! Books! Books! There is no end to knowledge. All you need to do is flip through the pages to get that extra dose of infotainment. So sim- BOOKS ply read on... 03

These books are the best: No kidding The Alice books under his pseudonym Here are the best children’s books of all time. A few The The Lewis Carroll. by Lewis Carroll Narnia Pilgrim’s He employed logic, hu- are classics you may already know about, others (19th century) mour and inventive fanta- series Progress sy, fashioning the most ‘Alice’s Adventures in powerful and unusual are some hidden gems that deserve more attention by CS Lewis by John Bunyan Wonderland’, and works in children’s litera- (mid-20th century) (1678) ‘Through the Looking ture. Some have tried to The best chil- One of the first Glass, and what Alice work out why a raven is dren’s books books enthusi- Found There’, are an ex- like a writing desk. But have a way of astically taken traordinary brace of most will be content to be altering the uni- up by children, books, written by the drawn away into en- verse around them. Everyone this is now largely-neglected, even mathematician Charles Dodgson, chantment. can remember their first en- by adults and scholars. Unjustly so, counter with Narnia and then as its allegorical power and beauty trying to get through the are unsurpassed. Its humour and Peter and Wendy Fairy Tales back of the wardrobe into an colloquial nature mean it is still ac- enticing other world. cessible. The story brims with by J M Barrie (1911) by Hans Christian Andersen memorable places and people. (19th century) Some would argue that this nov- elised form of the play Peter Pan A strange and shy man, Hans Northern tion, are among the most is not a children’s , being in- Christian Andersen, produced enduring creations of stead complicit with an ironic, some of the most beautiful and Lights children’s literature. His adult view- reverberant by Philip Pullman themes are cosmic and point. How- literary vast, with a dizzying (1995) ever, this, fairy tales in sense of possibility. His and all its the world, Philip Pullman’s dae- story is spellbinding, and, variants, are about loss, mons, in his lavishly- in Lyra Belacqua, he enjoyed im- love and imagined alternative made a heroine at once mensely by longing. world run by a sinis- appealing, spiky and en- children. Gerda’s ter religious organisa- during. There is the search for theme-park her broth- world of er Kay in ‘The The Hobbit The Wind in the Neverland: Snow Queen’; the by JRR Tolkien (1937) the sense of unbounded imagina- little mermaid’s mute passion for her Willows tion, and the dizzying allure of prince... Gorgeously written, the sto- In ‘The Hobbit’, the tiny hairy- by Kenneth Grahame (1908) flight and magic. ries offer solace and enchantment. footed Bilbo Baggins goes on a Exceptionally influen- journey with some dwarves, and is Whether it’s for children or a book to tial, this of actually re- lift up the spirits The One sion, first came to Europe more than 200 tales under- warded for be- of down-trodden in 1704 in a French text went many editions in the ing a thief. The city clerks is de- Thousand and that also contained ‘Al- Kinder-und Grimms’ lifetime. Though some exciting adven- batable. Either One Nights addin’, ‘Ali Baba’ and ‘Sin- elements were altered, the fairy tures Bilbo way, the adven- bad the Sailor’. Hausmarchen tales retain a depth that res- finds himself tures of Mole by Anon (Folk tales) Elemental, opulent and onates with children and adults entangled in and Ratty, and This scintillating series, wondrous, the stories are (‘Nursery and alike. We all know ‘The Frog will lead read- Toad’s shenani- which Scheherazade spins full of passion and re- Household Tales’) Prince’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’; ers to its vast gans, express a to her royal husband every venges, and remain enor- by The Brothers Grimm but have you read ‘Hans my sequel, ‘The lyrical love of night so that he spares her mously influential. Hedgehog’, about a half-boy, Lord of the the pleasures of life to hear their conclu- (19th century) half-hedgehog? Rings’. rural life. THE INDEPENDENT AUTHORS OF INDIA “KEEP A DIARY...” Amitav Ghosh HITTING Deepa Agarwal, author of ‘Blessed’, tells us THE BOOKS about the qualities that make a good author great THE NEWS Tell a story unique to you We all have stories unique to us, which no one else can tell; and that PUBLISHERS, BOOK I would advise aspiring authors to is the best story for us to write. 1 LOVERS UNHAPPY read as much as they can. You can- And please revise, revise and re- not become a successful author vise! I know people who say they are WITH TAX ON without being familiar with the ‘one-shot’ writers, but it is hard work Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi IMPORTED TITLES: work of other authors. that pays off eventually. awardee, Ghosh is known for a series Union Finance Minister Then, keep a diary. It is an ex- of such as ‘Shadow Lines’, Nirmala Sitharaman’s Which book has this quote? cellent writing practice. Again, most A fiction is inspired by real-life expe- Have favourite books, not ‘The Glass Palace’, ‘The Hungry Tide’. His proposal to slap a 5 1. “You must never feel badly about riences, so write about something authors ‘Ibis’ Trilogy — ‘Sea of Poppies’, ‘River of per cent customs duty making mistakes ... as long as you take you have personally experi- Smoke’, ‘Flood of Fire’ — chronicles the on imported books in order to encourage enced or observed. I would say that the domestic industry has not the trouble to learn from them. For You will con- I have favourite books opium trade between India and China that gone down well with book lovers, while pub- you often learn more by being wrong nect better rather than one particu- Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Inci- was run by the East India Company. His with your lar favourite author. Books dent of the Dog in the Night Time’ R only non fiction work is ‘The Great lishers feel the government could help the for the right reasons than you do by readers. like E B White’s J Palacio’s ‘Wonder’, Ruskin Bond’s Derangement: Climate Change and the publishing industry with some more con- being right for the wrong reasons.” Avoid imitating ‘Charlotte’s Web’, ‘A Face in the Dark and Other Haunt- other writers, or fol- Cornelia Funke’s ings’ are some of my favourites. Unthinkable. crete measures, like reducing the cost of 2. “I don’t understand it any more lowing popular trends. ‘Inkheart’ trilogy, EXTRACTED FROM A TNN INTERVIEW paper. Sitharaman proposed a “5% customs duty on imported books, to promote the than you do, but one thing I’ve learned domestic publishing and industry”. is that you don’t have to understand of Books and in the Twentieth Century’. From tweet reactions terming the proposal things for them to be.” Music for your ears ‘not cool’, and a ‘crazy step’ that would not 3. “When someone is crying, of course, Bibliotaph help the domestic publishing industry, Here are a few aurally pleasing words Tsundoku Twitterati appealed to the finance minister the noble thing to do is to comfort ➤ Readers who hoard their that will soothe your bibliographic soul A Japanese word that has Want to know more books and protect them to withdraw the proposal. IANS them. But if someone is trying to hide no direct synonym in Eng- such words? Try search- from others, especially their tears, it may also be noble to lish. Most definitions, avail- ing for the meaning of: 4 biblioklepts, people who SATIRISTS MOURN AS able online, say ‘Tsundoku’ steal books unintentionally. By pretend you do not notice them.” 1 Elucubration, Acnestis, 2 MAD MAGAZINE means “the act of leav- the way, Bibliotaph is related to ing a book unread after Grommet, Octothorpe, bibliolatry, described as the ex- FOLDS: ‘Mad Magazine’ 4. “And Max, the king of all wild buying it, typically pil- and Argus-eyed travagant admiration of a book, has amused and out- things, was lonely and wanted to be ing it up together with making readers want to protect raged readers for other such unread books”. their stories. where someone loved him best of all.” nearly seventy years

