The World Book Fair at New Delhi is about to begin, and INDIAreads will be there.

Do visit the INDIAreads stalls – we can’t wait to have you paw our brand new merchandise even as you struggle to manage a cheap sandwich with one hand, and a screaming brat with the other.

It’s always a pleasure to hear you gossip about the authors in hushed tones (“Amartya Sen – isn’t he the guy that invented Amul..?”), and it really makes our day when you ask us 50 painfully mundane questions and end up buying nothing. We live for those moments!

The theme at this year’s fair shall be ‘Indian Cinema’.

Cinema and Literature – Really…?

As long as the cinematic medium has existed, the movie industry has looked to literature for both inspiration and content.

But when turning a literary masterpiece into a movie, do the two mediums share enough commonalities so as to enable a smooth transition…?

The filmwallahs would answer ‘yes’. From ‘About A Boy’ to ‘Wuthering Heights’, the conversion of popular books to big screen pictures has been a recurring theme in film, particularly in recent years with the success of huge franchises like Harry Potter and the Twilight saga.

While much discussion centers around adaptations that aren’t seen as having lived up to the literature on which they are based, there are many adaptations that actually enhance an existing story; or completely supersede it.

Example: Fight Club – a brilliant movie, stemming from an okay novel.

Or Clueless, which takes a novel from 1815 and makes it relevant to the modern day by setting the story of Jane Austen’s Emma in the context of a Beverly Hills high school.

But all faffing aside – the tendency to make film adaptations of books stems largely from the desire for a guaranteed audience, and is not quite the ‘natural progression’ for a book as advocated by some filmmakers.

Flipside? Stories are abridged, scenes are added, movie-only fans (newbies, resented by the hard core lit enthusiasts) are born, and those who followed the series from its inception are often left feeling a little disappointed at the end product.

The greatest difference between movies and novels is that cinemagoers share a much more social, passive experience than bookworms – who enjoy an active, solitary read. This means that while those reading the book have their own visions of characters and events, film audiences are forced to share a single vision of what these aspects of the story look like.

This alienates the book fan further – what was once a personal experience for him/her, is now universal; with the perceptions and prejudices of producers, directors, actors and audiences – all influencing the final product.

All is not lost, though.

In Part II, we shall take a look at some of the more successful experiments to have managed the leap from literature to cinema.

Leddies.

The Velenntyne Day is here, and louve is in the air.

(sniff) Can you smell it?

Annyway.

Let’s celebrate romance by taking a look at some of the more romantic literary characters to have tumbled out of ‘romance novels‘ (and similar works of propaganda that were almost certainly metaphors for the authors’ own failed love lives);

1. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre – (Alternately cold, imperious, and withholding; he proposes to Jane without disclosing the much-married madwoman imprisoned in his attic)

2. Richard Sharpe of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series – (“He’ll fall in love with anything in a petticoat”, according to Patrick Harper – Richard’s loyal friend)

3. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – (In 2010, a protein sex pheromone in male mouse urine, that is sexually attractive to female mice, was named Darcin in honour of the character)

4. Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights – (A man prone to domestic violence, kidnapping, murder and digging up dead lovers – a fact perhaps unknown to Gordon Brown when he compared himself to “an older Heathcliff, a wiser Heathcliff” in 2008.)

5. Rupert Campbell Black of Jilly Cooper’s The Rutshire Chronicles – (Cooper has acknowledged that Rupert’s character is based upon Andrew Parker Bowles, the ex-husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Incidentally, she left him for Prince Charles – a man with a face for radio)

That’s just the beginning of my list. I could go on and on, but let me not kill all that love in one go. So more later….Till then

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

People!

2012 is about to be quite a year; doomsday predictions notwithstanding.

With a star studded line-up of authors and titles to choose from, rest assured the literary roller-coaster at INDIAreads is not about to stop anytime soon.

Check out these gems that may be pre-ordered at INDIAreads shortly;

1. I’ve Got Your Number – Sophie Kinsella (Feb 2012): When Poppy loses her engagement ring and her mobile all in the same disastrous evening, it seems making use of a phone she finds by chance, abandoned in a hotel bin, is the obvious solution.

But inevitably her life becomes entangled with the real owner of the phone, a high-flying businessman called Sam who becomes increasingly irritated when Poppy can’t resist meddling in his affairs…

2. The Oath of The Vayuputras – Amish Tripathi (Oct 2012): Book Three in the hugely popular Shiva Trilogy – after ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ and ‘The Secret of The Nagas’ – keeps the feeding frenzy going.

3. Emerging India: Economics, Politics And Reforms  – Bimal Jalan (Jan 2012): A collection of essays written over 20 years, this is an essential read for anyone seriously interested in the history and future of India’s development as a nation.

