Today is “World Book and Copyright day” and I´ve thought that it is a good idea to begin this entry
with Malala Yousafzai ´s words as they
appear on the Unesco webpage:
“The history of the written
word is the history of humanity. The power of books to advance individual
fulfilment and to create social change is unequalled. Intimate and yet deeply
social, books provide far-reaching forms of dialogue between individuals, within
communities and across time.
Let us pick
up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
Malala Yousafzai is the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban "because" she attended
classes at school and these words belong to her speech at the United Nations.
As usual
I can´t help paying attention to the importance of this day when I think of
films. What would the film industry be
without books? Lots of the stories that we watch on the screen are based on the
plots which were first devised by writers before they turned into scripts. Some
months ago I wrote about Nick Hornby since I had the opportunity of attending
one of his interviews. It was a very special occasion for me: rarely do readers
have the chance of meeting their favourite writers, don´t you think? That´s
why, I guess it´s understandable to treasure that kind of
meeting. That day Horby shared with us some interesting ideas and explained to
us that it is difficult to set rules when it comes to writing. For
instance, some people usually argue that
you mustn´t start a book by speaking about the weather, however, Bleak House – one of the most famous
novels by Charles Dickens – begins with a lengthy description of the weather.
Anyway, this is probably one of the best days to underline the close tie
between literature and cinema and funnily enough, I must mention Nick Hornby
again because his novel A Long Way Down
has become a film which has just been released. I explained the plot of the
novel to one of the readers of the blog so most of you must already be familiar
with this story, therefore if you feel like watching it on the big screen, here
you can have a look at the official trailer of the film:
I really
want to wish you a HAPPY BOOK DAY and I hope you take advantage of this special
day to buy a book for yourself or to give it to someone you care for as a
present because – according to the tradition – this is the best way of
celebrating this red-letter day in many parts of the world and if exchanging
books is also accompanied by exchanging roses as in Catalonia to celebrate St
George´s Day or Sant Jordi´s Day, the tradition becomes even better, doesn´t
it? As usual, an alternative to a good
book is a good film and if you wish to mark the celebration of this day, why
not a good film adaptation of a written work?
How do you usually
spend this day? What´s the last book you have read lately? What´s the last film
adaptation of a book that you have seen on the big screen? Would you like to
recommend any film that is based on a written work? Have you ever met one of
your favourite writers at a book signing event on 23rd April?
Hi!, In this international day I like seeing how the bookshops put their books on the street to appeal to our attention. In fact, on 23th I was walking and I stopped in front of these “markets”. So, I had the opportunity to take a look over different books.
ResponderEliminarI ´ve just read “Los Buenos y los malos amores” by Carlos Nessi, an interesting reading. In my opinion, it was so easy to read and because it hooked me since the begginig that I didn´t stopped reading until I finished it.
“The book thief” has seen the last film adaptation of a book that I have seen on the cinema. This book was written by Markus Zusak and published in 2005, and it has won some prizes, the last one “Michael L. Printz” in 2007. I went to see it with a fried who likes a lot reading and as she had read it though the film would be nice. She was right, I enjoyed although the film is a bit sad.
Hi ST,
ResponderEliminarI think that wandering around the book stalls that can be found in the streets of our cities on that day is a very good way of celebrating this red-letter day. As you say, it enables us to have a look at the new books that have been published recently and just in a few minutes we can get a picture of what is on offer. If the weather is fine – this year it was fine in most places – our walk is ever more pleasant and we can linger over the books while browsing at leisure. Thank you for sharing with us what you have read lately – it can be a recommendation for the readers of the blog – and thank you for the film which you have mentioned “The Thief”, a film adaptation of a very well-known novel, I think it´s a very good choice.
Thank you Marga for your comments.
ResponderEliminarBye-bye.