When Words, Books and Who You Are Simply Become Blasphemous

There was a scene in the movie, (unfortunately which I couldn't recall its name) where the Marshall warns against going to war against Saladin and his army while the truce with Baldwin is still on until when the king dies. Upon saying that, the Templar army in the king's court immediately brushed it aside and calls the Marshall's warning as blasphemous. Similarly, these groups of people have started showing their nasty tendencies to brush or shove hard on things that do not match their ideals. Isn't that also quite similar to how right-wing policies operate right now?

In that context above, notice how LGBT groups are accused and badmouthed. Another example would be on how a bookstore manager simply gets charged and accused for distributing the "Allah Liberty and Love" book even she has no control over the selection. 

The problem here is that the religious authorities does not have any other solutions nor proper facts to dispute the scenario of LGBT or the contents documented by Manji. Instead of disputing, like animals they chose the brute manner. Does that make people look stupid because it shows that they are incapable of effective problem solving rather than outright hoping that people would forget the whole episode. 

More importantly, this makes people especially those who are simple minded and naive look more stupid. It keeps the shackles of the mind on the people. It's like you are told never to question anything at all, irregardless whether a subject matter has raise curiosity or otherwise. The Napoleonic wars period (1799 - 1815) has already freed the society mindset until conservatives and royalties have started to fear of the people uprising. 

Next, look at the recent attacks on the LGBT group of people. It goes to the extent that a deputy minister declares that these group of people are not protected by the Federal Constitution. On the contrary, the Constitution is silent on groups of people just as it is silent on who can be the Prime Minister. The attacks have gone from outside into going more personal, given by the attitude and approach by the religious police to go after them. No longer is your privacy is for your own, instead, just as few acknowledged that Malay society has started to mind people's business to the lowest degree - being a busybody and minding a person's private business - including who you are, what religion are you, etc..

Until today, the religious body, if they really disagree with the book, has not released a distillation, dissection of the questions raised by the Irshad Manji book couple with the proper answers to dispute and acknowledged the problems perceived by other fabrics of the society towards the religion they claim to preach and brag that they are pious.

We still have yet to answer the question of why there are still people inside the LGBT classification. Peer pressure and the present society conditions are form the most basic of answers into why there are still people there. We may have to blame ourselves that we have not paid attention to this people who maybe looking for help, consolation, and solace in the arms of people are prepared to understand their problems and helping them.

What compels them to do like that? Does God make them to do that? Science can take them to a certain extent but no further than their own answer.

Hard hand approaches by these religious police makes things far worse and creates more prejudice towards the system. In the case of the books, these kind of methods are in fact a precursor to bootlegging and piracy cases that still could not be put down effectively. It's the censorship and the inflexibility of the present policies that create much of the problems right now.

Most of the time, I noticed many of the usual clergyman do not go overboard with their way of life and wealth. As a model of humility they do not have those plenty materialistic possessions that a narcissistic person would have. Any religion would basically say that when you come to this world, you start with nothing and when you leave this world at the end of your life, you too will end with nothing in possession. Until today I am still unable to understand why these men who claimed to be pious, men of god would go raving around brandishing their "holier than thou" thing at everybody.

Then again, they claim to be that great but when you see them in luxurious cars on work to office or at lavish homes, it tells a different tale. These men speak things at times might be incorrect If these men claims themselves holier than thou just because their word is as if comes directly  from God, then they might as well spare the troubles and migrate to Saudi Arabia - sparing the troubles of others.

The Simplest Solution To Interlok

The Interlok novel problem still remains unresolved officially as the National Writers Association are unhappy with the Education ministry's decision to go ahead with the novel, albeit with a few modifications to the original content. However, what many people do not get it is that by modifying the content of the novel, even though by a few pages, the structure of the story can be altered drastically. This will definitely be very much against Abdullah Hussain's intentions of the story when he wrote that novel and thus damaging the integrity of the novel.

Being Politicize and Provoked

It is a shame that the novel is being politicized by the Indians over a small matter. The word alone "Pariah" is somewhat considered a bane, but however, don't forget that it was written at that period, hence, Interlok is somewhat considered as a periodical piece set in that particular period. We will elaborate on that shortly. 

