Although the video below is way outside of the usual remit of Travel Between The Pages, I couldn’t resist sharing it. Created with a big AI assist by London-based illustrator, designer, and editor Douggy Pledger, Star Wars 1923 will either thrill or infuriate Star Wars fans.
As a life-long fan of Italo Calvino’s writing, I was very excited to discover this marvelous BBC audio adaptation of his post-modern classic If on a winter’s night a traveler .
Relax. Concentrate. Turn that phone off. Dispel every other thought. In fact let the world around you fade. You are about to listen to a radio adaptation of Italo Calvino’s iconic masterpiece If on a winter’s night a traveller…. Enter a labyrinth of ingeniously inventive audio worlds as you, the listener, turn detective in your attempts to get to the heart of the story and so become embroiled in a trans-global conspiracy of rogue translators, lost languages and disintegrating publishing houses. You, yes you, the heroic listener are plunged into an epic caper of disappearance, double crosses and beautiful, authentic romance. A multitude of characters are brought to life by Toby Jones, Indira Varma and Tim Crouch in BBC Audio Drama North’s premiere of Italo Calvino’s iconic post modern novel translated by William Weaver, dramatised for radio by Tim Crouch and Toby Jones and directed by Nadia Molinari. If on a winter’s night a traveller has been recorded in front of an audience at BBC Contains Strong Language Festival at Leeds Playhouse as part of BBC’s 100 years of Radio Drama.
If on a winter’s night a traveler (Italian: Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore) is a story within a story about the reader trying to read a book called If on a winter’s night a traveler. Each chapter is divided into two sections. The first section of each chapter is in second person, and describes the process the reader goes through to attempt to read the next chapter of the book they are reading. The second half is the first part of a new book that the reader (“you”) finds. The second half is always about something different from the previous ones.
I don’t think that I would be going out on a limb to speculate that almost every one reading this post has at one time read the iconic Antoine de Saint-Exupéry novel The Little Prince. In my case, I read it as a young child and I also had the book read to me in French by my Mother who was an absolute Francophile.
So, I was not surprised to learn that it has been translated into 500+ different languages and dialects, including many nearly extinct languages. Swiss engineering entrepreneur Jean-Marc Probst has, over the last 40 years, collected most of them, along with a huge hoard of ancillary material, into a searchable website. The fascinating short video below provides a helpful overview from linguist imshawn getoffmylawn.
NB: If the video fails to launch in your browser, please click here.
I was recently asked by a TBTP follower from Europe if the issue of book banning in the United States was being overhyped in the press. Sadly, if anything the scourge of book bans, and even book burnings, is not getting enough attention. It’s chilling to find that in the 21st century Christo-Fascist suppression of books in schools and libraries is spreading throughout the U.S.. Fortunately there is push back from anti-censorship advocates, parents, teachers, and libraries.
In the U.S., public libraries have long been advocates for a free press and the freedom to read. In 1982, Banned Books Week, was launched to bring attention to books that were targeted for removal from schools and libraries. The American Library Association, which pioneered Banned Books Week, has reported a record amount of books banned in recent years—many of which center people of color and LGBTQ+ voices.
In New York City, the NYPL has developed a book list for all ages, selected by expert librarians, to spotlight titles both past and present that are targets of bans and challenges. Check out their website for the list and more information on fighting book bans.
The American Booksellers Association is offering the ABA Right to Read Toolkit: How Booksellers and Readers Can Resist Book Bans, which is full of how-to advice, resources, and case studies to help booksellers (and others) deal with challenges in their day-to-day work. The kit is designed to be easily navigated, so users can read it in full or skip to the sections they need.
In a kind of magazine format, the 56-page ToolKit features profiles and commentary by a range of booksellers and others–including Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in southern Florida, Ramunda Young, co-owner of MahoganyBooks, Washington, D.C., and National Harbor, Md., former Rep. Steve Israel, owner of Theodore’s Books, Oyster Bay, N.Y.–about dealing with various aspects of book bannings, censorship, and in-store “book challenges.” Included are a sample of an op-ed that could be sent to local media, suggestions on how to contact government officials, attend a school board meeting, and hold a secure event, a chart about what ABA is doing to fight book bannings, and more.
Booksellers around the world, including the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) have raised objection to the City of Paris municipal government over its plans to remove the historic bouquinistes stalls that line the quays of the river Seine during the Olympic Games being held in the city next year.
The iconic stalls date back to the mid-16th century and are one of the city’s popular cultural attractions and landmarks. However, the corpoate Olympic organizers say the eviction of the bouquinistes is necessary due to security issues.
Léo Fontan (French 1884-1965) – Les Bouquinistes, Paris
ILAB and representatives of ILAB member associations – including the Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne (SLAM), the French antiquarian booksellers’ association – have sent an appeal to Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo calling for a halt about the move.
“The international bookselling community of professional rare booksellers has expressed its serious concerns to me and the executive committee,” said Mario Giupponi, ILAB President. “We firmly believe that the removal of these historic stalls will inflict irreparable damage upon structures that have been at the heart of literary and cultural transfer for centuries. The bouquinistes’ stalls are an indispensable part of France’s cultural heritage, representing an intangible legacy that must be safeguarded and perpetuated.”
The petition states that “While we acknowledge the importance of security measures, we believe that there are alternative solutions that can ensure both the safety of the public and the preservation of these cherished landmarks.”
