog 