The Malaysian Insider :: Books
The Malaysian Insider :: Books |
| ‘Selfie’, ‘hashtag’ now in Merriam-Webster dictionary Posted: 19 May 2014 05:58 PM PDT "So many of these new words show the impact of online connectivity to our lives and livelihoods," said Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster. "Tweep, selfie, and hashtag refer to the ways we communicate and share as individuals," he added. Originally a social media buzzword, "selfie" was admitted to the online version of the Oxford English dictionary in 2013, which named it word of the year. Merriam-Webster defined "selfie" as "an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks". The dictionary said a "more playful intersection" of technology and human behaviour can be seen in "steampunk". The word made the cut and was defined as "science fiction dealing with 19th century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology". "Crowdfunding", "big data" and "gamification" were also added, showing "how technology is being used to understand and motivate behaviour", the dictionary said. Another newbie was "catfish", defined as a person who sets up a false social networking profile for deceptive purposes. "Fracking" was also admitted to the dictionary. The technique involves using huge amounts of pressurised water mixed with chemicals to crack open shale – sedimentary rock containing hydrocarbons – to release natural gas or oil. It has unlocked an energy boom in the United States but has sparked controversy elsewhere as a threat to the environment and potential cause of earthquakes, with some countries banning it. – AFP, May 20, 2014. |
| Philip Roth retires from public view after final interview Posted: 19 May 2014 03:34 PM PDT In the two-part documentary, the first part of which will be aired today, the reclusive author tells interviewer Alan Yentob that "this is my last appearance on television, absolutely my last appearance on stage anywhere". Roth stunned the literary world 18 months ago when he told French cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles he was laying down his pen. In the interview for BBC programme "Imagine", the 80-year-old confirmed his retirement while looking back on the events that shaped a career spanning over 50 years and 31 books. The grandson of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, Roth grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and his own life and Jewish background were constant sources of material for his fiction. After limited success with 1959 novella "Goodbye, Columbus", he hit stardom in 1969 with "Portnoy's Complaint", a sexually explicit comedy about a young Jewish-American obsessed by masturbation and his mother. During the interview, extracts of which were released by the BBC, Roth said that a comment made in 2004, in which he insisted he could not live without writing, had been misguided. "I was wrong," he told former BBC One chief Yentob. "I had reached the end. There was nothing more for me to write about. "I set out upon the great task of doing nothing. I've had a very good time over the last three or four years. Now that I don't write, I just want to chatter away." Quoting legendary American boxer Joe Louis, Roth said he had "done the best he could with what he had". The interview took place in Newark, and examines the influence of the neighbourhood on his work. Commenting on the scandal surrounding the release of "Portnoy's Complaint", Roth said he "was very curious as a writer as to how far I could go" and to see "what happens if you go further". He also discussed the importance of his time in communist Prague during the 1970s, and of a spell living in Israel. The writer focused particularly on the impact of the 1986 trial of John Demjanjuk, a Cleveland autoworker from Ukraine who was accused of being Ivan Marchenko, a notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp during World War II. He was initially sentenced to death, but the conviction was overturned due to lack of evidence. In his later years, Roth has lived a secluded life in the Connecticut countryside, which he described as a "very congenial" place to live and work. "If I'm stuck, I walk out the door," he told Yentob. "I walk around for 10 minutes then come back and I'm away." – AFP, May 20, 2014. |
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