Carlos Fuentes on KCRW

So it turns out I ran across this bit: Mr. Fuentes has a new book out called Destiny and Desire.  Here he is on KCRW's Bookworm program.

The great Mexican writer modestly confides that yes, he has completed a new novel but it's really the same story, just with new characters. He elaborates: all stories are the same — the same global myths illustrating the same human truths

Pamuk fined for insulting 'Turkishness'

Via Bookslut, we find news that Nobel prize-winning Orhan Pamuk, we read his book Snow last year, has been fined.

...pay 6,000 liras (about 4,000 USD) to six individuals—1,000 liras each—in compensation for insulting their “Turkishness” after citing the number of Kurds and Armenians killed in Turkey.

The Desert of Forbidden Art documentary

The LA Times covers the documentary called the Desert of Forbidden Art about an Uzbekistan museum filled with quality Russian avant-garde art. I'm posting this because Shelley has been recommending this documentary to us.

"The Desert of Forbidden Art" tells a tale that is stranger than fiction several times over. Viewers of this remarkable documentary will be astonished at not only what this art looks like and why it's forbidden, but also where it is and how it got there.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Our next book will be The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Posting a quick collection of links, definitely not all encompassing, so please pass along your links to me, especially if you have a favorite site.

The website of the book
Amazon link

nytimes review by david eggers

telegraph review

guardian review

the review in the independent
something David Mitchell wrote about his book

reviews by bloggers

at bibliokept

at savidge reads

at reading fuelled by tea

at written nerd