The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
- Bond goes out on his own
- Haruki Murakami to make rare public appearance
- Circumstances that shaped Sister Enda’s dreams
| Posted: 30 Apr 2013 03:11 AM PDT THE latest James Bond novel is named Solo and will follow the suave British spy on an African adventure, its author William Boyd (pic) revealed. "The journey Bond goes on takes in three continents – with the main focus honing in on Africa," Boyd told the London Book Fair earlier this month. "It's what happens to Bond in Africa that generates his urge to 'go solo' and take matters into his own hands in the United States." Solo, due out in September, comes 60 years after the publication of the first novel featuring Agent 007, Casino Royale by the spy's creator Ian Fleming. Fleming died in 1964 after writing 14 Bond novels, but other authors have since kept alive the series, which has sold more than 100 million books. Skyfall, the latest film in the hugely successful franchise spawned by the novels, took more than US$1bil (RM3.03bil) at box offices worldwide last year. Solo is the first Bond adventure by 61-year-old Boyd, who used Fleming as a character in his book Any Human Heart. Explaining his choice of title, he said: "In my novel, events conspire to make Bond go off on a self-appointed mission of his own, unannounced and without any authorisation – and he's fully prepared to take the consequences of his audacity." The book will be set in 1969 and features a 45-year-old Bond, Boyd revealed in February. The author was born in Ghana and has written novels set in Africa before, including A Good Man In Africa (1981) – which was turned into a 1994 film starring original 007 Sean Connery – and Brazzaville Beach (1990). Solo will be published worldwide in hardback, e-book and audio format on Sept 26. – AFP Relaxnews |
| Haruki Murakami to make rare public appearance Posted: 29 Apr 2013 09:30 AM PDT BESTSELLING author Haruki Murakami is to appear at a Q&A session in Japan next month, in a rare public appearance for the publicity-shy but wildly popular writer, the event's organiser said. Murakami, one of the world's foremost novelists, will be part of a seminar entitled Observe Soul, Write Soul next Monday in the ancient city of Kyoto. The event will reportedly be his first public speech for 18 years. The seminar will mark the establishment of a literary prize commemorating Murakami's friend, the late clinical psychologist Hayao Kawai. It will also follow the release of Murakami's latest book. Murakami's new novel hit bookstores on April 12, with online book giant Amazon Japan saying it received more than 10,000 reservations in the first 11 days. The rate is faster than that for the final book in his bestselling 1Q84 trilogy. The new book's title is only available in Japanese for now: Shikisai Wo Motanai Tasaki Tsukuru To Kare No Junrei No Toshi. An unofficial translation renders it: "Colourless Tsukuru Tasaki And The Year Of His Pilgrimage". It will be Murakami's first work in three years after the final instalment of 1Q84 – a three-part novel containing the usual Murakami mixture of parallel universes, bizarre characters and surrealist happenings as the lives of a female murderer and a male novelist intertwine. 1Q84, which can be read as "1984" in Japanese, proved a worldwide phenomenon. Murakami's novels, which have drawn international acclaim and been translated into almost 40 languages, include the titles Norwegian Wood, Kafka On The Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The author, who divides his time between the United States and Japan, has a huge following, with fans praising his lyrical and surreal prose, which often takes as its subject Japanese people living on the margins of a homogenous society. – AFP Relaxnews |
| Circumstances that shaped Sister Enda’s dreams Posted: 29 Apr 2013 09:28 AM PDT Sister Enda's biography tells the story of the circumstances that shaped her dreams, the school she developed, the young women she nurtured, and the harmony she fostered in Malaysia. EVERY child looks up to her headmistress with trepidation and I'm no different, despite having left school more than two decades ago. So it was quite a daunting task to interview my former headmistress, Datuk Paduka Sister Enda Ryan, who is known for her Irish temper and sharp tongue. As the co-founder of both the Assunta Primary (1955) and the Assunta Secondary (1958) schools, Sister Enda is a revered icon. Having served 33 years as headmistress of the secondary school, she was not only a nurturer of young women but an educator who led Assunta to become one of the premier schools in Malaysia. Like many of my schoolmates, I consider myself a "thoroughbred" Assuntarian. I was born in Assunta Hospital, went to Assunta kindergarten and primary and secondary schools. I had several brushes with the primary school headmistress but only once was I summoned to Sister Enda's office, when I got into a scuffle with another girl. Fear gripped me. But instead of sentencing us, she calmly listened to both sides of the argument before insisting that we shake hands and apologise to each other. I readily held out my hand but the other girl refused to budge. Sister Enda repeated herself and added something about loving and forgiving your enemies. Slowly, the girl came around after being coaxed by our parents, who were also present. Never mind that I got the rotan when I got home; in my 12-year-old mind, Sister Enda's words were profound. I never forgot that incident and never got into a brawl again. For years, I'd duck every time I'd see her walking through the school's corridors with a whistle in hand. I was afraid she'd haul me into her room to give me the shelling I never got for that fracas! The nun is indeed a legend and after her recent bout with cancer, the Assunta Alumni decided it was timely to publish her biography. And there was no better writer than Dr Nesamalar Chitravelu, Assunta's first headgirl and a retired associate professor of English. So, armed with my notepad, I nervously walk into the Assunta Convent in Petaling Jaya, where Sister Enda lives. At 85, she uses a walking stick but she is still as sharp and loud as ever. My hands turn clammy. "Tell me your