FTN: Can't write off books even in the age of TV

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: Is the written word still powerful in the age of TV? Face the Nation discusses.

        

Ads by Google

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

• Aravind Adiga wins Man Booker Prize for The White Tiger

• Ghosh, Adiga shortlisted for Man Booker Prize

• Two Indian authors in Man Booker Prize shortlist

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

  

Aravind Adiga, the 33-year-old, Chennai-born author on Tuesday won the Man Booker Prize in London for his debut novel The White Tiger.

The judges hailed the book as an extraordinary portrait of modern India.

After V S Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai, Adiga is the fifth writer of Indian origin to win a Booker.

Adiga was the youngest among the six short-listed writers, which included compatriot Amitav Ghosh along with Linda Grant, Steve Toltz, Philip Hensher, and Sebastian Berry.

Now, having won the prized catch of an award, Adiga is richer by £50,000 and is promised whopping sales apart from the aura of being in league with the previous winners.

Desisting from chest thumping over the Indian’s victory, many say that television and the Internet have nearly killed the publishing industry.

Indian wins the Booker: Is the written word still powerful in the age of television? That was the question raised on CNN-IBN’s show Face the Nation.

On the panel of experts to debate the issue, were author, William Darlymple; commissioning editor Anita Roy and the Literary Critic of The Guardian, Claire Armistead who joined in from London.

At the start of the show, 81 per cent of viewers felt that yes, the word still reigned supreme, but 19 per cent chose to defer.

Yet another Booker!

India continues to romance the Booker. Did Adiga, the Indian author’s victory stun anyone?

William Darlymple said that he was surprised that anyone was amazed by it. “It is a surprise when an Indian does not win a Booker these days,” he said.

Then why is it that the book publishing industry in India not taken off, one may ask.

“The book publishing industry as a whole is 700 crore which is not at all insignificant,” said commissioning editor at Zubaan publishers, Anita Roy.

She recounted how there are a lot more literary festivals and dedicated book shops in the country today than there were 10 to 12 years ago.