A rolling tome gathers for mosse
The British Book Awards, televised by Channel 4 last week were again presented by television's favourite librarians, Richard and Judy, proving itself to be the oddest beast on the awards block.
It moved from high-brow to low-brow within seconds, allowing non-celebrity Big Brother winner Chantelle present Marina Lewycka with the Best Debut Fiction award for her multi-garlanded A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Similarly, Best History Book was won by Laurence Rees' Auschwitz but paired with Best TV or Film Tie-In (The Constant Gardener), as if the organisers were scared of letting some categories stand on their own by letting the glamour drop for a moment. The biggest seller of the nominees invariably won each award, reducing the tension and sometimes letting the viewer question whether quality was always the winner. Still, there were some moments of delight like watching Gordon Ramsey grimace as Jamie Oliver was rewarded, hearing JK Rowling's delight at having finally finished the Harry Potter series and watching a luminous Kate Mosse win Best Book in the Richard and Judy prize for her juggernaut of an historical mystery Labyrinth. Alan Bennett got the warmest welcome of the night, winning Best Author for Untold Stories, beating John Banville and Kazuo Ishiguro in the process. We were most surprised to see to see Lionel Shriver in the Best Crime Novel category, less so to see her lose to Martina Cole's less distinguished The Take. Most disappointing was that Jeremy Clarkson never showed for the ceremony, robbing us of the opportunity of seeing him meet his fellow nominee Piers Morgan, whose running battles were bitchily detailed in Morgan's autobiography The Insider.
Jesus lives again!
Book Notes has been reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink which posits how one's snap, initial judgement can often be more reliable and on the money than those decisions reached after weighing up all the options. If only Judge Smith in the Da Vinci Code case had shown such confidence. He took weeks to decide that Dan Brown did not steal the ideas at the basis of TDVC. Michael Baigent, one of the plaintiffs that alleged Brown stole their ideas has seen the book he wrote with Richard Leigh, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, return to the top 10 in the UK. Unsated, he now announces that he has left his publishers, Random House, and moved to Harper Collins, who will publish his new book, The Jesus Papers, on the week of the court judgement. The book looks at Christ's life had he not been crucified but saved by Pontius Pilate. Baigent writes non-fiction and we believe his shameless cash-in should be greeted with derision and screams of "Haven't we heard this all before?" If that book inspires feelings of déjà vu, imagine how Brown feels. As one battle ends, he now, along with Sony, must face more complainants. The Christian Council of Korea are taking them to court in an effort to stop distribution of the Da Vinci Code film, which they claim is trying to destroy Christianity.
Suburban borders
Obviously Dawson Street is the book capital of the country but it seems to have lost some of its magic in recent years as many of the shops seem to have taken their cues from the new charisma-free supermarkets rather than the Old Curiosity Shop. Sole exception remains Murder Ink, sellers of imported thrillers whose proprietor's stern demeanour belies his willingness to recommend and advise. Just as featureless are the suburban outlets, particularly Easons, who seem to have based their stores on Lansdowne Road's trading stalls just after a game. Maybe a little competition will do them good and that is what they are facing as international giant Borders enters the Irish market. Borders are the second biggest retailers in the US after Barnes and Noble, and are known for market innovations like handwritten book recommendations by staff members. In the UK they have been rebranding their Books Etc. concessions and selling off city flagship stores in favour of suburban megastores. Here they are planning ten shops, starting in Dundrum Town Centre and Blanchardstown with eight more to follow. Stores will be large enough to contain a large catalogue of books as well as Starbucks and a DVD store. While they are unlikely to offer the local shop feel, we can expect a price war from which our pockets will benefit.