Books supply us a lot of useful information, sometimes precious lessons from this wonderful but complicated life. We can know many things in many fields such as science, politic, society, travel, religion.Books also are the most faithful of friends. In fact, our friends may change or die but our books are always patiently waiting to talk to us. They never cross, peevish or unwill to converse as our friends sometimes are.
In the past time, books were precious things which were used to value the education in each family, decorate the houses because the price of one book was very high that there were many poor people who could not afford even the price of a cheap edition.
Nowadays, there are many kinds of books and the price is not expensive at all.
Some books we read simply for pleasure, and amusement for example goods novels, novelettes, funny stories, picture stories.Then we are tired or the brain is weary with exhausted study, workings, it is the time for healthy recreation to lose ourselves in some absorbing stories written by a master hand.
And as we need plain, wholesome food for the body, we often read serious books for the mind. We can choose according to our taste such as: history, biography, philosophy, religion, travel, science, psychology.These kinds of books will give us not only pleasance but also an education.
Another kind is books of inspiration. The best poetry can give us noble thoughts and beautiful imaginings about every thing in this life.
Each person can own a private library which includes any books he likes. But the importance here is that he reads them or not. The reading habit should be built up when we were still young, especially children, because this good habit will help us much to get a widen knowledge and great success gradually in many fields.
1) Have you got a private bookshelf in your house? 
2) What kind of books do you have?
3) Which kind of books do you like best?
4) How can you find a good book when you are in a books store?
5) Do you have reading habits at free time or before sleeping?
6) How can you build up the reading and collecting books habit for your children?
7) What do you think about the quality of books nowadays?
Who would have ever imagined that an unemployed single mother, dependent on government handouts, would author a series of groundbreaking children books?
This is the success story of Joanne "Jo" Rowling, popularly known as J K Rowling, the indisputable heroine of the Harry Porter series.
The series have not only gained a worldwide cult-like following, but have also won multiple awards and sold over 350 million copies.
Rowling's fortune is touted to be over $1 billion (Sh68 billion). And the venture has earned her honour in the literary world.
Her writing has put her on the roll of
So, if writing is this lucrative, why are gifted Africans not borrowing a leaf from Rowland to pen their way to glory and wealth?
There are several explanations to this. Photocopying of both new and old literature denies African writers an opportunity to attain Rowland's popularity, success and wealth.
In
Bookshops are the least visited places and many people prefer to patronise social joints during their free time.
European novel shows an element of timeless in stories that candidly demonstrate how moral corruption, murder and deceit affect the society. And this appears to be the main key in their propulsion to fame and wealth of these authors. But advanced prior media hype plays major role.
Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o remains one of
Other great novels that followed were The River Between, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood and Devil on the Cross.
Meja Mwangi is a among few local novelists who have captured the hearts and imaginations of Kenyans with classics like Kill Me Quick, Going Down River Road, The Cockroach Dance and The Last Plague.
On the other hand, Grace Ogot has gained prominence as a pioneer female short story and novel writer.
In fact, she was the first female fiction writer to be published by the East African Publishing House.
Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye is another respected, prolific woman writer, not only in
Her historical novel, Coming to Birth, which she wrote in 1986 won the Sinclair Prize for Fiction, while Homing In (1994), won second place in the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature in 1995.
What lessons do we learn from J K Rowling?
First, an aspiring creative writer should never be idle. Rowling was waiting to connect a train when the idea of Harry Porter struck her mind.
Budding writers should never accept rejection.
In publishing, perseverance is the key. Though a record 12 publishers rejected Rowling's manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, she did not let her ambitions crumble.
A talented writer with poor economical background should never let the penury state hinder his/her ambitions. Media hype and power of suspense help in creating an advance desire on readers. It creates theories, fuels speculations and positions the book on an exhilarating level, turning it into a must-read.
And finally, a writer should build a strong brand and capitalise on it. When the first Harry Potter book proved a hit, Rowling never deviated to another genre of writing or different title.
A COW GRAZING
Artist : “That, sir, is a cow grazing”
Visitor : “Where is the grass?”
Artist : “The cow has eaten up”
Visitor : “But where is the cow?”
Artist : “You don’t suppose she’d be fool enough to stay there after she’d eaten up all the grass, do u?”
Next topic (15 Sep 07): Mid-autumn Festival (Composer: Ms.Tran)
No comments:
Post a Comment