I simply do not understand whether the Education ministry has done a thorough read through over the story, and considered whether if the story is to be used particularly for a specific group / cluster of schools or not. But the Education ministry and the government should take the share of the blame because of committing to the decision of using this material in school. By going ahead in using this as one of the three possible literature books for Bahasa Malaysia, the Education ministry is either unintentionally provoking the other races into whacking one another, thus more racial tension problems or otherwise deliberately intending of doing so. Who really made the final decision on which novels to be used? One of the department heads of the Ministry? Muhyiddin or Wee themselves?

Read the Content and Other Material

I must concur with the National Writers Association's stance that the novel should be remain intact as it is. First of all, because of it's story setting period that comprises of 6 decades from the early 20th century to prior Merdeka, there have been social and racial prejudices against the Malayan society. Pariah, is a common prejudice as what the English would do to discriminate the Indians in the point of time. This means that Abdullah Hussain's book is correct, in historical terms, of painting the point of Indians at that time, before World War II and prior to Merdeka.

Actually, there is nothing to gain for taking the issue out of proportion, politicize it and to turn it into mass rallies and so forth just because we didn't understand the content nor going back to the early times to verify the history and the portrayal of the Indian community. If we didn't understand those things above, then what is the point of having a National Archive or a National library for? Turn books and historical documents to dust?  Isn't this problem similar to as what Gandhi and the India  faced back in India before the 1947 independence?  

Case Example in Burgess

Hussain's novel isn't the only one that suffers the brunt of anger over discrimination. If anyone of you have read the Malayan stories by the late Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange), you would find that the content is pretty similar in here.

As in related to the context above, in The Enemy of The Blanket, (part 2 of the trilogy), Mr. Jaganathan is a supporting character who is determined to sabotage the anti-hero at all costs. The motive of his actions is primarily because of how the Indians were treated by the English. Example:

"Jaganathan, you're a bloody fool! I'd be doing a great disservice to the Malay if I get out and let you take over!"

"You will kindly not call me a bloody fool in my own house, Mr. Crabbe." Jaganathan shook. "Who are you to say that I cannot run this school? I was running this school when you were still writing your wicked articles about the necessity of having Communist bandits in the east. While you were only a foolish soldier, I was running this school."

This piece above is a retaliation of and a hint of discrimination - note of "disservice to the Malay" phrase that Crabbe spoke of above. Remember that because this novel is set in 1956, one year before Merdeka, the racial prejudice is still there, so therefore it is society structure and state at that point of time is historically accurate and clearly reflected in Interlok. 

The below excerpt is from Beds of The East, the final part of the trilogy:

“Chinese, isn’t he (Robert Loo) ? Pity about that.” Nik Hassan made a sour gangster’s face. “Pity he’s not a Malay. Though, of course, he could use a what-you-call…”

“Pseudonym?”

“That’s right, a Malay pseudonym. It might carry a bit more weight. After all, everybody knows the Chinese are clever. We’re a bit sick of hearing it. We’re just dying for a Malay genius to turn up.”

But Nik is an anglicized Malay. Burgess writes:

Nik Hassan liked to be called “Nicky”. It was chic to have an English name in his circle. His friends Izuddin and Farid were called “Izzy” and “Fred”

Have we actually asked our surviving elders whether they themselves or other friends of theirs do the same thing or encountering such situations at that point of time? If it's a yes, then it is socially accurate using that period of time. Therefore, to emphasize it: there is nothing to be politicized and provoked off.

The Simplest Solution

If this problem keeps going on and on with neither side wants to compromise and resulting with a neither side winning the argument, the solution is very simple - either replace the book with another title that will not offend everyone, or since each school gets to choose one of the three Malay novels to be used for the Bahasa subject, they can opt not to take Interlok and choose another one. When the literature component was introduced back in 2000, I remembered that students or schools get to choose one of the books. Because anyhow, in the examination paper, I recalled that literature question and answer will only be based on which book you're reading. So, if I read book A, I will only need to answer questions related to book A only.

It's one of the two options they can choose, and it's a win-win case. Everyone can walk away and save the mess from happening. Why want to make an issue out of it?

TEOHLOGY for Sarcasm and Laughs

Patrick invited me for the book launch today and I was there a bit early for some light lunch before I went to the launch venue. I actually had seen the cover when I was walking in a shopping mall a week before today's launch. I knew that the content is very similar to the Tapai book by Hishamuddin Rais. It is perhaps the anthology of the articles that Patrick wrote for Off The Edge Magazine in the span of 5 years from 2005-2010.

