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Day: 17 December 2014

Opinion: To Boycott or to not Boycott?

Written by Leonie Dunn on . Posted in Books.

With taxes funding our schools, hospitals and public services it is vastly concerning to hear that Amazon is the UK’s number one tax avoider. With Amazon’s UK subsidiary, which equally includes the well-known Lovefilm.com, Kindle and Audible.com, it is easy to see how influential they are on consumerism today. Yet the figures suggest they are paying a tax rate of less than 0.1 per cent; with sales of £4.3bn, they only paid £3.2m in corporate taxes in 2012. Therefore, the anonymous organisation Amazon Anonymous is calling us as a united front to use our consumer power to make Amazon pay a fair rate of tax. By taking just one look at Amazon Anonymous’ organisation page it highlights just how deeply affiliated the consumer and Amazon have become. The organisation equally focuses on how Amazon does not pay its workers a reasonable living wage and Amazon’s negative effect on our local shops, all as part of its rally cry. The page constantly interrogates whether you as the consumer can avoid shopping at Amazon this Christmas, even going so far as to send you motivational emails on your progress of a full, cold turkey style, Amazon free Christmas period.

While this rather melodramatic play on an Amazon free Christmas may seem rather odd, it is actually very much a part of our society today. For most students, who form a large percentile of the consumerist society, the first place we will think of when needing to buy that text book or film is Amazon and it often goes without saying. Amazon is the place to go, everything is a simple click away and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home. I am not one to point the finger, as I too, often without thinking, find myself on Amazon. I am aware that I can visit my local bookstore for my books or head to the mall for any other of my needs but yet I find myself sweeping the online aisles of Amazon.

However, it is important to think of Amazon in the wider scale of things, in Britain Amazon holds a near 35 per cent share of the book market and that is without going into its many other business ventures. Amazon no longer holds a niche market but has instead enveloped and essentially cut off other markets with its outstretching business. Amazon shows no sign of slowing down or waning either, with its future prospects even touching on drone delivery systems. Yet, there are multiple positive aspects to Amazon and its power, it has the ultimate power to make or break nearly any upcoming author and most authors know that nearly half of their sales will be through Amazon. This is the double edged sword effect that Amazon has. On the one side Amazon and its new non-material format of books has vastly brought down the cost of publishing which has led to more self-published authors, which is part of the wonders of Amazons power.

However, the very fact that there is an organisation and boycott on Amazon itself highlights the problem at hand. Breaking free from the Amazon Empire as it stands is vastly difficult as there are parts and subsidiaries of Amazon that you may never have heard of. Amazon is more than just the simple ‘Everything Store’. Amazon is the largest provider of cloud services in the world; Amazon Web Services touches nearly every corner of the web. Do you have a smart phone? Do you use Netflix or apps on smartphones? If so then you are using Amazon, as all these use, or have used, AWS. So maybe the melodramatic ploy of Amazon Anonymous’ organisation isn’t quite as fickle as it first seems. There is a need for consumers to be aware of the effect of Amazon and its costly effect on the modern industries that are falling as the small players are pushed out of the market.

All the above aspects touch or affect the way we take in or read the literature of the world today. E-readers and kindles have rekindled a lust for literature in the hearts of many and it not without reason. Readers now care only for the ease of access to said books and the price which Amazon and the Kindle magically provide. The ‘Buy Now, Next Day Delivery’ reels inside us and so the bookstore has lost its mojo. The Bookstore wars are over as the Independents are battered and Amazon remains triumphant. But, while many, often myself included, wane over the loss of the hardcover book and the Independent bookstore, the new Digital Age may well have many pleasurable repercussions. The history of writing and literature gives us every bit of confidence on the emergence of a new form of literary excellence, whether it be short stories typed out on Twitter’s 140 character platform or interactive works. So I’ll leave it to you to decide: head on over to http://www.amazonanonymous.org/and choose whether you will boycott Amazon this Christmas.

Nobel Prize for Literature Winner 2014: Patrick Modiano

Written by Alister Pearson on . Posted in Books.

In October it was announced that this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature would be awarded to 69 year-old Patrick Modiano. He will become the 13th person from France to win the prestigious prize. The Swedish Academy credited Modiano for “the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.”

It took four hours from the announcement of Modiano winning the prize to track him down. He was notified of his win by a phone call from his daughter as he walked the streets of Paris, becoming rather emotional in the process. In his first telephone interview since claiming the award, he reflected upon his reaction upon hearing the news, commenting that he was “very moved” and how he “never thought this would happen” to him.