name again," she says warmly, taking my hands as I tower over her. "Oh, you're cold!" "No, it's the air-conditioning in my car," I bluff, as she leads me to a room and introduces me to Dr Nesamalar, 68, the author of her biography, Make Me An Instrument – The Singing Sister. With four other senior alumni members listening in, my job is even more formidable. But with typical Assuntarian spirit, the ladies put me at ease instantly and launch into tales of their schooldays. "I didn't want to do it! A book about me? It was embarrassing!" Sister Enda cries out in her shrill voice, which I remember so well. "For Nesam, it was like taking blood from stone. I only allowed it after they convinced me the book would help and inspire others. Whatever I've done is because I'm God's instrument. Some memories I've buried because the rules were so rigid back then. When the book was almost completed, the memories started coming back but it was too late by then." Dr Nesamalar says, "The timing is significant because most of the girls say they got a lot of values from school. The chemistry in Assunta was right and it should seep out to others. I agreed to write the biography because my life has already unfurled itself. "My early education guided the person I became and the decisions I made and make. Now the emphasis is more on getting As and not on the process of educating the student. Educators may want to read this book to get a different view of how education can be conceived." It took three years and plenty of challenges before the book finally materialised. Except for the designer and sub-editor, every part of the publication involved only Assuntarians. Sister Enda chips in, "My cancer started in 2007, then I had to have stents inserted. Each time they thought I was going to kick the bucket!" "She has a lot of health problems but she doesn't pay attention to those things. It's very important to learn how to be a human being. She's joyful and not resigned to simply living out her life," says Dr Nesamalar. "I take it each day at a time. I sing, enjoy the music and make the most of it," shrugs Sister Enda, pointing to her injured shoulder. Born Eileen Philomena Ryan, she entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) at 18 to become a nun. She left Ireland in 1954 for pre-independence Malaya to set up a school. Sister Enda earned the nickname of "the singing nun" because she would always sing to raise funds for the school. Any school function would be incomplete without her alto voice resonating in the air. In fact, there was never a day that went by without music blaring from the speakers. Hence, it is only appropriate that the book's subtitle is The Singing Sister. "Music is the metaphor for harmony. Sister Enda was instrumental in making the whole school sing in harmony. She orchestrated life in the school so that everyone from the students to canteen keepers and gardeners all harmonised," says Dr Nesamalar. The title of the book spun off from part of the school prayer in the early years, which began with "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace"; for the FMM, it was significant because it is a prayer of St Francis, their founder. The author explains, "For a multicultural school it is a peace prayer that anyone can say. In a sense, it is the symbol of what the school stands for: 1Malaysia. For each to make the meaning that she can live with best." Race, caste, colour and size were discarded in Assunta. Everyone was family, and the culture of giving was something the headmistress constantly emphasised. The school motto, Ad Veritatem Per Caritatem – To Truth through Charity – is used as a motto by every FMM school and university worldwide with the hope of inspiring students to be charitable in their day-to-day living and their interaction with others. Dr Nesamalar adds, "I learnt from Sister the importance of society and family, not just what is studied in the books. She instilled the sense of a family unit in Assunta. I learnt to value my family a lot more and continue the heritage of love and affection. In today's world, everybody is for themselves." The biography is multifaceted, says Dr Nesamalar, beginning with Sister Enda's formative years in Ireland, then sharing how she floundered when she first arrived in Malaya, and continuing on to present her views on education into which she matured, and the kind of governance that made this vision blossom. The final chapter describes how an extraordinary educator re-channels her energies into ordinary life. It is a polyphonous biography, too, says Dr Nesamalar: "The voices of many are incorporated, especially the students and teachers of Assunta. Ex-Assuntarians may want to read Part 3 of the book to revisit and savour the way Assunta orchestrated so many of their earliest experiences. Those of us who are interested in spiritual journeys may find Sister Enda's journey, as someone who has made a divine instrument of her life, edifying," says Dr Nesamalar. While Assuntarians might flock to buy this book, others too should get it because it is about someone who has contributed greatly to the education of young people in Malaysia. Dr Nesamalar adds that a team of people was involved in editing the book and taking it to publication, including Edda de Silva, Amy Pereira and Linda Lee. "In the publishing world, they are all leading lights in their own fields. All these people are in the autumn of their lives and the book harvests the fruits of their years of ripeness," she says. "Once the book is out, I won't know where to look afterwards!" Sister Enda interjects. "But I owe a great debt to the girls who did it. Initially, I was forced to give in but of course, I enjoy reading it now. It's not any old chin chai thing. It's something to be proud of." Dr Nesamalar concludes, "The book has many pictures, delightful layout and colours that separate the different voices. It is a book experience worthy of an artist's palate." > Make Me An Instrument – The Singing Sister is priced at RM80 and can be purchased from The Assunta Alumni at assuntaalumni.com. For further enquiries, contact Teresa at 016-260 0100 or 017-684 3276 or e-mail assuntaalumnibio12@gmail.com. |
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