Libricide but now it is being 4. ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak Maurice by Are’ Things Wild the ‘Where 4. Colophon Princeps

The Wiktionary describes pulled from news-

Snicket A publisher’s emblem or it as ‘the destruction of The first or print- 3. ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony by Events’ Unfortunate of Series ‘A 3. stands, triggering testimonials from comedi-

imprint usually found on books’ and lists ‘biblio- ing of a book is known as

2. ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle Madeleine by Time’ in Wrinkle ‘A 2. the title page. A colophon clasm’ (destruction of the princeps. Some prin- ans and cartoonists. The rollicking satirical

1. ‘ 1. The Phantom Tollbooth’ by Norton Juster Norton by Tollbooth’ Phantom The 3 contains details about the books, especially of the Bible) as ceps are worth a great deal mag with its freckled, big-eared mascot ANSWERS 2 5 publication of a book such as the a synonym. To know more, read both financially and emotional- Alfred E Neuman will be published monthly place of publication, the pub- Rebecca Knuth’s ‘Libricide: The ly (a recent example is the ‘Har- with original satire only until September. AFP lisher, and the date of publication. Regime-Sponsored Destruction ry Potter’ series). AGENCIES

JULY 10, 2019 MUST SEE MUST DO 1806: The Vellore mutiny broke out against the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Clement British. Attlee. 12,000 Montreal-style bagels are TELEVISION made daily. 1856: Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist, 1962: Telstar, 1st geosynchronous communica- MOVIES ON TV electrical engineer and inventor, was born in tions satellite, launched. ■ ONE WILD DAY, ANIMAL PLANET, Smiljan, Austrian Empire. 5.00 PM: The filmmaker docu- ■ X-MEN 2, STAR MOVIES, 4.08 PM: 1962: Civil rights activist Martin Luther ments a full day in the lives of var- Nightcrawler, a mutant, tries to 1866: Edison P Clark patented his King Jr was arrested during demon- ious wild animals as they strug- murder the president of the Unit- indelible pencil. THIS stration in Georgia. gle to thrive in some of the harsh- ed States. Meanwhile, when est environments on planet earth. William Stryker attacks Professor 1925: Meher Baba began his silence DAY THAT 1964: Bangalore University was X's school, the X-Men team up to in trouble when the giant ape goes of 44 years. His followers still established in Karnataka. ■ IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, DIS- thwart his evil plans. rampant in the city. observe Silence Day on this date in YEAR ■ FOOD FACTORY, DISCOVERY CHAN- COVERY SCIENCE, 5.00 PM: Elite 2018: The final 4 boys and their coach commemoration. NEL, 3.00 PM: Peanut brittle starts builders face off to become the ■ KING KONG, SONY PIX SD, 5.19 PM: ■ PETE'S DRAGON, MNX, 6.55 PM: Pete were rescued from Tham Luang Nang Non in a fire mixer before being hand- next Mythbusters crew and test Filmmaker Carl Denham and his Healy, an orphan, travels with 1947: Muhammad Ali Jinnah was recommended cave, Thailand after being trapped there for 18 spread by experts, a factory pro- two tall tales, the sideways ejector crew encounter a giant ape in Skull Grace, a ranger, to search his friend duces 100,000 microwaveable pigs- seat and the infamous 'Deflategate' Island and imprison it to bring it Elliot, a green dragon with wings, as the first Governor General of Pakistan by then days by monsoon flooding. in-a-blanket every day and up to football. to New York. However, they land after he disappears from the forest.