It's one of the few occasions where I managed to meet up with a famous friend of my mother's and basically, I knew his writing style, sometimes with wit, humor and sarcasm, Malaysia-style even when I read some of his writings of his Niamah blog.. Well, this was evident way before I started reading it and by request of the audience, he read the October 2008 article about the contrast of people of Malaysia and Singapore, in view of the recent whacking of the Singapore Malays by the "senile old man" that is Madey. (short form for Mahathir) 

There a few showbiz personalities making cameos on that launch since they are well connected to Patrick. I just thought getting the book, I got it at a very special price, that I can find some laughs especially if I am in the beat down time -(read - down in emotion). So far, I only covered the first 3 pieces, but I thought a while why not let this Chinese comedian man Douglas Lim do a skit or narrate one of his articles?

I got laughing over the cover, surely it gives the "huh?" impressionism thing.

Seriously, I simply couldn't plot and arrange out my critical view on voting in Tenang by-election, due to exhaustion and the need to thought out whatever logical things to be considered - not emotional and on sentiment - by the voters there, so I thought that putting this up would at least give some cheer up.

Well, it seems that with tomorrow's Respect People of Selangor rally coupled with some other activities, I guess I would wrap up Saturday with a picture gallery of the event this afternoon. You can see some in my Facebook page here.

Duh....Not Another Bonfire!

Burning of books that is believed to be part of sin / narcissism, that was the main activity that was prominently seen in the Bonfire of Vanities event. Even during the height of the Nazi's in power they do have that kind of activity.

Today burning of books is no longer like that seen prominently in the past but instead we are seeing confiscation of books instead which is deemed illegal or otherwise, which by official reason is considering a potential threat to national security. Sounds pre-emptive in tone, right? That's more of the right-wing politics in play there.

The Malaysian Maverick book is one example, where the Home Ministry simply puts the book into its prison - not Sungai Buloh prison, but withholding. Perhaps officials there are a bit scared of Dr. M that they are unwilling to put it out despite the man's insistence of releasing it with nothing to lose?

Okay, back now, the cops recently confiscated copies of books like Justice for Malaysia, but the more important one would be the political satire comics of Malaysia - that is perceived by some of making a mockery out of the present government - like Zunar's published ones are confiscated. In the States, political satire is an acceptable subject and sometimes can be funny. For example, there are thousands of political comics, pictures - alternative to convetional commentary - on Arnold Schwazenegger alone as governor, not on the entire federal government.

These are merely comic reliefs, not mockery and should not be cast into the bonfire.

The satire pages of Rosmah and Najib in the Kartun magazine was perceived to scare those walking in the corridors of power in viewing that as truth although they are merely satirical and humorus in nature.

As for that Malaysian Maverick book there, I would really want to pick up a copy in bookstore in KL, read it and be the judge for myself. If Dr. M wants that book released without fear, please by all means put that book for sale and let people judge or compare Mr. Wain's findings with Dr. M views and let them draw the conclusions.

The ICKE Theorem

Do you notice that the Hindraf 10 arrests mirrors what is described on this book?

David Icke has been warning for well over a decade of the plan for a world fascist state, a global version of Nazi Germany, in which the people will be prisoners of a Big Brother dictatorship founded on the suppression of the most fundamental freedoms and total control and surveillance.

Today there is a gathering awareness that he was right.

People are realizing that Big Brother is no longer "coming" - he's here!

So you see, what the Home Ministry and the Badawi government does is indeed the prescription of the Bush administration so called pre-emptive strikes. As 'flyer' told me, Bush's stance, "Either you're with us or you're against us" is emulated evidently since last year.

Sometime ago, a friend of mine introduced me this book that describes what is happening right now. Yes, many people are starting to get aware after reading myself. I kept quoting that one section from the book whenever I see protests happening or so.

I have tried a few rounds looking for spare copies in major bookstores including Kino, Borders or MPH, but there were not many copies. But they do take orders though.

After reading that, I firmly believed that we are taking the Bush prescription.

Aside from those who refused to believe, just go get that book. Period.

