Monday, April 23, 2012

A Pictorial Report for World Book Night………..Day.

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After opening & filling in the details on all 24 books, I re-boxed them ready for the giving. Last year my daughter & I gave them together, but this being a week day (Monday) she had school and I had work. So we decided to separate, with her taking books to her school & I heading off to work with a bag load.

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This is the NorthGate Ward Community Centre, and was where I was based for the day, so it became the place for me to give away my books. Strangely in this picture it looks  dry and bright, this was a rare moment in the day as it bucketed down for  most of it, but luckily I was working in the office in the morning and in one of the rooms running a music session (Sound & Vision) all afternoon.
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But first an introduction to my give away, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Now I had read & posted on this book last year (my daughter has also read it). In my post on this I said…
This was a book I had expected to dislike, it seemed to be not sure if it were a book for adults or proudly YA, like a teenager caught in a netherworld between these two points the book was fluctuating between both axis and yet…. I loved it. I read it because it is one of the books for World Book Night and I needed a book that my daughter and I could both get behind, both support with an understanding of it’s content (if asked by others). Did I say I loved it, that I have a queue of colleagues wanting to borrow this on the strength of my vocal adoration of it. This is a book about the power of language, of words and how they may appear inert, merely tools for our use to be put away when not needed, but in reality they have the power to change all. The rest of this post is here
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This is a group of my colleagues, who were some of the early, lucky owners of this wonderful book and on the strength of receiving it, they will read it together as a relaxed book club.


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This is Nick, and as you can see he was another receiver of the WBN book, proudly displaying it for my pictorial post.


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***********************************************************************And finally this is Maria, who has promised to read and finish this as part of World Book Night. I haven’t yet managed to give away all the books in person, although they all have a home marked for them with some more going with my daughter to her guides meeting and to my wife's Knit & Chat Group, & the final ones to some individuals at another community hub I work at.
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This is Barbara, who is based at Thannington resource Centre, the other hub I run some of my sessions at. when i originally read this book, she was one of my colleagues who expressed  an interest in The Book Thief. Making her now a extremely happy recipient of her own WBN copy.


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This is the second year that my daughter and I have done this & have thoroughly enjoyed it, and were filled with pride by the act of presenting strangers, colleagues etc., with something they would not have normally reached for. So my thanks go to the World Book Night organisation for providing me with this opportunity and as I said last year My one proviso, is that although this is World Book Night, it’s really only UK & Ireland,( now Germany & USA), whether this will grow and really become a world book night I don’t know, but I qualify my doubt by saying if I convinced a couple of people to read something they wouldn’t normally read, that’s a result.
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“We come into the world intent on finding narrative in everything, in the landscape, in the skies, in the faces of others, and, of course, in the images and words that our species create”. This most human of creative activities defines us, that at the core we are “Reading Animals” intent on reading our own lives and those of others”. Alberto Manguel  – A Reader on Reading.
 
 WBN2012

13 comments:

Judith / Leeswammes said...

Yours is the first book blogger report on giving away books this year... I love it!

It's very nice that your daughter is involved too. And I love it that the recipients were kind enough to have their picture taken. Now let's hope they love the book as much as you did!

stujallen said...

seem like some keen new readers there gary looks like you had a good world book night ,all the best stu

Bellezza said...

Finally, a post on which I can comment somewhat lucidly. (Sorry I'm such an idiot when it comes to poetry; you still have a lot to teach me!)

I love the photographs of the building and friends and books themselves! It's so great to have a glimpse into your life. I love that you and your daughter work in tandem even if not in physcial proximity.

I gave The Reliable Wife to my colleagues at work; teachers, whom you'd think would read, but in my opinion spend far too much time in front of the television. Perhaps we'll make some converts yet!

Happy World Book Night 2012, Parrish! Happy Shakespeare's birthday, which is today as well.

Unknown said...

Would be nice to think they'll do something like this in Oz, but it's a bad time - the 25th of April is ANZAC Day, which overshadows everything else. March would be nice though :)

gina @letterandline said...

Love this post, Gary. So glad that you and your daughter were WBN givers again! Agree that it's nice to see the receivers with their new bounty!

Suko said...

This is a wonderful book to give away for World Book Night! I also loved the book.

Enjoyed your pictorial approach!

Mark said...

Must admit I've never got involved in this, but reading posts like this and also from the likes of Stu has convinced me to really make an effort to do something about it next year.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Judith, This is the 2nd year she's been involved & this year she even read the book so she could discuss it & it has been my plan since the start to involve her, making sure her growing love of books gets all the stimulus possible to continue to grow.

Hi Bellezza, if you can, get hold of the The Making of a Poem (A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms this will hopefully become a voyage of discovery. Check the post below this for details.
PS, did you know that all the books have a Shakespeare Sonnet in & WNB has an E book of them
http://www.worldbooknight.org/attachments/article/280/Shakespeare%20sonnets.pdf

Hi Tony Here's to hoping this not only reaches you but goes everywhere in between.

Thanks Gina, Here's to next year, when I can read your post on this event :-)

Hi Suko, Thanks, it was perfect for my needs because not only had I read it, but my daughter could as well.

Hi Mark, It's the old working from the inside, if you want to change things, more translated works, less popular writers etc. Also there's a pure selfishness in my altruism, it's great fun & leaves one with a sense of well-being :-)

Shelleyrae said...

What a wonderful event Parrish! I am so glad you and your daughter had the opportunity to participate.

Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

Patrick (at The Literate Man) said...

You're a good man for participating, but an even bigger man for getting the word out. As a result of your post on World Book Night last year, both Aaron and I (from The Literate Man) signed up this year.

I spent an enjoyable afternoon distributing copies of The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to participants at the Greater Miami Service Corps, a program for underprivileged urban youth. I was so inspired that I gave away a copy of my own novel along with each copy of Oscar Wao.

Just thought you'd like to know you're impact reaches to the other side of the pond.

@parridhlantern said...

Thanks Patrick, glad it went well & knowing that feeling you get when you hand someone a new world, with all it possibilities, I know you both enjoyed the experience & will want to repeat it next time, So here's to then.
PS, Thanks for the comment it means a lot & has left me mumchance ( a beautiful word).
PPS, my wife read & adored your book, which is greater praise than mine was as she never reads(Very rarely) my stuff & she has passed on that praise to her knit & chat group at the library.

Patrick (at The Literate Man) said...

Thanks very much for that. and please pass my thanks along to your wife. My readership in the UK is growing by leaps and bounds!

Mel u said...

Great to see books being given away, sometimes it seems better to liberate a book you will not read again rather than just keep it forever