4. Didi: A Political Biography – Monobina Gupta (Jan 2012): Gupta brings her experience as a journalist and commentator on the politics in West Bengal to paint a fascinating portrait of the woman who defeated the longest-serving communist government in the world; and is fast emerging as one of the most important political figures in India today.

5. When Loss is Gain – Pavan K Varma (Jan 2012): Action-packed yet contemplative, Pavan K. Varma’s first novel is a powerful story of love and loss, despair and hope, chance and destiny, and the true meaning of joy and sorrow in every human life.

6. Rahul – Jatin Gandhi & Veenu Sandhu (Jan 2012): .Who is Rahul Gandhi—the real man—beneath the hype and the hatchet jobs? What are the ideas and influences that propel him? Who are his advisers? And how will he tackle his new responsibilities as his mother, Sonia Gandhi, makes way for him? Two young journalists, Jatin Gandhi and Veenu Sandhu, trace the evolution of the Rahul brand and explore the fascinating relationship between modernity and dynasty in this incisive political biography.

7. Neglected Poems – Gulzar (Jan 2012): Neglected only in name, these poems represent Gulzar at his creative and imaginative best, as he meditates on nature, delves into human psychology, explores great cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and New York , and confronts the most telling moments of everyday life.

8. Micro – Michael Crichton (Jan 2012): An instant classic in the vein of Jurassic Park, this boundary-pushing novel has all the hallmarks of Michael Crichton s greatest adventures with its combination of pulse-pounding thrills, cutting-edge technology, and extraordinary research.

Three men are found dead in a locked second-floor office in Honolulu. There is no sign of struggle, though their bodies are covered in ultra-fine, razor sharp cuts. With no evidence, the police dismiss it as a bizarre suicide pact. But the murder weapon is still in the room, almost invisible to the human eye…

9. Smart Trust – Stephen M. R. Covey (Foreword by Indra Nooyi) (Jan 2012): Find out why trusted people are more likely to get hired or promoted, get the best projects and bigger budgets, and are last to be laid off. This book will forever shift your perspective as it reveals and validates once and for all the transformational power of trust. Reading Smart Trust will help you thrive in an increasingly unpredictable marketplace.

10. The Innocent – David Baldacci (Apr 2012): Freelance hitman Will Robie gets a job from the US government. Even as he expertly nails his target – a suspected enemy of the country – he sees something at the scene of crime which he suspects will have deadly consequences …

Does he need to change sides to save lives, including his own…?

11. Untitled Memoir – Salman Rushdie (Sep 2012): The memoir will cover Rushdie’s childhood, his family life – he has been married four times – and his time in exile.

12. The Limpopo Academy of Private Investigation – Alexander McCall Smith (Apr 2012): The new installment in the perpetually delightful and bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

Precious Ramotswe is back and, as usual, her plate is full.  She’s called in to tackle a mysterious disciplinary problem at her adopted daughter’s school. Her infinitely trustworthy assistant, Grace Makutsi, is having trouble adjusting to wedded bliss; a problem to test even the formidable talents of Mma Ramotswe. And the estimable Clovis Andersen, author of The Principles of Private Investigation – the No. 1 Ladies’ prized manual – has arrived, right there, in Botswana, on a case of his own. Bush tea, anyone?

13. Home – Toni Morrison (May 2012): The latest novel from Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.

An angry and self-loathing veteran of the Korean War, Frank Money finds himself back in racist America after enduring trauma on the front lines that left him with more than just physical scars. His home–and himself–may no longer be as he remembers it, but Frank is shocked out of his crippling apathy by the need to rescue his medically abused younger sister and take her back to the small Georgia town they come from; a place he’s hated all his life. As Frank revisits childhood memories and the war, that leave him questioning his sense of self, he discovers a profound courage he thought he could never possess again. A deeply moving novel about an apparently defeated man finding himself–and his home.

14. Bring Up the Bodies – Hilary Mantel (May 2012): In this sequel to the Man Booker-winning Wolf Hall, Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn. From history’s darkroom, this novel offers a speaking picture to the modern world; a vision of Tudor England so recognizable it defies archaism. It is the work of one of our greatest writers at the peak of her powers.

15. Betrayal – Danielle Steel (Mar 2012): A renowned film director confronts an act of unimaginable treachery—and the first devastating blow will not be the last.

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel reveals the dark side of fame and fortune. At the same time, she brilliantly captures a woman’s will to navigate a minefield of hurt and loss—towards a new beginning.

16. Behind The Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, And Hope In A Mumbai Undercity – Katherine Boo (Feb 2012): In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book by the Pulitzer winner, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human; thanks in no small part to three years of uncompromising reporting.

