Well-known contemporary Japanese author and likely Nobel Prize candidate Haruki Murakami, will release a new book this April, according to his publisher. It will be his first book in three years since his mammoth 1Q84, which was originally released as a trilogy in Japan.

Details are scarce about the plot, but considering Murakami reuses the same themes in all his books, (to the point where the New York Times Book Review put together a “Haruki Murakami Bingo”) basic plot points can be pieced together. The main character will most likely be middle aged, enjoy drinking beer, feel alienated and lonely, and have an interest in old records. Cats will also make an appearance, as will teenage girls. Despite recycling similar themes and plots, Murakami has a large fanbase–1Q84 sold millions of copies worldwide.

It has been suggested that Murakami’s new work could be an expansion of the 1Q84 series. Murakami has said, “A fourth volume featuring an older ‘Tengo’ may come out…who knows.” Tengo starred as the male lead in the book. “What I can say now is there are stories before (volume 1) and after (volume 3).”

It is unclear if Murakami aims to write a new book or simply a few short stories, something he has done before. The title story in his collection Blind Woman, Sleeping Willow focuses on the protagonist of his novel, Norwegian Wood, several years after the events of that book.

It is highly likely that this upcoming book will be much shorter than 1Q84, given that the trilogy took him five years to pen.

Murakami’s varied influences may help explain his popularity with western readers compared to other Japanese authors. He spends his time reading writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Carver, Philip K. Dick, and Truman Capote, and also translated their works into Japanese. Most recently, during the composition of this current work, he translated Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. 

Although no translation has been commissioned yet, Murakami’s popularity makes it almost certain that one will appear eventually. However, fans who cannot read Japanese will probably have to wait two or three years to read it, the average time it takes translators to bring his works into English. In the meantime, bored readers can read through Murakami’s long list of other books: ten novels, three short story collections, two non-fiction works, and two out-of-print novellas (the first two stories he ever wrote). His most well-known works include Norwegian Wood, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

Image Courtesy : Haruki Murakami

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The 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to Mo Yan, a Chinese author whose works have often been compared to magical realists such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Günter Grass. The novel “The Garlic Ballads“ has been described as the best book of his to start with. One of his shorter novels, it may not be as well-known as some of his other works, but it is definitely a great introduction to the Chinese author, and not only because it is only $4 on Amazon for the Kindle.

The book describes life in a peasant village where farmers are told by the government to plant only one crop: garlic. When those same officials refuse to purchase the crop one year, the townspeople resort to violence, which brings down the hammer of law enforcement. The farmers are rounded up and put in jail, where they find themselves trapped in Kafakesque situations. The police at times seem almost human, but in the end they are as distant as the government that oppresses the people. Traditional Chinese marriages are also examined in the book, with one of the larger sub-plots concerning two hapless garlic farmers falling in love and trying to find happiness in spite of the ongoing garlic crisis.

As already mentioned, Yan has garnered many comparisons to magical realists, but another apt comparison would be to Chuck Palahniuk, of Fight Club fame. Both authors use shocking content (whether it be peeing into a waiting customer’s soup or playing a game that involves drinking one’s own urine) that simultaneously revolt and engage readers. The narrative hops from person to person and back and forth in time, which rarely leads to confusion. Instead, it enhances the book by allowing the reader to see events from multiple perspectives. The result is a page-turner that even the most casual of readers can enjoy. The prose, even in translation, is still a wonder:

“The noonday sun beat down fiercely; dusty air carried the stink of rotting garlic after a prolonged dry spell. A flock of indigo crows flew wearily across the sky, casting a shadowy wedge.”

 Interestingly, this book was once banned in China for its portrayal of farmer’s lives, and was brought back into circulation only after the writer achieved fame. Mo Yan, who  has been criticized for failing to criticizing the Chinese government, and for refusing to associate with dissident writers, is not someone you would expect to write such a work. As harsh in its message as “The Grapes of Wrath,” the book is sure to silence any who do not think the Nobel winner is as critical as he should be.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been under fire recently for choosing little-known and lightweight authors over living legends, but this book alone proves that Yan not only deserved the award, but also the money the prestigious prize brings in. He is not a writer to be taken lightly.

Image Courtesy : Johannes Kolfhaus, Gymn. Marienthal ([1]) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Aung San Suu Kyi is taking an historical trip through Europe where she will visit Switzerland, Norway, Britain, Ireland, and France. She is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in her native home of Myanmar and will be delivering her acceptance speech more than a decade after being awarded the prize. She has been under house arrest for almost a quarter of a century in Myanmar (Burma) because the government – a military junta that ruled the country – viewed her as dangerous to the stability of the country and its regime.

Her father was General Bogyoke Aung San, the founder of modern Burma. He was assassinated when Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old.

