Bookfest@Malaysia in KLCC

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to go to the huge Bookfest@Malaysia in the KL Convention Centre. I’ve been seeing the banner ads (real life ones, not the ones in your blog) along KL roads, and while walking in Suria one day it dawned on me it had just started.

Here’s the thing. I knew that it was going to be a lot of Chinese books, since the logo itself was the stylized Chinese word for book, but I thought at least there should be some English books. Well, I was almost correct. MOST of it was Chinese books. I breezed through the first 4 halls of Chinese books and Chinese books and more Chinese books.

Finally I reached hall 1 and 2 where the English books were supposed to be located. There were actually only 2 stalls, one small one by MPH (bless them), which ironically was manned by two Indians and a Malay girl, and a huge area manned by Popular Bookstores. (I found out later that the exhibition was organized them.)

And the other thing was they charged RM2 per entry. What? Nevermind, I paid the fee and they gave me a little handbook with a bookmark (?!). I only got to read the handbook after I got home, I found out that the bookfest was mainly for exhibitors from China, Taiwan, Singapore and other Chinese-speaking countries.

I bought a few English books, MPH had some good discounts.

The organizers have planned lots of events like performances, book-reading, games, contests and giveaways all throughout the exhibition. It’s on until the Sunday 4th June. Details can be obtained at their website.

Contract With God by Will Eisner

Just read this book awhile ago.

Or should I say, the hardcover compilation graphic novel. The full title is "The Contract with God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue" featuring a collection of stories by Will Eisner.

I haven't even heard of Will Eisner, let alone this series of books. I had only seen the book on display for the longest time in the bookstore.

Having read it, I found out that Eisner is actually a very influential figure in the industry, and the Eisner awards is named after him. In fact, this book is the first 'graphic novel' to be released, in the original format, back in 1978.

'Contract with God' is like nothing I've ever read. All the stories revolve around a the folks in a tenement (apartment) called Dropsie Avenue, spanning the pre-Prohibition era at the turn of the century right up to the Great Depression Era of the 1930's. At some juncture one of the stories project up until the present, but only for a cursory glimpse.

This is an excellent book, make no mistake about it. It revolves around a few residents of Dropsie Avenue, a Jewish refugee who makes a contract with God, a surly building supervisor consumed by lust, a street singer who stumbles on a chance of lifetime to become a star, sordid family tales, all mirroring the real-life experiences of the author Eisner, himself an immigrant into a new world.

The stories are simple and poignant, yet powerful in a way that even readers from a different culture can identify with. The tales, all centred around the impoverished Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx, revolves much on the poverty, the dreams of being rich (portrayed as Manhattan, just a short distance away), lusts of the heart, and basically of a young America is the dawn of the 20th century.

The title is in reference to the first story in the series, a simplistic tale of a Russian Jew immigrant who makes an innocent contract with God on a piece of stone, and with his story coming to an end, sets off a series of tales about the building he lived in and ultimately died in. I especially liked the story about the families, with a little money saved up, going on summer vacations. Really, they may be stories you've heard before, but the way he tells it is just enthralling.

Will Eisner is a master story teller. Highly recommended.

The Other Books Around the Da Vinci Code Hype

A few weeks ago i was at this big bookstore in the city (a very famous bookstore), browsing as usual. This was when the whole 'Da Vinci Code' craze was just about to restart due to the media fanfare on the upcoming movie starring Tom Hanks.

So naturally, the bookstore was capitalizing on the sudden interest, prominently parading the Dan Brown books at the entrance, especially those older, less popular novels by the guy. Not to mention the boxsets.

Anyways, further in, there was this other shelf, which wasn't as prominently displayed, the store people had selected some books that more or less were on the same theme as DVC, you know, the whole religious-conspiracy-code-in-ancient-manuscript-race-against-time thing.

Here's a few i saw on display:

Decipher by Stel Pavlou

There are plenty more than these, maybe the store people should have displayed more, like Umberto Eco's books...

The Magdalene Cipher by Jim Hougan

After doing some reading on Amazon.com, i found out some of these novels were actually written in the 80's long before Dan Brown's book. Except back then they're weren't the 'in' thing...

The Genesis Code by John Case

I wonder if people are really buying all these books just based on the hype of DVC? I dunno.

The Messiah Code by Michael Cordy

Maybe so, since i myself discovered Focault's Pendulum via DVC, so there...

So I Went To The Borders' Sale

And yes I did, over the weekend, after reading about it in the papers.

It turned out to be really good, all English books were going at 15% off, except those on special offer. And i mean ALL.

But the downside was that i had very little money (after the taxman cameth, and the Times Bookstore Warehouse Sale...) . So i settled for only 2 books, Umberto Eco's Focault's Pendulum and Neil Gaiman's (Book 3 in the Sandman series).

I'm planning to get the full set of the Sandman series, but its a long way off...