The Malaysian Insider :: Books
The Malaysian Insider :: Books |
| Book Talk: Lawyer writes tale of the Last Judgment Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:25 AM PST TOKYO, Jan 3 — Lawyer Brek Cutler has a husband she adores, a baby daughter and a successful, high-powered career, but suddenly she finds herself standing on a train platform, covered in blood.  James Kimmel Jr's debut novel, "The Trial of Fallen Angels" was inspired by the disparity he felt between his job as a lawyer and his religious beliefs. — Photo courtesy of Penguin Books James Kimmel Jr, himself a lawyer, was inspired to write his debut novel, "The Trial of Fallen Angels," by the increasing disparity he felt between his job and his religious beliefs. Kimmel spoke with Reuters about his inspiration for the book, his own conflicts and justice and forgiveness. Q: What got this story going? A: "I've been practising law for now over 20 years, and fairly early on in that career I began to experience a conflict between my duty to seek justice on behalf of my clients as a lawyer and my spiritual beliefs, the necessity and even the practical value of forgiveness. "So I found myself on a path of heading into the upper reaches of the legal profession. But at the same time, as a litigator, I was feeling a deepening conflict between what I was doing and my spiritual beliefs. That eventually led to a crisis that derailed that aspect of my career entirely, where I just felt the need to pull out of there. To resolve that conflict I began undertaking a study of the world's religions to see what they all had to say about justice versus forgiveness, the idea of seeking revenge versus forgiving. I also started writing. "What I really wanted to do with this novel was explore the conflict between justice and forgiveness that I was experiencing, but to put that in the most extreme set of circumstances I could imagine - which ended up being at the trial of the final judgment, where all eternity's at stake. "I asked myself the question: what would it be like to be a lawyer in that courtroom and what would it be like to be a soul facing that judge, and does the possibility of forgiveness exist even in that type of environment?" Q: What led you to choose the structure and the people that you did? A: "I can't remember with clarity exactly when casting this in the voice of a woman came to me, but my wife is a lawyer as well, though not a litigator. I really was a bit frightened by the idea of writing an entire novel, since I was trying to resolve my own conflict with fiction, and this character would be my avatar, as it were. I eventually came to the idea that if I spoke in the first person female I would create a bit of psychological distance between myself and the character that would allow me to explore it." Q: You had the idea, you had the character — how did you proceed from there? You said it took a long time to write. A: "Yes, it took more than a decade for me to write this book. And no, I didn't have it all outlined from the start. This is a book that, as many writers experience, somewhat took on a life of its own and began writing itself. "It was very difficult to place yourself in an environment that you've never been in and imagine what that environment could be like, something that's in the afterlife and where these trials are being held, and what a soul would be experiencing in this place. "I think what really became important for me was her real need — and I thought it was a very human need — to continue to cling to and drag her life's past into that place, to not be willing to let it go. In the end, I think that's what justice seeking versus forgiveness is all about, because when we're wronged by someone, and that wrong occurs perhaps today - and a month later, six months later, a year later, ten years later, sometimes at the end of a lifetime, we're still insisting on thinking about that, dwelling upon it, regretting it, feeling angry over it, and wanting justice for it — some sort of final capitulation and inflicting of final suffering upon the person who harmed us, perhaps years ago. "When do we stop? When can we stop, and what can help us stop? That's what was really necessary for me in this book, to create that set of ultra-rarefied, crucible-like circumstances, where I could test justice versus forgiveness." Q: Do you think, with the kind of big issues you took up in this book, that there's the danger of becoming preachy? A: "Yes, it was something I was aware of and something I worked very hard to modulate. I think depending on the reader and their sensibilities, some will say that I didn't succeed and some will say that I did." — Reuters |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:58 AM PST  In developed nations like the United States, 60 per cent of the readers are more comfortable with e-books than pbooks. Malaysia too will see a similar trend in the coming years. – Reuters pic The publishers' hope