Friday, October 22, 2004
The best seller of the week
I use a webmail account at rediffmail.com,freely allowing all
promotional offers. I am so liberal to rediffmail, only because it was
the only webmail provider which was prepared to give me a 1 GB inbox
for free and I use it as a repository , by forwarding all other e
mails to this free mega inbox, so that I do not have to delete it
during my life time. Some more do that now, like the G mail
sponsored by none other than google. One of the promotional offers
which I just browse through is a weekly best seller book list. Last
week, the first one in the list was "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by
Robin.S.Sharma, which was followed by a Sidney Sheldon,
J.Krishanamurti etc as usual. My eyes got glued to the 9th best seller
in the list which did not have a single author to name. The book was
called " The 9/11 Commission Report" whose author was " National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ". The details
given about the "product" was as follows: " Nearly three thousand
people died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In Lower
Manhattan, on a field in Pennsylvania, and along the banks of the
Potomoc, the United States suffered the single largest loss of life
from an enemy attack on its soil. The United States Congress and
President George W. Bush established by law the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11
Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine
the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks,
identify lessons learned, and provide recommendations to safeguard
against future acts of terrorism.This volume is the authorized edition
of the Commission's final report."
I had a little disbelief. What makes it a best seller? Shall I
cross check this information with some other agency. I did not have to
wait much. Elaine Monaghen reporting in "The Times" from Washington
on 16th October confirmed the information. The correspondent even
called it a literary first, as the 567- page Govt. report on the Sept
11 attacks has not only become a runaway best seller , but has also
been nominated for one of America's most prestigious book prizes.
Written by a staff of 91 people over a period of several months, "The
9/11 commission report" has sold more than a million copies since last
July and last week, it reached the shortlist of five for the National
Book Award's $ 10,000 non fiction prize.
What made this a best seller as far as readers are concerned ,
I was left to ponder. Elaine Monaghan adds further . " From the
opening sentence about a day that "dawned temperate and nearly
cloudless" to the moment when
"a jet fuel fireball" took out world trade centre lifts, the report
stands out for its readability in a city that produces forests of
incomprehensible jargon." He further quotes Philip Zelikhow, an
historian and the commission's executive director."We tried very hard
to 'write' up to our readers because we believed there is an audience
out there for books that are nuanced and avoid caricature and
melodrama."
I think that is only half truth. The other half is the fcat
that we enjoy transmogrifying even a tragedy to a reason for
festivity. I am sure even American people who do not have any directly
known friends or relatives whose lives were lost on that fateful day
will be enjoying reading the book quite detatched from it. The same is
the detachment with which we are able to browse through the daily
carnage of men,women and children in Iraq, Palastine and Darfur. It is
immaterial who is the killer. We only want a daily death toll to
satisfy our beastly hunger for news.
I wish the book had been nominated under the category of
fiction. How will the book be viewed by coming generations of
Americans. Some may consider it as fiction as well. I remember having
seen a note at the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam which tells that 25%
of the American youth of today does not believe that holocaust has
occurred at all. So long as the war industry and machinery is kept
well oiled and greased youth of the future will not have any problem
in calling this book a fiction as well.
|
| ARCHIVES |
SUBSCRIBE |
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Friday, October 15, 2004
Friday, October 22, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004
|
|
|
|
