Category: Books
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First Booker for a Brit in five years?
A British writer is likely to win the Man Booker Prize for the first time in five years when the winner is announced tomorrow. Unless the South African born Nobel Prize winner JM Coetzee wins the Booker for the third time — and sets a new record in the Booker’s…
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Free because we blog, tweet, in an attention economy
Singapore’s Straits Times and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post are the only English language newspapers I know that do not allow their stories to be read online for free. Even the Financial Times allows some of its stories to be read for free. Not the Straits Times. All you…
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Malcolm Gladwell on outliers, maths and rice
The Chinese are good at maths because their number words are remarkably brief, says Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers. He quotes from The Numbers Game by Stanislas Dehaene, who wrote: “Most of them can be uttered in less than one-quarter of a second (for example, 4 is “si” and…
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Men In White: More
Officials fallen out of favour were said to be airbrushed out of pictures in the Soviet era. Something similar happens in Men In White, the history of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party. Devan Nair vanishes from the pages of this book after he gives up his seat in parliament to…
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Men In White
Stop press! Men In White, the history of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party, has been flying off the shelves of local bookstores and a third printing of 10,000 copies has been ordered, reports the Straits Times. Er, wouldn’t it be better to correct a few spelling mistakes and grammatical errors…
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The Malayan Trilogy
The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess Anthony Burgess may be best known for A Clockwork Orange. But anyone with an interest in Southeast Asia should read The Malayan Trilogy. Like all good novels, this big book about the early years of Malaysia is both timeless and of its time. Set…
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Anthony Burgess on Malaysia
Malaysia celebrated its 52nd independence anniversary recently. So how much has it changed since Anthony Burgess wrote about it in The Malayan Trilogy? The book is based on his experiences as an education officer in Malaysia in the 1950s. In his introduction to The Malayan Trilogy, he writes: “The Malays…
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World War II , Vera Lynn and Auden
This was the day Poland was invaded by Germany and Russia 70 years ago, marking the start of the Second World War. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later, on September 3. Those wartime memories have now made Vera Lynn the oldest artiste to hit the charts.…
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The enduring appeal of Roger McGough
Roger McGough, who stands a chance of being voted Britain’s favourite poet, has another claim to fame. He was a member of the band, The Scaffold, that topped the BBC Top 20 chart with the hit single, Lily The Pink, in 1968. The trio also included Paul McCartney’s brother, Mike…
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BBC poetry site polling for Britain’s favourite poet
Carol Ann Duffy is the poet laureate, but who is Britain’s favourite poet? The BBC poetry site is running an online poll which closes on September 1. Voters can choose from a shortlist of 30 poets selected by a panel of judges. One can vote for TS Eliot, WB Yeats,…
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