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Word spreads about ex-premier’s book

Zhu Rongji, China’s premier between 1998 and 2003, is back in the limelight, talking once more with the media and the Chinese people.
This time, however, the words of the highly regarded orator are in written form.

Zhu Rongji’s Answers to Journalists’ Questions, published by People’s Press, has been getting good reviews and 27,000 copies flew off the shelves in the first two days.
“Whatever lies ahead, be it a field of landmines or unfathomable abyss, I will exert all my efforts and contribute all my best to the country,” the former premier said in the book, which is a collection of comments from domestic and international press conferences.
“Zhu seldom ignored the tough questions raised by foreign media, instead replying with confidence and humor,” said Wu Xuejin, co-editor of the book. “He left the reporters and the public with a strong impression.”
For example, the former premier once spoke about corruption, saying: “I’ll prepare 100 coffins. Ninety-nine for those corrupt officials and one for myself.”
Yu Guoming, vice-dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China, said people in China relish an opportunity to learn more about their leaders.
Chen Pengming, editor in charge of the project, said: “Zhu’s personal charisma mirrored the collective wisdom of the Chinese leaders on dealing with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, deepening the economic reforms and the process of joining the WTO. Readers thus are able to gain a clear understanding of how the then central government succeeded in handling those issues.”

Ren Chao, vice-president of the People’s Press, said he believed the print run could hit 1 million.
Several publishing houses in Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Japan have shown interest in the book, which is likely to be translated into English early next year. Online booksellers, Dangdang.com and Amazon.cn have ordered 30,000 copies.
Zhu Rongji is donating proceeds from the book to Project Hope and to helping the poor according to Ren.

Dan Brown returns after six-year wait

Six years after “The Da Vinci Code”, author Dan Brown’s new book “The Lost Symbol” was released Tuesday with hot anticipation, media reports Wednesday.

Writer Dan Brown gestures as he poses during a photocall for the movie “Angels & Demons” at Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome May 3, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters file photo)
Though the author admits he is under great pressure to sell well, the book received a positive reaction from critics and hit U.S. bookstores at midnight with an amazing large print run of 5 million copies and expectations the book can revive the publishing industry.
The story takes place over a 12-hour period in Washington, and again features the fictional, mystery-solving Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.
“The Da Vinci Code” may have outraged the Vatican, but this new book is hailed by its latest subjects, the Freemasons. They believe “The Lost Symbol” is good fun, and even started a book club which will meet next week. A senior representative of the Freemasons in Australia called “The Lost Symbol” the work of a “terrific novelist.”

New Dan Brown novel tops 2 mln mark

Dan Brown’s new novel has passed the 2 million mark.
Doubleday announced Tuesday that sales for “The Lost Symbol” topped 2 million copies in its first week. The total, for the United States, Britain and Canada, includes hardcover, audio and e-book sales. “The Lost Symbol” came out September 15 with an initial print run of 5 million books that since was raised to 5.6 million.
The book is Brown’s first since “The Da Vinci Code,” an international phenomenon published in 2003. “The Da Vinci Code” has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

Frankfurt Book Fair 2009 Opens

 

A visitor walks past a poster of the Theme Pavillion of China during Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s biggest annual book fair, in Frankfurt of Germany, Oct. 13, 2009. China has been selected as the Guest of Honor for this year’s fair, which kicked off here on Tuesday evening. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

The Frankfurt Book Fair 2009 opens Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, with China as its Guest of Honor.
The book fair, from October 13 to 18, is the world’s largest and most important of its kind, with over 400,000 books from more than 100 countries, and with over 180,000 international trade visitors and 124,000 new releases.
 
Some 270 publishers and over 2,000 traders from the Chinese mainland are participating in this year’s book fair, setting up a new record.

 

A visitor walks past the Theme Pavillion of China during Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s biggest annual book fair, in Frankfurt of Germany, Oct. 13, 2009. China has been selected as the Guest of Honor for this year’s fair, which kicked off here on Tuesday evening. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

Mandela’s diaries on sale at book fair


 
South African former president Nelson Mandela has his works on sale at the Frankfurt Book Fair, including his diaries, letters and personal thoughts, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported on Wednesday.
The collection spanning Mandela’s 27 years of imprisonment under white rulers and his five years as South African president is dubbed “book of the fair”. It is expected to be a best seller around the world, according to SAPA.
It said key sales were secured this week before the fair opened on Wednesday morning. Jonny Geller of the Curtis Brown literary agency was named the negotiator on Mandela’s behalf.

Translated works of former leaders hailed

The English version of works by two former Chinese leaders, Jiang Zemin and Li Lanqing, debuted on Wednesday at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Two books by former president Jiang Zemin – titled On Development of China’s Information Technology Industry, and Research on China’s Energy Problem – were published by Elsevier Publishing Group with approval by the Central Party Literature Publishing House and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press.
Former vice-premier Li Lanqing’s book, titled Breaking Through: the Birth of China’s Opening-Up Policy, was published by Oxford University Press and includes some 330 declassified files, documents and handwritten scripts.

Jiang’s book on China’s IT growth collects 27 of his published theses, reports, speeches and articles written between 1983 and 2008, as well as two appendixes, many of which were published for the first time.
The second book, Research on China’s Energy Problem, was edited by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and contains Jiang’s theses and three lectures.
The Chinese versions of the works were released within the past year in China and the English translations were hailed at the debut ceremony of the Frankfurt fair, the world’s biggest book fair.
Speaking at the ceremony, Leng Rong, director of Party Literature Research Center of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and one of the editors of the works, spoke highly of the books.
“Jiang’s two books provide us with an understanding about his insights as well as his theoretical explorations,” he said.
Elsevier, one of the world’s largest publishers of books of science and technology, released the speeches of Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s, and the company’s managing director of science and technology Jim Donohue said that they are continuing that honor this year by publishing Jiang’s books.
“These two books will provide thoughtful and very important knowledge to readers and we are honored to have been given the opportunity to publish these works in English,” he said.
Li’s Breaking Through, first published in Chinese last year as a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy, is informed not only by Li’s personal experience as a trailblazer and decision-maker.
“By normal publishing timeframes this has all come about rather quickly following the publication of the book in its original Chinese version last year,” said Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press.
Portwood said he believed that the book would attract not only scholars but also ordinary readers who want to know more about China’s rapid economic rise over the past 30 years.
The publication of this book reflects a growing desire in the world to know more about China, he added.
Wu Shulin, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, said at the debut ceremony that the book will help foreign readers get a better understanding of China’s reform.