is echoed by the Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who is keen to develop Klang Valley into an e-book hub. During the launch of the inaugural 2012 ASEAN e-book conference (AEC) on Dec 4, Mukhriz said the goal of becoming an e-book hub is attainable. Based on many success stories in the e-book industry in several Asian nations, including Japan and China, it is evident that digital books can generate revenue. "In 2011, China recorded e-book sales of 137.79 billion Yuan (RM6.7 billion), and Japan recorded sales of 65 billion yen (RM2.3 billion). Subsequently, Japan set a target of 200–300 billion yen (RM6-RM7 billion) by 2015 with regard to e-book sales," he said. THE HIDDEN POTENTIAL "Korea has recorded an annual increase of 200 per cent in e-book sales. The Korean e-book market is worth 289.1 billion won (RM8 billion)," he said. The shift from published books (pbook) to e-books has gained momentum across the world since 2007. Companies like Google, Amazon and Apple are at the forefront of cyber technology. The Kindle platform was launched in 2007. Apple introduced the Kindle platform in its phones in February 2009, and in May 2010, Amazon revealed that the sales of e-books, through its website, had accounted for 35 percent of the total sales recorded in 2009. E-BOOK STORE In July 2009, Barnes & Noble launched an e-book store and Apple followed suit with another e-book store in 2010. The reason why e-books are popular is because people can view digital content in a number of formats. However, in Malaysia, based on the feedback received by Bernama, the e-book segment is in its infancy. Nonetheless, many players in the local publishing segment like the Malaysian National Book Council and the Malaysian Book Publishers Association have taken steps to boost pbook and e-book publishing activities. E-books appeal to the younger generation and are in line with the country's ICT development. The National Book Council's director, Bad. Ahab Abraham, said the Malaysian book publishing industry is worth RM1.5 billion, with 19,000 new titles published recently. "The value does not include the sale of intellectual property rights for translated books," he said. GREAT HOPE AHEAD "With rapid development taking place in the e-publishing sector, we are optimistic that it will contribute to the economy significantly," said Abd Wahab. He also pointed out that in developed nations like the United States, 60 per cent of the readers are more comfortable with e-books than pbooks. Malaysia too will see a similar trend in the coming years. Nevertheless, he pointed out that in order to live up to the expectations of the government and the public, more books targeting foreign markets should be published and the local publishing industry should be developed. STEPS TO BE TAKEN The 2012 ASEAN e-book conference is one of the efforts undertaken by the government to develop the local publishing industry and to ensure that Klang Valley emerges as the leading digital book hub in the region. The conference not only looked into the latest developments in the e-book market in the ASEAN region, but also enlightened participants on e-publishing standards (ePUB3), the current trends and how these standards are being applied, he said. The two-day conference served as a platform to exchange ideas and experiences with other publishers in Asia and the Asia Pacific region. In April 2013, the National Book Council will set up the Kuala Lumpur Trade and Copyright Centre (KLTCC) to increase the number of e-books in the market. THE MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE The Media Karangkraf Group is one of the leading publishers to join the e-publishing bandwagon, with the launch of e-Mall Karangkaf on 15 Nov, 2012. According to the group's chairman, Datuk Hussamudin Yaakub, daily revenue of RM1,000 had been recorded after the launch of the application. Until December 2012, almost 10,000 consumers had downloaded 28 magazines and 50 books offered through the application. "Looking at this development, I'm optimistic that the e-Mall will be able to contribute between 20 and 30 per cent in terms of sales by the end of 2013," he told Bernama. Hussamudin, who is also president of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association, said books sold through the e-Mall cost 50 per cent less than books sold at bookstores. These books can be downloaded through android and iOS applications. E-magazines and e-books, once purchased, belong to a consumer. If a consumer loses his gadget or if his gadget does not function properly, an application can be downloaded again. "The group is keen on digitalising more than 1,000 titles of pbooks published by its subsidiaries - Alaf 21, Buku Prima and Karya Bestari – in the next three years. "We are also planning to upload 28 magazines published by the group on emall.karangkraf.com," he said. – Bernama |
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