end papers

From: classaction.org

“April 17, 2014 – Last week, the Authors Guild (AG) filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals in their ongoing fight against Google’s book-scanning project. This week, eight amicus briefs were filed with the court declaring the original ruling unacceptable. The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) participated in two of those briefs. Longtime TWUC members Margaret Atwood, Lawrence Hill and Yann Martel joined a brief prepared on behalf of 17 of the world's most beloved authors. Other signatories include J. M. Coetzee, Peter Carey, Malcolm Gladwell, and Ursula Le Guin. As a founding member of the International Authors Forum (IAF), TWUC itself is represented in the IAF's amicus brief. “TWUC is extremely grateful to Margaret, Larry, and Yann for showing leadership and agreeing to sign the individual author brief,” said TWUC Chair, Dorris Heffron. “It’s so important for the courts to see the world’s authors are against Google on this.” The New York Second Circuit court previously ruled Google’s unpermitted, uncompensated copying of millions of complete, in-copyright works to be a "fair use." The AG’s appeal and the author briefs argue such a finding is without precedent and plainly ridiculous.”

— The Writers’ Union of Canada
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“The most arresting moment in 'Google and the World Brain' Ben Lewis' thoughtful new documentary about the search giant's effort to scan all the world's books, takes place not in Mountain View or a courtroom but rather a monastery high above Catalonia in Spain. The film's globetrotting crew is interviewing Father Damiá Roure, who runs the library at the Benedictine abbey of Montserrat, about what happened when Google came to digitize the library's collection. Roure speaks happily of the Googlers' visit, explaining that their efforts allowed the monks to bring their collection -- which dates to the library's founding in the 11th century -- to the wider world.
     As he finishes speaking, a filmmaker just out of the frame asks about what else Google might do with the information found in those books. What if, she asks, Google wanted to sell the information they had scanned in those books? Should the monks get a cut of the sale?”
— Casey Newton, cnet
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Charting Pi

From: Vulture

"[Yann] Martel's narrator, who chooses his mathematical nickname to avoid being known as 'Pissing,' would undoubtedly be delighted at the news that the novel he narrates, Life of Pi, has just sold its 3,141,593rd copy for its British publisher Canongate – an extraordinary feat for a novel published only 10 years ago. "
— The Guardian (2013)
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"A Hindu, a Muslim and a Christian are trapped on a lifeboat for 227 days with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. It sounds suspiciously like the setup of a joke, something you might hear at a tavern from the guy who's been downing gimlets all night. But 'Life of Pi,' the Canadian writer Yann Martel's extraordinary novel based on this very premise, is hardly your average barroom gag. Granted, it may not qualify as 'a story that will make you believe in God,' as one character describes it. But it could renew your faith in the ability of novelists to invest even the most outrageous scenario with plausible life — although sticklers for literal realism, poor souls, will find much to carp at."
— Gary Krist, The New York Times (2002)
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Buy all of Yann Martel's books here...

Maybe, Prime Minister

"In a recent conversation I had with Prime Minister Harper he confessed that he has always wanted to write a book. In an hour-long, surprisingly candid interview Mr. Harper said 'If I had the time, if I wasn't busy with other... things. I'd be writing books, I think. Novels.' When pressed for more details Harper admitted that he'd always been a closet writer. Even as a boy growing up in Etobicoke [a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada], when his asthma kept him from his greatest passion, hockey, he would occasionally let his imagination take him where his lungs couldn't, he said. 'I remember filling a small notebook with stories about a young kid who scores all the goals, gets hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates—that sort of thing. The kind of guy that ends up with the most popular girl in school.'
     When asked whether he sees himself ever giving up politics and pursuing his childhood passions he replied that he would consider it, possibly when he retired and had more time on his hands. 'Not the hockey, of course. That—well, that's something that should be left to professionals.'"
—Avril Täusch, Attendant News Services (France)
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"In case you haven’t heard, Yann Martel is ending his 4-year correspondence with Stephen Harper, a decidedly one-sided communication project Mr. Martel penned, What is Stephen Harper Reading? I hadn’t really followed it too much but when the end of anything is announced, I need to make sure I haven’t missed out on something really important.

     Yann Martel is the Canadian author of one of my favourite books, Life of Pi. On CBC Radio, Mr. Martel said the inspiration for this ongoing quest to inspire our country’s leader to read more books was his concern that when asked his favourite book of all time, Mr. Harper responded, 'The Guinness Book of World Records.'
     Not good, thinks Mr. Martel, and he decides the private reading library of our Prime Minister needs some sprucing up. Not only does he send him a new book every couple of weeks or so, he writes him a letter providing an overview of his choice for this particular choice… like a one-sided pen pal book club. Four years and 99 books later, little wonder why we haven’t seen a book penned by Mr. Martel for quite some time given the time commitment of this endeavour."
— the dust bunny chronicles
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From: The Globe and Mail

"Long derided as an enemy of the book, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is now poised to publish one.

     Bucking a tradition established by fellow neoconservative Mike Harris, who named the picture book Mr. Silly as his favourite work of literature, the Prime Minister’s book will purportedly contain actual text.

     News of the impending publication has led to a softening of opinion toward Harper in the country’s writing community. [...]

     'Finally the Prime Minister’s copyright policy is starting to make sense,' said a spokesperson for the Writers’ Union, referring to legislation currently before Parliament that critics complain will claw back writers’ rights and threaten the livelihoods of both writers and publishers. 'We all thought he had a thing against literature, but it turns out he was just trying to clear some space for himself by killing off the competition. You have to admit it’s a pretty clever strategy.'”

— Nino Ricci

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Buy all of Yann Martel's books, and all the books Prime Minister Harper is reading (and writing) here...