Nobel Literature Prize Goes to French Novelist Patrick Modiano


By Graham Beattie: French novelist Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the Occupation," the Swedish Academy said. The prize is worth 8 million kronor (about $1.1 million). In its biography of the winner, who was born near Paris less than three months after the end of World War II in Europe, the Academy said that "Modiano's works centre on topics such as memory, oblivion, identity and guilt. The city of Paris is often present in the text and can almost be considered a creative participant in the works. Rather often his tales are built on an autobiographical foundation or on events that took place during the German Occupation. He sometimes draws material for his works from interviews, newspaper articles or [his] own notes, which he has accumulated over the years. His novels show an affinity with one another, and it happens that earlier episodes are extended or that persons recur in different tales." The New York Times said that "many of his fictional works delve into the moral dilemmas that citizens faced during World War II, and some play with the detective genre." Most of Modiano's titles translated into English are out of print, although that may change soon. Those works include 1978 Prix Goncourt-winner Missing Person (Rue des Boutiques Obscures), translated by Daniel Weissbort and published by Verba Mundi/David R. Godine; Suspended Sentences: Three Novellas, translated by Mark Polizzotti, to be published by Yale University Press in February; Out of the Dark (Du Plus Loin de l'Oubli), translated by Jordan Stump and published by University of Nebraska Press; Honeymoon (Voyage de noces), published by Verba Mundi/David R. Godine; and Dora Bruder, translated by Joanna Kilmartin and published by University of California Press. Modiano also has written children's books and film scripts, including the screenplay for Lacombe Lucien, the 1974 movie directed by Louis Malle and set during the Nazi Occupation of France. Surce: Beattie's Book Blogat
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Jay Chou: Complete showman

The movies he merely stars in may not be the best of the bunch, but those he makes with full creative control never fail to turn heads. Music sensation Jay Chou morphs from a wonder boy with a Midas touch into a mature artist with more strengths than weaknesses. Few entertainers or artists get to dominate a whole decade. For those that do, Act Two of their career is decidedly mixed. Jay Chou has been a marginal player in Chinese-language cinema. Even though his 2007 debut in feature-film directing was a smash success, he was still seen as riding on the coattails of his all-engulfing music accomplishments as Secret is built around extended passages of music. The Rooftop, his follow-up that opened on July 11, is not meant to shake off his image as a music prodigy. Rather, it was conceived as a musical, with Chou composing more than two dozen tunes for it. But it is not a conventional musical. Even the pair of lovebirds do not get to warble a big duet. "I use the song-and-dance numbers as a kind of music accompaniment," reveals Chou in an exclusive interview with China Daily. "Ideally, a musical director should be able to translate the imagery in his head into music. But most would hire professional musicians for that. I happen to be trained in music and have an interest in movie directing, so the creation process is more direct for me and the two skills complement each other." Not only did Chou compose all the original music, but he also conceived the staging for many of the tunes. It is not surprising since Chou directed most of his own music videos and many of his songs portray exotic or historical scenes in movie-like vicissitudes. Some of the numbers in The Rooftop turn out to have a Broadway quality, this for someone whose exposure to the genre is limited to Moulin Rouge, Mama Mia! and a few others. "I'm more into action movies, riding motorcycles, etcetera," he says. The result is only the love story gets the musical treatment while the gangster part is conspicuously devoid of singing or dancing. "I cannot imagine villains singing their lines. It would be weird, wouldn't it?" Chou follows the philosophy that there should not be singing and dancing for the sake of singing and dancing. His proudest number is a love ballad set against the screen of a shadow-puppet show. "I was sure others had used it before, but I wanted to use it to tell a story. There's no special effect here. All the animals and flowers and transformation were done with our hands and our bodies." The story for The Rooftop was set in the 1970s partly for the purpose of bridging a generation gap. Chou, never shy about admitting his closeness to his mother, a single parent who brought him up, wants his mother's generation to love this movie as much as he wants the younger generation to embrace it. It also gave him an opportunity to create a highly stylized world in which the rooftop represents a poor man's paradise. Although he, or rather the male lead he plays, ends up getting the girl, he designs a rival who is not only much more wealthy but possesses better looks. That person turns out to be the lesser of two villains but the immediate rival for his love interest. In Secret, this role is a competitor in a piano playoff. Chou says he identifies with the social underdog because he himself used to be a struggling artist, having to sleep in the recording studio when riding his motorbike home was too exhausting. "Even now, I don't have many friends from wealthy backgrounds," he says, explaining that his passion for vintage cars is more a matter of personal taste than one of money. Artistically, Chou has been praised for his taste. His music background has given him not just the ear but the eye for fluid storytelling. Although the story, which he wrote, is not strong or original and the different genre elements fail to merge seamlessly, his directing is assured with many strokes of genius. "Everyone who wants to be a director has a desire to act, but he may not be a good actor. I know what I want from an actor and have a way of getting the result, but left on my own I may not be able to act it out," he says. Coincidentally, the China Film Directors Association echoed his self-appraisal in a rare candid post on its micro blog account: "He may not be a good actor; but he is absolutely a good film director!" That means, we may expect greater things from the boy next door who can play a dozen musical instruments and ooze cool mumbling words unintelligible to most people. In a way, The Rooftop feels like a midway stop as he explores the uncharted waters of narrative art. It is a unique challenge in genre choice because the musical is extremely difficult to pull off and, without creating much of a hoopla, it has climbed over the 100-million-yuan ($16 million) mark in box-office returns in the Chinese mainland, a first for a musical film. This in a country where Les Miserables, for all its fantastic word-of-mouth, grossed no more than half that amount. "I'm glad that people mention Les Mis in the same sentence as The Rooftop. I hope my work can be a new signpost when people talk about Chinese-language musicals," Chou says. "But I have bigger ambitions."Source: Article
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The Wonderful Gifts in History


