University of the Philippines Anime Manga Enthusiasts presents

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Rhapsody of the Rain

Cosplay Competition | Novelty Booths | J-Rock Concert and more!

TUNE IN THIS NOVEMBER

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Day 1 featured a round table discussion entitled “Do Books Change Things? Are Things Changing Books?” The panel was chaired by Ian Jack, with Olivier Postel-Vinay, Philip Pullman and André Schiffrinas members of the panel. (See their short biographies here.) They discussed the comparison of book publishing in the past and at present, and tried to look at the future of books in general.

Philip Pullman started by saying that people used to read a lot of books in the past for the sake of being entertained. (A world without the radio, television and Internet, what else can you do?) Everything changed at around 1910, when films and comic books started to appear. Because it is easier to be entertained by seeing pictures, there is a decline in the number of people reading books. With modern technology (ebooks, blogs, etc.) there is also a decrease in the number of people buying real books. Will the book industry die out eventually? Philip Pullman is optimistic that they will survive the test of time unlike their digital counterparts. “Books are better,” he said. Besides, people can remember was was written in the books, and as long as there are people who can pass the stories to other people, the stories will live on. (At this point, I remember the bet between Dr. Parnassus and the devil in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.)

Olivier Postel-Vinay is not as optimistic as Pullman. He conducted a study on the behavior of the college students at present, triggered by the laments of university professors in Paris that students are reading less and less. This trend began in the 60s (the time when Bill Gates was still young, he adds). Is it because of television and the Internet? There is no evident correlation to support this claim. He also complained about the lack of good books nowadays. He claims that most books are bad books. (Now why did I suddenly think of Twilight when he said that? Hmmm…) He didn’t say anything about what he means when he mentioned “bad” books. (And no one in the audience asked about it? Strange…)

Clearly, the book publishing business is in a crisis, said Ian Jack. André Schiffrin elaborated on this topic by saying that the change came in the structure of the book publishing business. It may be built in the current social system, and not brought about by technology. There might be a problem with the business model of book publishing that prevents good material from coming out and be known to the general public. He thinks that the audience did not necessarily disappear, but the content disappeared.

Ian Jack asked if books are still a good way to disseminate information. In general, the answer is yes. Philip Pullman mentioned that people find a sort of authority from printed books, maybe because of the filtration process that authors must undergo before the book is released to the public. This is not possible with the modern ways of publishing, like in blogs. However André Schiffrin warns that nothing new is being provided to the reading public. Most of the books that appear nowadays deal with themes that other authors have already tackled in the past, he says. The problem is that sales people determine which books to sell and which books will be taken out of circulation. This filtration process is now dependent on the economic decisions of the publishers. He ends by saying that there is nothing wrong with the technology, but with the people who control it. (*coughSteveJobscough*) At this point, Philip Pullman agrees wholeheartedly. The marketing people think they know which book will sell, Pullman adds (a bit forcefully, I should say).

At the end of the discussion, someone from the audience asked for some advice for all young writers. Ian Jack answered that if you are planning to make a living out of being a writer, you better find another way of living. Philip Pullman however advised that you should write what you want to write. The business of writing books is a fluid business, and you can’t tell where the next big hit will come from. André Schiffrin ends the discussion by mentioning the decline of good bookshops in the US, so it would be unwise to depend on writing as a main source of income. He added that he is happy that the French people are strong in preventing the decline of good bookshops.

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The best shot I have.

My friend told me to get out of the house on the night of July 14. He doesn’t need to remind me of that, I know that they will have fireworks by the Eiffel Tower because of Bastille Day. I cannot consider myself a fireworks lover if I skip that event.

I’ve always known that the best view would be at Trocadero. But sudden invitations and miscommunication led me to watch the fireworks display along the Seine river, near the boats. It wasn’t so bad, considering that my first position is quite near the Eiffel Tower and underneath the Metro rails, it would have been terrible. But really, next time I am going to watch the fireworks display from there. To do that, I have to be there by around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It was really crowded, and I suddenly remembered what happened when we watched the Pyro Olympics way back in 2007. Believe me, it was not as crowded as this one.

To be honest, I’ve seen fancier fireworks compared with this one. But in this case, the main attraction is the Eiffel Tower. They didn’t really need the fancy shapes, because they made the Eiffel Tower a big part of the show. I finally got to see the show live, after years of watching it on TV. Combined with the “sparkle effect” of the tower, it was absolutely breathtaking.

It wasn’t amazing all the way, though. There were some boring parts, probably because they had some fireworks near the base of the tower that is not at all visible from my location. Also, I remembered that the French team from the Pyro Olympics last 2008 love to use the “shimmer effect” fireworks. I love the delicate feeling of the shimmer effect, it reminds me of stardust. But they used it too much of it in this case, hence losing its charm after only a few minutes.

The crowd was also a bit different from what I was used to. Somehow, it feels too quiet. They waited until the end of the fireworks show before people started cheering. And yet, the cheers weren’t as loud as the cheers of people in the Philippines. I don’t know, maybe they have never seen fireworks like those featured in the Pyro Olympics. Haha.

To look at my other shots, go here.

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