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LOUISE PENNY AND HER NEW BOOK - 2019
By Bernard Bujold -
Louise Penny has just published her 15th novel, A BETTER MAN, featuring police inspector Armand Gamache, a kind of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the American NCIS series.
I met Louise at the time of her first novel STILL LIFE in 2005.
One could say that she was then an author at the beginning and an author who is just starting is always a little alone in front of his audience that discovers her.
I could then talk with Louise who had time to talk...
This is obviously no longer the case in 2019 as the author has become an internationally acclaimed and sought-after star, comparable to a Kathy Reichs.
Penny's writing style is truly unique and she has a perfect command of the art of storytelling. Her stories generally take place in the same fictional village that we imagine in the Eastern Townships, but it could be anywhere in the world depending on the reader's choice and culture. That's what makes Louise Penny's talent. She is able to take the reader on a fictional journey where everyone finds their reality.
The new book will be a best-seller and booksellers are playing the game. In the Montreal area alone, Indigo Chapter has placed nearly 500 copies in its stores....
As far as I am concerned, I lost contact with Louise Penny after her first novel, but I continued to read her with great pleasure in each of her books.
She would may be a bit shocked if she knew that I am reading her new 2019 book while drinking coffee from a cup of my idol Donald Trump 2020... (Louise is a great friend of Hillary Clinton's)
But if the author is in total control of her story, the reader has every right in the way to read it...
Anyway, the Louise I knew in 2005 had an excellent sense of humour!
SEE PHOTOS
WORLD PRESS PHOTO MONTRÉAL 2019 -
By Bernard Bujold -
The World Press Photo Montreal Exhibition runs from August 28 to September 29, 2019 at the Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal.
In all, the 150 international winning images are displayed in the Market Room with a series of additional local photo exhibitions or complementary activities on the second floor.
The photos in the 2019 international edition are much less violent than those of recent years, but the main theme remains political current events in the world. Immigration, the situation of the environment, the place of women or men in various countries, the protection of wildlife, cultural customs, are all themes highlighted in the photos on display.
We will note a section devoted to the phenomenon of twins, the authors of which are the two photographers Bénédicte Kurzen (France) and Sanne De Wilde (Belgium). This section was chosen to illustrate the outdoor exhibit installed along the canal at the corner of Queen Street in the Old Port.
At the local level, a section produced by the newspaper l'Itinéraire on the second floor of the Marché Bonsecours is particularly noteworthy.
The official Curator in Montreal representing the World Press Photo 2019 exhibition, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, is Samira Damato.
SEE PHOTO STORY (Bernard Bujold)
MORNING NEWSPAPER - 2019
By Bernard Bujold -
I have always liked reading the newspapers and since the early 1980s, I have emotionally attached myself to a few one, in particular, The Wall Street Journal.
I read The WSJ daily with a passion and pleasure that is always renewed.
I agree with one point in the current debate on the survival of Quebec dailies: when you love a newspaper, you are willing to pay to read it.
Guy Crevier also liked the WSJ and subscribed to it, but he was convinced that readers of La Presse would not accept to pay for a subscription as we gladly did for the WSJ.
I believe that his mistake was there and that this lack of confidence in his original product (paper edition) caused the crisis we are currently experiencing in the former dailies of Power Corporation...
Unfortunately, it is a little late to correct the error because the difficulties have become financially impossible to correct, in my opinion....
It will be necessary to see what happens next, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm reassured to be able to read my favourite newspaper (WSJ) for some time to come even if it costs me a few dollars a month.
Note that I also like to read Le Devoir, a paper subscription that is paid for and delivered every morning to the door!
I was also a faithful reader of La Presse, during the heyday of its paper edition...
Have a good reading!
SEE PHOTO
THE FUTURE OF QUEBEC'S DAILY NEWSPAPERS
By Bernard Bujold -
If there is a conclusion to the crisis in Quebec's daily newspapers, it is that Guy Crevier's bet on regional free access have been lost.
The media crisis is not the fault of Google and Facebook, which offer a free but universal product, while a regional media is something else to be local.
The one editor who seems to understand the situation well and who offers the best reflection on the crisis at Power Corporation's old newspapers is the publisher of Le Devoir, Brian Myles.
I have never been a fan of his editorial opinions, but he is right about regional and urban media, free is not viable and he proves it with the Le Devoir business plan. A modest newspaper with modest but viable ambitions.
We can conclude that Guy Crevier was too ambitious or unlucky in his bet. However, the conclusion is always the same when you lose a bet: you also lose your stake and the fortune bet.
The solution is now, as the publisher of Le Devoir writes, in the hands of the regional population, who may or may not agree to pay for regional information. The solution is also in the hands of new managers who will be more modest in their ambitions.
To be continued!
SEE EDITORIAL LE DEVOIR
SEE RADIO CANADA STORY
