James Metcalf on the fictionality of the latest archaeological page-turners
Stephen Puddicombe looks at the unusual appeal of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Ciaran Rafferty investigates the science of book classification
E-book library frustration
Librarians across the country are outraged as the publisher HarperCollins announced that it would be restricting the number of times libraries can lend out its e-books. With the new policy, e-books purchased from HarperCollins will only be available to lend out the e-book 26 times, then the book’s ‘lifespan’ will expire. It’s been called “stupid, backward-looking and retrograde” by Phil Bradley, the vice president of The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and some librarians are calling for a boycott of all HarperCollins’ books, e-books or otherwise. Here at Yorker Culture, we don’t think much of these plans, but if e-books are “the future of reading”, this could have further reaching repercussions.
(Read) like an Egyptian
As the dust slowly settles in the aftermath of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, previously censored books have become available to read again. Under the old political regimes, books such as La Regente de Carthage by Nicolas Beau and Catherine Graciet, a critique of the life of the former Tunisian president, were banned and it is only now that they are taking their place on the country’s bookshelves again. In Egypt, a Cairo book fair is planned for the end of March to celebrate their newfound freedom. Viva la revolución.
Hirst set for games glory
Next summer will be the start of the Olympic games in London, and the Tate Modern are obviously banking on some serious business. The controversial artist Damien Hirst, known for his art of cutting up dead animals, will be the subject of a retrospective. His famous shark in formaldehyde will be shown, as well as A Thousand Years, a work which includes a rotting cow’s head as well as flies. Whilst Hirst’s art is not to all tastes, the exhibition will undoubtedly be a draw for foreign visitors, as well as people who didn’t get to see his exhibitions first time around. Just don’t go on a weak stomach.
Olympic logo controversy
After the unveiling of the Olympic logo design in 2007, there were many different opinions of it. Some said it looked like Lisa Simpson, others that it was a hidden swastika, some hated it, some loved it. But now in a formal complaint to the International Olympic Committee, Iran has claimed that the logo spells out the word ‘Zion’ and that this is part of a pro-Israeli conspiracy. The Iranian government have threatened to boycott the games and warned that athletes may be put off attending by the logo. London Olympic officials have denied this claim, stating that the logo represents the word 2012 and nothing more.
A chance to be exhibited in the Norman Rea Gallery
The Norman Rea Gallery needs you to submit work for its summer exhibition. The exhibition ('WINK') is a chance for you to demonstrate your artistic flair in reinventing an iconic image, in any style or visual medium.
A meeting for all those who are interested in finding out more about submitting their work will be held at 12.15pm on May 6th (week 2 of Summer Term), in VO45. For any further enquiries please contact wink.normanrea@gmail.com
I read about the olympic logo thing...surely they realise that a 2 looks like a z, 1 looks like an i and 0 look like an o all the time? And yes, a sideways 2 sort of looks like an n...technically it spells out 'Zoin' though, surely?
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