With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, ‘Behind the Beautiful Forevers’ carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.

People !!!!

Now is the time to subscribe to INDIAreads.

We’re giving away a Free Bestseller with every purchase of an INDIAreads Smart/Bonanza Plan in 2012.

You heard us; our shelves runneth over.

Only for New Members, though.

Existing Subscribers will have to settle for our massive discounts and flawless service; it’s quite sad, really.

So please hurry and mooch off of us.

For a complete overview of all INDIAreads plans, please click here. (for Delhi/NCR)

or here. (for Other Metros)

and here. (for Rest of India)

NOTE: Offer valid only till midnight, January 2012.

FREEDOM is, “the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires”

- Bertrand Russell

Now time, traffic, access or price issues, will no longer be an obstacle to your reading desires!

This Independence Day, INDIAreads bring you the Freedom Offer: read anything, anywhere, anytime!

Just log on to INDIA’s fastest growing online LIBRARY and BOOKSTORE @ www.indiareads.com and get the books of your choice delivered to your doorstep at no extra cost!

Enjoy Mega discounts on all book purchases + free shipping!!!!*

And that’s not all, for every purchase above Rs 750 made before midnight August 20, 2010, you take home a best seller of your choice, absolutely free!

This INDEPENDENCE DAY, INDULGE your senses FREELY!!!

If your billed amount is Rs 750 or more, choose from the following freedom basket:**

Any Chetan Bhagat or Noddy title ***

Shop worth Rs 1500 or more and take home one of the following best sellers:**

Any AGATHA CHRISTIE title***

ANd if you have billed Rs 2500 or more, you can select from any of the following titles:**

Select any Sidney Sheldon title***

That’s not all, if you have space, time or price issues, then just join the INDIAReads Online Book Rental Library and rent the latest best sellers for just Rs 150 per month. There are no due dates, no late fees and no travel hassles!! The Books are delivered to your doorstep!

Activate your Library membership before August 20, 2010 and get a best seller from our freedom basket absolutely free!!! And yes, you choose the title!

If you have opted for a monthly membership, choose from:**

If you have opted for a Smart Plan (Six monthly), you can take any of the following title:**

If you have opted for the Bonanza Plan (annual Plan), select from:**

Paulo Coelho (Brida, Alchemist, Manual of the Warrior of Light), Nicholas Sparks (Bend in the Road, The Rescue)***

This INDEPENDENCE DAY, gift yourself and your loved ones the freedom to read anything, anywhere!!! Join the growing movement of booklovers across INDIA

“I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.”

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

* Free shipping for purchases worth Rs 200 or more.

** The book covers and editons might differ from displayed images. For your free book, send an email to customercare@indiareads.com indicating your first three choice of books and order of preference. Please indicate at least 3 books to ensure availability and timely delivery.

*** Any title by this author will be sent to you.While we will try to accommodate your request of title, in case it is not available, we will send you any book by the author which is in stock.

Terms and Conditions:

a) Only valid for all purchases made and memberships activated till 11:59 pm, August 20, 2010

IST.

b) Only valid for new memberships (not for renewals)

c) To be eligible for the scheme, your one time billed amount has to be above Rs 750. You cannot club different transactions

d) Please send an email indicating at least 3 books of your preference in order of priority,

e) Please note that in case of Agatha Christie, Chetan Bhagat, Noddy books, Sidney Sheldon Paulo Coelho and Nicholas Sparks, any available title will be sent.

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i) This scheme can not be clubbed with any other promotional scheme.

If you have any queries, write to customercare@indiareads.com or call 011-43710618

Anyone who is familiar with JAM magazine will have no doubt that this book by Rashmi Bansal is sure to be a great read. An IIM-A graduate with sharp business acumen, Rashmi is well known for her sharp wit and desi style, the hallmark of her crisp editorials and articles.

Her book Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish is a collection of 25 stories of IIM-A graduates who took the unconventional path of entrepreneurship. Shunning the more conventional and comfortable jobs, these individuals who are diverse in age, outlook and the field they made their mark in, have all become successful  in establishing their dreams. While some rode the wave of the dot com boom, others borrowed funds from friends and family. Yet each story, through its tale of both success and failure, presents a lesson in itself.

Through the brave and unusual spirit of these brave industrialists, the book seeks to inspire young graduates to look beyond placements and salaries. While the main feature of the book is the extensive research about these successful businesses, it is also an inspiring look into how some of the most well known companies are still continuing today because of the belief in one’s dreams. Some of the accounts such as the story of Rajeev Bikhchandani and his venture naukri.com are case studies by themselves. The journey of how his venture with GoI failed and he built naukri.com on the same platform when terms like internet and domain name were unheard of is a popular case study in most B-schools.