Now it is quite unlikely that many outside France would have known Modiano, especially in Britain, before he won the Holy Grail of literature. Few of his 30-odd novels were ever translated into English and fewer still of these translations remain in print. To put it in perspective, there are more translations of Modiano’s work into Swedish than there are into English.

Although the Nobel Prize for Literature is probably his proudest achievement, it is not his first high-profile award. In 2012 Modiano won the Austrian State Prize for European literature; in 2010 he won the lifetime reward from the Institut de France. During the 70s he won two awards for two of his novels.

In 1972, he won the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française for the novel published in the same year, Les Boulevards de ceinture (Ring Roads). The story centres arouns a young Parisian meeting his father for the first time in ten years. The 100-page novella is filled with nostalgic memories as the son recollects and compares the memories he has of his father.

It was not long before Modiano produced another book worthy of literary acclaim. 1978 saw him receive the Prix Goncourt for Rue des Boutiques Obscures (Missing Person). Modiano, again, explores the theme of memory, or lack of it, as is the case in this novel. The main character is detective Guy Roland, who is an amnesiac. After his boss retires, Roland decides to go looking for the person he once was. Along the way he learns that he is a Greek Jew, and had a string of unique friends, including a French model, and a dancer of Russian-origin. Modiano explores existentialist themes, and the complex notion of memory in this tale. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Peter Englund had this to say about Modiano and the novel: “It’s a fun book—playing with the genre, still saying something very fundamental about memory and time. As a person concerned with memory, which I think we all are, he has a very special art of memory, how it works. He is sort of possessed about his attempts to reach back in time, and you can identify yourself with these attempts, and his very original ways to do it.”

What seems remarkable about Modiano’s 45-year career is that every book seems to follow on from the last. That explains why he declined to answer when asked to choose a book by him that would give readers, who were not familiar with his work, the best impression. For Modiano’s work, each book just seems to follow on from this previous book. “It’s as if I stopped to take a break, and then continued with the next stage of the same book,” he said, in addition to his refusal to provide a recommendation.

Another central theme in many novels written by Modiano is the shame and wretchedness of the Second World War and what followed it. His first published novel, La Place de l’Etoile, which was published in 1968, is a semi-biographical piece about the negative effects of anti-Semitism in France during the war. His 1997 publication, Dora Bruder (The Search Warrant) is about a Jewish girl who went missing during Nazi occupation of France.

The sheer amount of work Modiano has managed to produce over his life is staggering. It hasn’t just been novels but also screenplays that he has delved into. In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for Bon Voyage, which was later nominated for a Caesar Award for “best writing”.

Modiano has still not ceased to slow down his rate of production. His latest book, Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier, was published earlier this year and Modiano does not seem to be about to finish writing anytime soon. He is a man whose efforts to continue what he is passionate about have never been deterred. He may not be as well-known as he should be but he can take solace in the fact that he has won perhaps the most renowned prize in literature.

Kosmonaut Presents Manchester Artist himHallows

Written by Holly Smith on . Posted in Arts.

Deep in the Northern Quarter, nestled away amongst the endless bars and cafés, is a stellar hangout for that much needed lunch break during endless days shopping or for those chilled nights with cocktails and good friends. Kosmonaut is well off the beating track and offers not only the perfect food and drink, but some of the quirkiest and up-and-coming art that the city has to offer. Its ever-changing art exhibitions make it the perfect place for Manchester-based artist himHallows to showcase new artwork in this stunning and unique exhibition.

Entitled ‘Grand Tours’, himHallows draws upon his interest in space and, more specifically, with the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and their mission that began back in 1977. His work depicts and celebrates their journey through the solar system.

2012 was the mission’s most profound year as this was the year that Voyager 1 became the first human-built object to enter interstellar space and while this largely went unreported, himHallows uses this to invoke the serenity and distinct aloneness of the craft.

The artwork will be a combination of spray paint and acrylic on board, similar to the aesthetic himHallows has established as one of his signature mural styles. himHallows is the working name of Paul Hallows, a self-taught artist from Manchester who has previously worked with creative bodies as diverse as Manchester Art Gallery, Video Jam and Textbook Studio. He has become known for working across a variety of mediums including pen and ink, spray-painted murals and 3D cardboard and calico models.

Incorporating galactic landmarks such as the planets and moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the work will drift throughout a series of several panels, reflecting how spacecraft are created to float eternally through the galaxy.

If you want to experience this one of a kind exhibition, ‘Grand Tours’ opened on Friday 5th December and will be free to visit until Friday 2nd January. Kosmonaut provides not only this amazing exhibition but also fabulous food and drink to make the experience that little bit better.

Find Kosmonaut on Tariff Street, or find out more here: http://kosmonaut.co. To find out more about himHallows visit his website: http://www.himhallows.co.uk.