As a collector and seller of antiquarian books, I have been a very amateur book conservator for the past 30 years. So, I am in awe of Roger Cox who is a master repair specialist on the team at The British Library, which is one of the most important research libraries in the UK and one of the largest libraries in the world. The library’s conservation efforts are critical to the maintenance the collections which number some 150 million items, from all cultures dating from 3000 BCE to the present day.
The wonderful video below is a brief demonstation of Cox’s skills as a book conservator.
If by chance the video fails to launch in your browser, please click here.
Donations of rare books, artworks, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera are being sought for an auction aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian booksellers and publishers affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, the Guardian reported, adding that the proceeds will go to Helping Ukrainian Books and Booksellers (HUBB), “a group formed shortly after the war began, when thousands of publishing professionals suddenly found themselves out of work. Authors are also being invited to donate signed first-edition copies of their books.”
Active for more than a year, HUBB was founded by Mitchell Kaplan, owner of the Books & Books stores in southern Florida, Jane Unrue of Scholars at Risk, along with authors Carolyn Forche, Christopher Merrill, and Askold Melnyczuk. The group connected with Oleksandr Afonin, president of the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association (UBPA), to offer assistance, Fine Books & Collections noted.
Chernihiv Regional Library
Libraries, editorial offices and publishing houses were hit, and sections of the industry were “severely impacted” by the war, “in part because much of the production of Ukrainian books happens in the east in and around Kharkiv, a city that was at that time under siege and being bombed daily,” Melnyczuk told the Guardian.
The auction is seeking donations “far and wide,” said Arthur Fournier, a rare bookseller helping organize the sale. “That should include collectors, booksellers, antiquarians, authors.”
Proceeds will be distributed in Ukraine by the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association. Thus far, HUBB has raised more than $30,000, which has been allocated to booksellers, publishers and libraries in Ukraine. The Guardian noted that a large portion has come from donations made by customers at Brookline Booksmith, Boston, Mass., which was visited by the late Ukrainian novelist Victoria Amelina when she lived in the city for a year. Amelina died in July from injuries sustained in a Russian missile attack on a restaurant in eastern Ukraine.
The auction will take place online in mid-November. The call for submissions is open until October 10. Those interested in contributing to the sale are asked to send images of up to 10 items to hubb@catalog-sale.com.
The American Library Association has announced the theme for Banned Books Week 2023: “Let Freedom Read!” Banned Books Week will take place October 1 – 7, 2023.
“As we’ve seen throughout National Library Week, as long as there are libraries, Americans’ right to read will not be overcome by censorship,” says Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada. “Our 2023 Banned Books Week theme – ‘Let Freedom Read’ – captures what’s at stake for our democracy: that the safety of our right to speak and think freely is directly in proportion to our right to read. ALA encourages libraries in every context to mark Banned Books Week by inviting other groups within their communities to celebrate and take action to protect our freedom to read all year long.”
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Banned Books Week highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas. ALA is one of the founders of Banned Books Week and a member of the Banned Books Week Coalition, an international alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to raise awareness about intellectual freedom issues and to celebrating and defending the right to read during Banned Books Week and beyond.
I was recently killing time in an airport waiting for a flight and spent a fun time trading travel recommendations with another flyer. We had both seen lots of fabulous places, but neither one of us could compete with the late great Johnny Cash, who has been everywhere. Check it out on the Johnny Cash Has Been Everywhere website . Trust me, it’s fun.
You should check out Postcard Past: A site collecting contemporary photo recreations of scenes from old postcards, which neatly contrast the stylized presentation of the often-future-seeming architecture depicted in postcards of the past with the reality of today. To quote the project’s curator, “I’m interested in economic, social, and urban history, and what we learn about them when we compare these highly edited, aspirational bits of old ephemera and the built environment of today. Stories about the rise-and-fall of entire industries, institutional discrimination, and the destruction of public transit systems. Racism, as well as resiliency and creativity in the face of that racism. Immigration, real estate booms, and disinvestment. Too many parking lots, so many collapsed banks, tons of financial crime. Civil rights progress. Advances in engineering. Pandemics. Leaps forward in medical care. Privatization of public goods. Secularization. Adaptive reuse.” This is a genuinely interesting bit of social history and a fascinating archive to get lost in.
As an inveterate museum goer, I am in a continual state of denial about the origins of most museum collections. There’s No Such Thing as an Ethical Museum. “At its core, an art museum is essentially a narrative of empire. If, as Napoleon quipped, history is a set of lies agreed upon, a museum is their physical manifestation.”
Since the onset of the Pandemic, I’ve found myself reading more Science Fiction. This is probably a healthy way to deal with frightening reality of our times. Although as a young reader many decades ago, I was a voracious consumer of Sci-fi novels, short stories, and magazines, so falling back on old habits is not surprising. This is Tor.com’s list of SFF books you should be aware of for the second half of the year.
I count myself among the fortunate travelers who got to visit Venice before it became so overtouristed that it’s become necessary to make an appointment to see the city. However, this series of dream-like images by the extraordinary French photographer Franck Bohbot has me longing to return. See Venice and swoon right here.
I will never forget the night that I realized that I’d never really seen the night sky before. Sitting outside of my little tent on the side of a mountain in Switzerland, I saw a sky so new to me that it seemed like I was on another planet. For most people in the so-called developed world light pollution severely limits views of stars. Because the loss of dark skies is so acute, astronomers have coined a new term for it. ‘Noctalgia’ is a feature of the modern age.
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