Basic principles such as managing the cash flows right, keeping the focus intact and never giving up the idea are coherent in all the chapters. Written in short, simple language that doesn’t require one to be a management student to understand the context, the book is an easy read for anyone. The only drawback is that in certain places, the book reads more like an interview and that other successful icons outside of the IIM-A seem to have been neglected. Hopefully, this is something which will change with either the sequel or another later edition.  More than just a biography or a how-to manual, this is a book which is recommended to everyone, especially to all who are starting out on their career path.

You can rent, purchase or gift a copy of Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish or browse for more related titles at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.

Robert Ludlum

American author famous for his thriller novels, the number of his books in print is estimated between 290-500 million copies. His books have been published in 33 languages across 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.

Some of his famous works are:

The Osterman Weekend (1972)

The Holcroft Covenant (1978)

The Apocalypse Watch (1995)

The Bourne Series (1980)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American essayist, philosopher, and poet, he is best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. A champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, his teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid-1800s.

Some of his famous works are:

The Conduct of Life (1860)

May Day and Other Poems (1867)

Society and Solitude (1870)

Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Douglas LePan

Canadian diplomat, poet, and novelist, he is one of only a few people to have won the Governor General’s Award both for poetry and fiction. His work has been included in many anthologies, including The Norton Anthology of Poetry, The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry, and The Broadview Anthology of Poetry.

Some of his famous works are:

The Wounded Prince (1948)

The Deserter (1964)

Bright Glass of Memory (1979)

Far Voyages (1990)

Check out the titles available for rent and purchase from these bestselling authors at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.

Marian Engel

Canadian novelist whose most famous and controversial novel was Bear, which won the Governor General’s Award in 1976. She also wrote a number of books for children.

Some of her popular books are:

No Clouds of Glory (1968)

Bear (1976)

The Glassy Sea (1979)

The Tattooed Woman (1985)

Joseph Bodsky

Soviet-Russian-American poet, essayist, and Nobel Laureate in Literature, his earlier works were influenced and encouraged by the poet Anna Akhmatova. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1991.

Some of his famous works are:

Velka elegie (1968)

Marbles : a Play in Three Acts (1989)

Democracy! (1991)

On Grief and Reason (1996)

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov

Soviet/Russian novelist, he won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Some of his famous works are:

Tales of the Don (1925)

They Fought for Their Country (1942)

At the Bidding of the Heart (1970)

Sobranie Sochinenii (1975)

Check out the titles available for rent and purchase from these bestselling authors at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Scottish physician and writer, he is most noted for his stories about detective Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger. His stories have been translated into more than fifty languages, and made into plays, films, radio and television series. He was knighted (“Sir Arthur”) in 1902 for his work in Boer War propaganda. His other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.Some of his famous works are:

Some of his famous works are:

Sherlock Holmes series

The Lost World (1912)

The Great Shadow (1892)

The Great Boer War (1900)

Peter Mattheissen

American novelist, nonfiction writer an environmentalist, he is a two-time National Book Award winner. He frequently focuses on American Indian issues and history. In November 2008, at age 81, he received his second National Book Award for Shadow Country, an 890-page revision of a trilogy of novels he released in the 1990s. His story Travelin’ Man was adapted into the 1960 film The Young One.

Some of his famous works are:

Race Rock (1954)

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965)

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983)

The Snow Leopard (1980)

Check out the titles available for rent and purchase from these bestselling authors at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.

L.Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was meant to be a children’s novel. However, it has been reprinted countles number of times since its first publication in 1900.Besides the numerous volumes of the tome reprinted each year, what is truly amazing is the endless source of inspiration it has been for artists across all mediums.

Art

Abstract artists, photographers and painters have often times exhibited works inspired by stoty and the characters from the Wizard of Oz.

Music

In his song yellow brick road, Elton John talksabout leaving someone and all that wealth in the penthouse to go back to the simple country life he came from.A place he reckons he should have stayed. In the lines of the song he sings his future lies “beyond the yellow brick road” (just like Dorothy’s did), back in the country, away from all this.

Theatre

With the first performance in1902 as a stage play, the Wizard of Oz has been regularly acted out in theatres ever sine. Even performed on broadway, the classic has had many remakes, versions and themes since then.

Movies

Directed by Victor Fleming, the 1939 film version was set as a musical and won an award for best picture. Since then, it has become one of the most-viewed movies worldwide.

Shoes

Aptly named ‘Alice’ the shoe inspired by the pair  actress Judy Garland wore in the 1939 movie adaptation is one of the most popular styles among women to be purchased from Crocs stores around the world.