Brandon Sanderson Will Finish Wheel of Time

Word has hit out that last week, TOR has announced that Brandon Sanderson will finish the last chapter of Wheel of Time entitled A Memory of Light. He was personally approached and selected by Robert Jordan's wife, Harriet for his work on the Mistborn trilogy. The outline is already out when Robert was in treatment, he actually dictated the whole thing in event of his death.

So, I didn't send in a request--or even a question--about the future of The Wheel of Time. I was dumbfounded and honored when--a month or so after the death--Harriet called me on the phone to inquire if I was interested. I got the impression that she was calling several authors (I don't know how many) and making sure that they were willing before she invested the time in reading their work.

James died on September 16.


Sanderson once said that Mistborn is the complete opposite of Wheel of Time - which is about kings becoming peasants while Wheel of Time is about peasants becoming Kings.

The condition stipulates that Sanderson must finish the writing draft by December 2008 with publication coming out by Fall 2009. Currently, he's on the copy edit of Alcatraz 2.

*
Brandon's official site

In Memoriam: Robert Jordan (1948-2007)

The Wheel of Time series is still one of the best-selling fantasy series that I've read. I got hooked at hit during my final year at university and read almost the first 9 books in the span of 5 months.

The magic of the series is that author Robert Jordan who also wrote the Conan Chronicles placed an emphasize on rich characterization and dramatic battles including some religious imagery. Jordan is a graduate of The Citadel military college, hence he has great knowledge of battles and strategies as well.

The culture of Wheel of Time is somewhat similar to the medieval times coupled with a mixture of the European period at the height of the French Revolution.

Book 10: Crossroads of Twilight remains as Jordan's lowest point when released at 2003. This was due to the error in the editorial decision, releasing after barely a month of submission. However, Jordan intervened personally in the next book Knife of Dreams, released at 2005. He insisted to have a six-month revision of the draft as to ensure to the book does not get the same criticism as of the previous one.

The last book, working title being A Memory of Light was slated to begin writing after the release of the book.

However, it might be on hold or canceled as R.J passed away last Sunday, 16 September.

The doctors confirmed that he was diagnosed of a rare disorder called as Amyloidosis. According to Wikipedia, the disease is a rare one in which amyloid proteins are deposited abnormally into the organs, causing disease.

The question remains of what will happen to the last book. It was said that R.J had spent a lot of time before treatment preparing the outlines and character details as well as getting others to dictate the plot points and so on. This implies that he might be handing this over to a select 'army of writers' as he phrased it to finish the last book.

As for me, I was kind of excited over what happens at book 12 since it is confirmed that there will be 12 books in the series. He expanded it from the original six due to overwhelming response from readers. The Fires of Heaven remains the best book of the series.

What will happen to our lead man Rand?

The Talking Asshole

William Burrough's famous segment, "The Talking Asshole" from his novel Naked Lunch:

Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his ass to talk? His whole abdomen would move up and down you dig farting out the words. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. This ass talk had sort of a gut frequency. It hit you right down there like you gotta go. You know when the old colon gives you the elbow and it feels sorta cold inside, and you know all you have to do is turn loose? Well this talking hit you right down there, a bubbly, thick stagnant sound, a sound you could smell.

This man worked for a carnival you dig, and to start with it was like a novelty ventri-liquist act. Real funny, too, at first. He had a number he called The Better Ole that was a scream, I tell you. I forget most of it but it was clever. Like, "Oh I say, are you still down there, old thing?" "Nah I had to go relieve myself." After a while the ass start talking on its own. He would go in without anything prepared and his ass would ad-lib and toss the gags back at him every time. Then it developed sort of teeth-like little raspy in-curving hooks and start eating. He thought this was cute at first and built an act around it, but the asshole would eat its way through his pants and start talking on the street, shouting out it wanted equal rights. It would get drunk, too, and have crying jags nobody loved it and it wanted to be kissed same as any other mouth.
Finally it talked all the time day and night, you could hear him for blocks screaming at it to shut up, and beating it with his fist, and sticking candles up it, but nothing did any good and the asshole said to him Its you who will shut up in the end.

Not me.

Because we dont need you around here any more. I can talk and eat AND shit. After that he began waking up in the morning with a transparent jelly like a tadpoles tail all over his mouth. This jelly was what the scientists call un-D.T., Undifferentiated Tissue, which can grow into any kind of flesh on the human body. He would tear it off his mouth and the pieces would stick to his hands like burning gasoline jelly and grow there, grow anywhere on him a glob of it fell. So finally his mouth sealed over, and the whole head would have have amputated spontaneous - except for the EYES you dig.