While under house arrest Kyi was isolated from her supporters and her family. She claims that her sanity was maintained with the help of her piano and the BBC, which she listened to every day. Having the support of the world also helped. She stated, “it’s all of you, and people like you who have given me the strength to continue.” Her husband died in 1999 of cancer, eleven years after she left the United Kingdom. While in Britain, Kyi will have a family reunion with her sons Kim and Alexander Aris and her grandchildren.

Kyi returned to Myanmar from the United Kingdom in 1988 to look after her sick mother. While she was in the country, protests broke out and she has remained in the country under house arrest since. She was a political prisoner in Myanmar until late 2010 when the new government began to release political prisoners as part of its democratic reforms. She then ran for and won a seat in parliament in April. Previous to 2010 she refused to leave Myanmar – even when she received the Nobel Peace Prize and when her husband was dying of cancer in the United Kingdom – because she was afraid that the government would not let her back into the country.

Kyi officially accepted her Nobel Prize on June 16. In her acceptance speech she warned that world leaders should be cautious of “reckless optimism” in regards to the democratic reforms occurring in Myanmar. She argued, “unless justice is done, and seen to be done, we cannot believe in genuine reform…the progress that we hope to make with regard to democratization and reform depends so much on an understanding and acceptance of the importance of the rule of law.”

In addition to receiving her Nobel award Kyi will receive Amnesty International’s Human Rights award in Dublin from Bono.

This is the second time Kyi has left the country since being released from house arrest; she traveled to Thailand in May and vowed to help the Myanmar refugees there. Before she left for Europe she expressed her excitement to reporters stating, “each country will be different. I will know how backward [Burma] is when I reach the other countries…[I] would like to do my best for the interests of the people.”

Shortly before Kyi arrived in Europe the International Labor Organization (ILO) lifted restrictions on Myanmar for the progress the country has made in getting rid of forced labor. In 1999 The ILO banned Myanmar from meetings and assistance because the government would use forced labor for infrastructure projects. The Myanmar government signed an agreement with the ILO in March to end forced labor by 2015. The ILO issued a statement saying, “The International Labor Organization has lifted its restrictions on the full participation of Myanmar in its activities and decided to review the progress on the elimination of forced labor in the country next year.” This decision from the ILO could help to lift the remaining sanctions from the European Union nations according to the Chicago Tribune.

Currently Myanmar has seen violence in the western Rakhine state between the Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims. The Rohingya Muslims have been persecuted for many years by the government and majority groups within Myanmar. Many Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar and refugee camps in Bangladesh have asked Aung San Suu Kyi for help.

Mahammad Islam, a Rohingya Muslim refugee, has stated, “Aung San Suu Kyi hasn’t done or said anything for us, yet the Rohingyas including my parents, campaigned for her in the 1990 elections. Like most other Burmese people, she is silent about the rights of Rohingyas.” According to Islam she has yet to mention the conflict in the Rakhine state and the plight of the Rohingyas.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also featured in the documentary entitled “The Lady” which was released in 2011.

Image Courtesy of the UK Department for International Development

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When it comes to political discourse and social protests, social media has changed the landscape.  Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and Youtube have provided outlets for the average person to vent, pontificate, and act as pseudo-journalists on all subjects.

Very often, a video or posting on Twitter and Facebook goes viral as people that agree or disagree forward and re-post the the original posting.  Such was the case after President Obama’s State of the Union speech. In the wake of the president’s speech, a list of his accomplishments went viral on Facebook.

Similar to a popular website that details real and imagined accomplishments of our current president, the list gives a rosy picture of the current state of the Obama administration.   The problem with the new tools of social media, however, is that the authors often have conclusions based more on emotion and ideology rather than facts, and readers often do not check the facts.

Below is a list of things that went viral on Facebook the night of the speech.  In response is a second list that offers an alternative view with links to real factual data.

My President: A Liberal View

1. Osama Bin Laden… check
2. Unemployment rate 8.5 percent… check.
3. 1.6 million jobs created with no GOP help… check
.
4. 22 months of job and economic growth with no help… check.
5. Ended war in Iraq… check.
6. DADT repeal… check.
7. Not one tax hike in 3 years… check.
8. Brought out racism in the GOP… check.
9. Still carries 80 percent of the black vote… check.
10. Same wife for 15 years with no extramarital affairs… check.
11. Can flat out sing… check.
12. Saved auto industry and 1.5 million jobs… check.
13. Assisted in ousting Ghaddafi… check.
14. Only active president to receive Nobel Peace Prize while in office… check.
15. Mortgage modification to prevent homeowners from losing their homes… check.
16. STILL fighting for middle class families… check.
17. Reform affordable healthcare… check.