It is never easy finding the perfect gift, but whether you are giving gift hampers or high-end jewellery, having a bit of money to play with will always make life far easier on you. The following are some of the most expensive gifts ever given.  The Taj Mahal : Valued at just short of a million dollars at the time of its structure, Emperor Shah Jahan had this imposing make-up built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Ever since, the Taj Mahal has been viewed as the eventual in loving gifts. The Statue of Liberty : This was an imposing gift from the administration of France to the United States of America, and the Statue of Liberty is said to have cost over half a million dollars to build. It is reported to have cost approximately half as much again to pay for the bottom it now sits on. The Kohinoor Diamond: This striking gift weighs in at over 106 carats and is widely measured to be the chief diamond ever found. While this implausible piece is measured invaluable, in real world terms it is appreciated in the billions of pounds. The Orlov Diamond: Weighing 198.62 carats, this is one of the world’s most well known diamonds and was esteemed in 1798 at 400,000 Russian rubles. It too is now measured priceless. The Taylor-Burton Diamond : Valued at over $5 million, this notable gift was initially acquired by Richard Burton as a gift for Elizabeth Taylor for over $1 million back in 1978.  A Diamond Thong: This 122-carat undergarment is the decisive in underwear and is covered with 518 diamonds. The Limited Edition Fighter Motorcycle With only 45 of these ever made, and with a price tag of $110,000, only the truly extraordinary will end up being able to ride one of these. Made by the accomplice Motor Company, this bike would be the eventual gift for your special man or woman who loves to ride. The D’Amalfi Limoncello Supreme: For almost $27 million, you can pick up a bottle of this ultra costly liquor for your loved one. It would positively make quite a notion as part of a gift hamper. The Caran d’Ache 1010 Diamonds Pen: Made from white gold, and decorated by 850 diamonds, this hard to believe pen is the most wealthy of stationery gifts, and for a mere $19,000 you can gift this beautiful writing gadget to the feel affection for of your life. Roman Abramovich’s Sculpture In order to show the amount of his feel affection for his girlfriend, the rich owner of the Chelsea Football Club exhausted $14 million on the bronze statue entitled ‘Femme de Venise’. This beautiful piece by Alberto Giacometti is one of the most costly gifts ever given. Source: Image1, Image2
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