Skip to main content

Hari Kunzru Urges You To Kill Your Babies!

...and gives plenty of other neat advice for aspiring writers. He also talks about the process of writing and what got him interested in reading:
I don't remember *not* being interested in it, so I'd probably have to thank my parents. My grandfather was certainly interested in encouraging me. He gave me "Crime and Punishment" for my ninth birthday.
So there you have it. Want to cultivate a reading habit for your child? Start with the Russians!

I met Hari Kunzru last year and I remember him as a pretty nice guy (and he dispensed some advice for hopeful writers then too!).

I'm feeling a little guilty that I haven't actually read any of his books yet, though they've been on my TBR pile since I met him! I have however read his short story collection, Noise, which was pretty good albeit a spartan mix of sf and weird fantasy.

Comments

  1. I read Transmission. It's o-kay, a bit hard to read.

    Either because the copy I read had font so small and packed it feels like an overdose for the eye, or there's so much wit in his writing it feels like an overdose for the brain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. L's read it too and she said it was enjoyable. I'll get to it sooner or later. I'm just enjoying my current fantasy and sf phase for now. I've forgotten how fun sf can be!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Teds, I've put up a post on why I find him too 'witty'.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i've read all the fiction he's published ... even the one that isn't out yet! (a bit change in direction)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll get it! ...if only to complete my collection :D

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...

An Ipoh Ghost Story.

When I was growing up in Ipoh in the 90s, the only good bookshops around were Mubaruk's, which specialised in textbooks (and still does), and Novelhut, the second-hand bookstore that used to be in Yik Foong (and maybe still is there, but I haven't checked in years since I prefer going to their Ipoh Parade outlet when I'm in town). There was also a pretty good bookstore in the Parkson Grand in Ipoh Parade which could have been a Berita outlet, but I don't remember. This was in the days before they expanded Ipoh Parade into what it is today. (And temporarily causing the Convent school next door to consider moving.) I recall this because I was thinking of when exactly I started reading "serious" fiction, trying to pinpoint the years when I moved from young adult/fantasy/sci-fi books into non-genre fiction. I still can't remember, but it brought back memories of a book I bought from a short-lived bookshop in Old Town. Mum had brought me there, because she must...