Rosy, indeed. I decided to put together a more comprehensive and fact-based list.

My President: A Realistic View

1. Killed Osama Bin Laden… check.
2. Net loss of two million jobs… check.
3. Unemployment rate of 15 percent for his biggest fans, African-Americans… check.
4. Had the House and Senate majorities and still could not get his own people (Democrats) to back all his ideas. Seeks blame elsewhere… check.
5. Campaigned against $500 billion deficit created by President Bush, but increased deficit to 1.4 trillion in under two years… check.
6. Spent more money in two years than all of the previous presidents combined… check.
7. Increased debt to $15 trillion… check.
8. Has left my goddaughter and all newborn Americans a debt load of $50,000 per person before they even get out of diapers… check.
9. Uncovered the left and African-Americans’ obsession with racism as a shield against his own failures… check.
10. Race relations worse than in 50 years… check.
11. Still carries 80 percent of the black vote, proving African-Americans will support anyone that is black and has a “D” after their name… check.
12. Proves that African-Americans no longer care about the content of one’s character, but the color of one’s skin and political party… check.
13. Still protects Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the causes of the financial collapse… check.
14. Received Nobel Prize before taking office. Sends 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, violates Pakistan’s borders to kill Bin Laden, and increases drone strikes. I do not have a problem with any of that, but I am not sure that is what the Nobel “PEACE” panel had in mind… check.
15. Mortgage modification plan to help homeowners, who bought houses they should not have, keep their homes.  Plan has not worked… check.
16. Fighting with unions to stop jobs in South Carolina. Fighting against unions to stop jobs with Keystone oil project. Still not helping middle class, but talks a good game… check.
17. Unconstitutional power grab to force me to buy health insurance that is more expensive… check.
18. Second worse president after Jimmy Carter… double check.

Which list is correct? The truth lies not with the information in the lists itself, but in how you wish to view the president. The first is one that ignores a lot because of a liking for President Obama. The second is not personal, but uncovers a deep truth about what has transpired in the last three years.

At the end of the day, the primary questions that remain is if America is better off today than it was three years ago, and will what has transpired be financially viable in the future. It does not take a dislike of the president to answer that question. It takes a $10 calculator and a dose of common sense, which leaves a very unpalatable taste in your mouth, especially if you voted for President Obama the first time.

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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Tomas Transtromer for his work in poetry. Transtromer received the news of his winnings on October 6. Transtromer will receive $1.5 million for winning the Nobel Prize. He is a native of Stockholm, Sweden, where the announcement was made.

At 80 years old, Transtromer has spent a great deal of his life working on his craft of poetry. Over the decades, he has had over 15 different collections of poetry published internationally. His work has been translated into 60 languages, which makes his poetry easily accessible to readers world wide.

Many of his original work has been translated into English. Some of his published collections include “Twenty Poems,” “The Half-Finished Heart,” and “The Deleted World.” Transtromer comes from humble beginnings in his native Sweden. He was born in 1931 in Stockholm, where he went to school and studied many subjects including psychology and literature.

Before setting his focus on writing poetry, Transtromer worked as a psychologist for troubled youth. It wasn’t until 1990 when Transtromer became very serious about his works of poetry. After being affected by a stroke, he was unable to speak as much as he once could. It was then when he relied on his writing to express his ideas.

Much of this Swedish poet’s writing delves into various themes that can be seen throughout his work. Transtromer is famous for his focus on emotions. With a strong background in psychology, he uses his knowledge of the way people think and feel to create literary masterpieces.

He plays with the ideas of identity and tries to express feelings of mankind through his poems. Being from Scandinavia,Transtromer is able to identify the emotions that come along with Sweden’s dark, drawn out winters. He is famous for poetically expressing Scandinavian winters and writing about nature as well.

“He is to Sweden what Robert Frost was to America. The national character, if you can say one exists, and the landscape of Sweden are very much reflected in his work. It’s easy because of that to overlook the abiding strangeness and mysteriousness of his poems,” stated the editor of Granta, John Freeman.

Swedes celebrated the announcement of Transtromer’s Nobel Prize win. When the news was made public, journalists from around the world gathered in Transtromer’s Stockholm buildings in hopes of interviewing him. He is the first Swede since 1974 to win the Nobel Prize. The 1974 prize was shared between Harry Martinson and Eyvind Johnson. There have been 107 Nobel Prize winners before him.

Aside from the internationally well respected Nobel Prize, Transtromer has won a number of awards as well. He has been the recipient of awards such as Bellmanpriest in 1966 and the Nordic Prize of the Swedish Academy in 1991, both given in Sweden. He won the Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry in 1992 in Germany, and the Griffin Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 in Canada.

He is often regarded as one of the most important and influential poet of Scandinavian roots.

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