Thats one thing the asshole COULDN'T do was see. It needed the eyes. But nerve connections were blocked and infiltrated and atrophied so the brain couldnt give orders any more. It was trapped in the skull, sealed off. For a while you could see the silent, helpless suffer-ing of the brain behind the eyes, then finally the brain must have died, because the eyes WENT OUT, and there was no more feeling in them than a crabs eyes on the end of a stalk.

I wonder whether this thing in the novel would reflect the attitudes of some politicians today.

Offdays Explained

There are a few people who actually asked me, especially Edmund who asked me of why I didn't write posts for the last three days given that I was so used to the one post per day rule.

Well, the main reason is that my family just came down to K.L on the weekend, just left this evening and they went to visit relatives, and all the coincidences with my father's own agenda.

I actually met them after a seminar meeting with Ewen Chia, the number 1 market affiliate in the world, who offered me some tips on helping me to get start with my own web page. I'm still looking for books to help me improve my web page development skills, by starting off with an html page.

Of course there's dinner with the relatives.

The next day it's meeting people including my granduncle and as well as taking my brother who recently joined Christianity - I didn't know until he revealed to me in dinner - and stopping by my house to get some things for him, before meeting them.

We had dinner two of us alone. And today I took a leave off to help them - in case there is a short of hands.

Enough? Hahaha....and later I will be making a post later on - what's happening in the Malaysian scene, as requested by a friend of mine.

Fingers Cross: Deathly Hallows

This will be my last post before I go incommunicado in the next three days. I just want to spend a good weekend to relax and ease pressure.

If there's one thing that still keeps the tension on everyone in there is the release of the final Harry Potter book entitled The Deathly Hallows. Never before that when I read such news as this, the tension can be as intense as watching an European Cup final match.

At this time of writing, it is only 7 hours away before the books are officially released worldwide, 2400 GMT time. In the last few days, the tension and the hype surrounding the book is quite high since it is tightly guarded in boxes marked "Do not open until July 21 2007". As for in Malaysia, Kinokuniya Kuala Lumpur is giving 20 percent off on all the Potter stuff and 30 percent discount tomorrow for the new book.

Of course the tension is there since Joanne Rowling mentioned that there are at least two main characters that will be killed off at the end of the book. Most importantly, will Harry Potter die together fighting against his mortal enemy Voldemort? But the tension is spoiled when New York Times published a review that mentioned that it got a copy legitimately from a New York store.

Saying goodbye is difficult especially when the character originated from a ride from London to Manchester in 1990. After 17 years, everything comes to an end. Her famous line of appeal:

"I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry's last adventure for fans,"

Elsewhere in Malaysia, there is a price war between bookstores and hypermarkets when top chains like Tesco and Carrefour are selling the British Kids cover edition of the book at the price of mere $19.99 instead of the recommended retail price of $32.25 (or shall I say as RM 70 compared to RM 110) here.

Update 0115 GMT 21 July

In an unexpected move, the top four bookstores in Malaysia, MPH (Malaysia Publication House), Popular, Times and Harris had decided to withhold all sales of the books in protest against the indiscriminate price of the books sold at hypermarkets. Only those pre-ordered books can be obtained today.

In the perspective of hypermarkets, quote from Tesco:

“We are popular for selling products at a lower price and books are no exception. The other retailers have their own marketing strategies by providing freebies and other promotions ... this is our way of pleasing our customers,'

Comment Part 1

After watching Schindler's List with my friend yesterday, I felt that the music piece by John Williams with violinist Itzhak Perlman's strong tones resonate in my heart and mind. The kind of sadness portrayed for the Jews massacre mirrored to what fans will feel when we are seeing the end of the series.

Everyone's fear is what will happen to the boy.

Among the three covers shown, the US cover is the best of all three.

This was not the only thing yet to be mentioned. More at below.

