Books
"r w’i:
Al-Jazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged
the World iii/:2 .0...
Celebrating its eighth year, and reaching an audience of 50
million, here are eight things you may not have known about ‘the Arab CNN': 1) Many of its staff were originally BBC trained, ._ having paid their dues via an ill-fated Beeb-Saudi broadcasting
.'
venture. 2) The only reason the station got off the ground (other than ongoing cash backing from the Amir of Qatar) is that the French channel which had won the hotly contested C-band signal mistakenly broadcast half an hour of pornography during a Saturday afternoon children’s TV slot. A technical hiccup perhaps, but not one that played too well with the predominantly
Muslim audience.
3) The station has been accused variously of being in the pocket of Al-Qaeda, the CIA, Saddam Hussein and Mossad. 4) ln carrying out their work, Al-Jazeera staff have been expelled, harassed, beaten, bombed, shot at, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. A tragic and all too literal case of shooting the messenger. 5) Having met both Sharon and Arafat, one Al-Jazeera reporter concluded that the problems of the region might be attributed to the belief of the Israeli leader that onions were a prime asset whereas the late PLO president chose to enthuse about the
benefits of honey.
6) When desert-dwelling Bedouin couples marry, they no longer wish to receive jewellery as a wedding gift, preferring instead a $100 satellite dish. 7) Al-Jazeera‘s political interviewees include Tony Blair and Osama bin Laden. 8) The motto of the station is: “The opinion and the other opinion‘. (Rodger Evans)
Reviews
l’()l’lll AH SCI! M It DAVID WHITEHOUSE
The Sun: A Biography
(VVileyl 0..
Davrd Whitehouse's follow up to The Moon is everything you (litln't know that you tlitln't know about our sun. This is actually less a biography than a chronicle of humanity's understanding of that most significant celestial body through the ages. The title is turtherrnor‘e misleading as it belittles the
undertaking of both the
author and reader: Whitehouse understandably struggles to rein in narrative order to some of the more abstract
topics. notany the birth
ot the universe rand subsequently. galaxres and solar systems) which adds up to a somewhat untidy opening to the book.
Despite llll‘L. their: r‘; a great deal of Illlffl‘?‘;i and still much In entertain. AT; '.‘Jllll thr: study of physics itself, so much of it battles; and frustrates; lirrtorr: it all falls into place in the last third ol the book. The Sun rerleorns itself and lllllllléllt?!‘,’ iowanls the more rleterrrrrnorl reader With an at times illuminating. warrn anrl larger (:ornirien; table effort.
(Mark Edrnunflsonr
SHORI Sl()ltll S VICTOR EROFEYEV Life with an Idiot (Penguin) .0.
‘Being a man is likr: berng chained to the Village idiotf mote long, Parsons. l'o lrxe in a (:iVilised WUr‘lrl and possess a penis, then. is a mildly alienating experience. Who.H the main character in the titular short stor‘. of this varied collection is punished in Kafka esgue fashion for a"
.‘
Vittol tnortft'
32 THE LIST Qt‘ Jan—3, Feb 200:"
ti'i‘;[)‘:(,lll(f(l -'r," ‘t. W- r-lw‘tf. to ll.‘: .‘,~itt‘ .iii rrliot as llle [ril'll‘illl‘l‘fl‘i lhe result isn“ lllll’i (lllffllétllfll‘: but ?(l).fr .irirl inurrler.
l or Vrrjtor l r’;fw,r:‘.. .'./ho began .‘J'Ifh’lt; a." sortrret ill the firszii half' thr- Soxrrt winning for. is a rnetariltor tor tl‘r: senseless htiifétrii, “r? latereia (:0rnrr‘urrisrri. Unfortunately. '.'.’l‘.!!‘r i, roteyev is l‘~,ll(2£ll he cant work out ‘.'."'rir," giant of Hussrar‘ literature lit: is nrost i". thrall of; 3iilgak'r.. [,)<isto‘,(+‘.sk{,' ar‘rl ()hekho‘. eiriirrertr:e. ll<;‘.'.'<:-\.‘:r.
all yet: tor rg'r:
‘.'.'he.'r he is soathirizi has ‘ll‘r:
\.'oirte as singuiar. Parakeet” bets/eon S()i.'i‘rfr"‘l‘3." and Monty, P‘,‘_h< rleari parrot sketch. rhaking it alrrrost
:rr'r;
the move“! out“ a': no
r’l irn Abraharrrs.
COMIC THAVE l DOMINIC GREYER Far from Dull and Other Places rPenguinr 0
/ )[rf
It. for you. Tun”,
iii the gu'se 0‘, fl“ se
prr‘tures of ’1." f) r roatlsrgns. (:bl'iuw irig'r‘es :le (rla’wa :s'art‘ shoor‘arr‘es the. _.s<,-'l
t:‘ ‘é-afure "".’3."_‘- [,"n Iéi'ift st' <1.) " 9' .553: Em. tt‘e" tbs r Mi, corn. 1'1, in. " ,' postage and “g
OK. riraotezi. ‘. ".
tor'ra
()l [)'Il
(JifilYl(/"/l\l(\l/{,ll
‘eri‘tl":'lffi'l’_
ll‘rf".|’.{ einlia tn NN'I Hf, ,0
(Trip in
[Li/(1‘
k‘rii lhl"
“1&4?th '
Am: "r
(yin/fr
Marxirc' i
SW“,
Jo,t(,
Joiiiv uebike
Villag 'l lair‘ 0..
\‘f P"Iv
r ,u ‘r.' ’i
t - A (V«.'7'///// NJ
.1 Wm; I. , _, ‘
BOOKS FOR LESS
The most obvious place to go reading on the cheap is your local library, but if you're keen to keep the books you read - without raiding the bargain bins for the latest overhyped celeb biog - there are plenty of options. Online retailers such as Amazon often offer substantial reductions, while the large chain stores will tend to knock down the prices of their big sellers. Waterstone‘s, for instance, offers ‘three for two’ offers on themed paperbacks.
Many would question how good the discounting tactics of large retailers are for the industry as a whole, and if you want to be all ethical about it, why not ramble round a few secondhand shops? Try the cluster around Edinburgh’s West Port or the Oxfam Bookshop on Glasgow's Byres Road.
In terms of book events, Big Word Performance Poetry's fortnightly events at Edinburgh's Tron offer a range of acts and a lively atmosphere for only £3. The occasional Slam competitions that are run in both cities (see www.bigword.co.uk) cost 24. More traditional author showcases run for free at Borders. Over at Waterstone’s, authors can be witnessed for £3, while Ottakar’s stores offer free reading groups. Ultra-organised revolutionaries, meanwhile, might want to check out Edinburgh’s Independent Radical Book Fair at the Assembly Rooms, which runs during mid-May and is free of charge.
(James Smart)