What was mentioned and found:

I've done some digging around the Internet over the period of one month to understand the situation where our boy wizard got thrust into. So far, among the prominent questions and information pieces mentioned that I've got are:

1. The sixth horcrux is either a founder's treasure or Harry himself.
2. R.A.B - the initials seen in the fake locket - the third horcrux - is definitely Sirius Black's brother Regulus.
3. Is Deathly Hallows a place or something else?
4. The Lovegoods (Luna and her father) are featuring in a prominent role here.
5. All Death Eaters - followers of Voldemort are either captured or killed.
6. The Weasleys (red-head family) are in Mortal Peril - but I can't think beyond one person.
7. Is Snape a double-agent?
8. There is a 7-page epilogue after the last chapter. It's said that it tells of what happens to our characters 20 years after that.
9. There's of course one chapter on Bill and Fleur's marriage and a visit at Harry's old house in Bristol.
   

The Bloomsbury kid's cover has a drawing of a 'horcrux tracker' which tracks Voldemort's soul pieces hidden around. Also the cover of our trio in Gringott's bank seems to provide a hint that they are looking for the sixth horcrux. So I ruled out that there is no living horcrux except for Voldemort's pet snake Nagini. The US cover provides a hint that Deathly Hallows is a place only for two to fight - horcrux perhaps?

Comment Part 2.

Judging the character progression of Harry, he is somewhat similar to the character progression of as mentioned in the legend of King Arthur. Parallels are, that he has the strong potential to become something great in years to come; he has an old wizard to guide him along the path to manhood. Of course he must face his biggest challenge. Finally, he will have the hand of Guinevere.

Interesting though that Ginevra Weasley (simply called as Ginny) is called Guinevere in Italian hence the parallel. With reference to the above, I don't think he will die at the end and he has Ginny at last. To kill him off especially if a boy loses everything from the beginning, suffers more than a normal person is to say that to treat a character like a rabid dog as if he is to be hated.

Just to say that John Irving and Stephen King both had the same opinion about that. No wonder they beg Rowling not to kill him off.

If there's an epilogue describing what happens after 20 years, it means that one event alters all. It doesn't show the dualism - the good and the bad, the light and the dark. Though it ties everything up neatly, I think it is best to leave the ending open, just to let people guess or make inferences to what happens next. I would say that it kills what was well structured from head to leg.

I refer to the epilogue comment in regarding the Future Coda ending of Terminator 2:

...A definitive, happy ending had a tone that was somewhat incongruous to the rest of the film; on a visual level, the sunny park in Washington and the futuristic buildings felt again out of place against the dark and gritty two hours preceding it; on a pseudo-narrative level, this ending effectively negated the storylines of both the first film and the first sequence in the second, raising to question the "grandfather paradox" of time-travel stories without the proper time to address it; and on a perceptual level of the characters, it was difficult to accept Sarah as a contented old observer after seeing her throughout the film as an intense, athletic heroine. (And then there was the small matter of how a juvenile delinquent like John, linked to a massive spree of destruction at age ten, could become a Senator...) The decision to maintain a sense of narrative ambiguity --to leave the future open-ended-- felt more in keeping with the tone of the film.

This is indeed paralleling what is in the novel.

Who Bites The Dust?

As I've mentioned that there are at least two characters that are to be killed off here.

My bets are on:

1. Ron - I actually re-watched the first movie - The Sorcerer's Stone particularly in the Minerva's Game setpiece which is largely a wizard chess. Remember that Ron sacrificed his knight in order for the king to checkmate the opponent and win the stunt. In this, I can guess that Ron gets killed by someone and saving Harry or Hermione in process. He is the shadow of Harry and this would be a good time to have a one last fling.

2. Remus - the old werewolf is likely the only one who can take on Fenrir Greyback and save many innocent people from being 'contaminated'. But Fenrir's more savage than he is and I find that both will be killed in one shot. Also, I think that since the Marauders represents the past, it is time for the group to step aside and let the new generation of people that represents their principles take over.

3. Percy - The estranged Weasley son is most probably the weakest link in the family. Maybe this would be to give a bad sign to the wedding.

Okay...let's get our fingers crossed and see what happens after the next few days.

One Weekend Work

For the past few days, I have been asking some guys online whether I can take on the assignment of editing the online book of Dawn of The Dragons by Joe Dever. It has been quite close to a year since the previous book was released online. I think that there isn't anyone willing to take up the work of editing, which makes the book unreleased to fans worldwide.

I keep thinking that I am doing them a favor by expediting the process. If things finish as soon as possible and if the project coordinator Jon Blake with the webmaster, the lovely Simon Osborne approves it, then the book is out for everyone to read it!