BOOKS ARE UNPOPULAR

An old tatty book can open to a reader not only its content, but can also say much about its reader and about itself. If it is badly worn, it has been read many times; if the pages are thin here and there, then it has not been handled with care.

In any event, the general appearance of such a book indicates that its content is interesting and it has been read. This is a frequent sight in libraries, less so on domestic bookshelves.

There is a special aura of respect and esteem for an old book, and even the damp smell that invariably accompanies it does not put one off, rather it is an incentive to start reading. These feelings are familiar to many of our contemporaries. But are they familiar to the rising generations?

Will modern young men seize the spirit from the form of an old book, will they penetrate into the mystery which emanates from within; will these feelings be familiar to them in the era of television, the internet, computer games and universal indifference to the very existence of books?

Will they run to a bookstore to purchase a book they are advised to read by a friend? In this century, when books have become sources of commercial income with novelists subject to fashionable trends - glamour, new style, light detective and other modest genres.

Pulp fiction quite often fills bookstore shelves; readers lose the discernment of taste and cease to distinguish good from bad.

Beloved reading

We are not born literate into this world. We are taught to read, to write, to love books. Parents try with all their might to arouse an interest in book reading, but these efforts now meet indifference and incomprehension.

Can the present generation understand the importance of the words of the great French writer, philosopher and enlightener Denis Diderot: "People cease to think, when they cease to read"?

Men mastered reading about five thousand years ago. But the brain itself as an organ was formed more than one hundred thousand years ago. Reading activates a large part of the so-called highest zones of the brain, attesting to the fact that reading is the best exercise for keeping the brain in shape.

Teaching this skill has always been seen as difficult, but it is natural. However, one should remember that the earlier a child learns to read and write, the better he/she perceives and analyzes information subsequently.

Teaching reading and writing contributes not only to literacy. By mastering these two skills, a man undergoes a number of changes: the brain begins to work differently, along a more advanced pattern. Furthermore, it processes information more rapidly and responds, when necessary, at high speed.

People who were trained to read and write in childhood, can use the resources of the brain better and more effectively than those who learned in later years. Scientists have discovered that the visual zone in the cerebral cortex of a literate person is aroused in recognizing textual information.

Furthermore, those areas critical to processing oral information become active - a literate person receives more oral information than an illiterate one. We may draw a small conclusion: constant and frequent reading exercises help to broaden horizons and increase the effectiveness of intellectual activity in almost all spheres of human activity.

But within the purely physiological aspects of reading, there is also a cultural aspect, to which the United Nations summons our attention by celebrating, on 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day. This is a symbolic date for world literature.

On this day in 1616, Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare both died. This day also marks the birth or death of well-known authors as Maurice Druon, Halld?r Kiljan Laxness, J. Pla and Manuel Valekho.

It was thus completely natural that the 1995 UNESCO conference in Paris decided to pay homage to books and authors on this day, calling all, especially young people, to find pleasure in reading and to respect the irreplaceable contribution of those who contributed to the social and cultural progress of humanity.

UNESCO created both World Book and Copyright Day and the UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the service of tolerance.

Foster love for reading

Some experts believe that neither television nor the internet can have significant influence on the desire of a child or an adult to read books. Man either reads or not, a child either has a desire to learn something from books or not. And it is the parents who lay the basis in their children's consciousness. In their opinion, it is necessary to encourage children into the culture of reading from an early age.

In a comment for R+, Aliaga Cafarov manager of a major bookstore in Baku and founder of the Ciraq publishing house, said that it was necessary to introduce children to the book form itself and the letters in it from infancy. Parents must read books to children, show them the letters, read bedtime fairy tales. "It is a well-known fact that a child is like a sponge. He absorbs everything that his parents 'sow' in his brain", says Cafarov.

As for school age, the expert believes that the domestic education lacks a system for fostering a culture of reading in children. "Educators pay less attention what our children read and whether they read at all, to say nothing about the lack of attention to extracurricular reading. At the beginning of the year, many teachers do not even check whether pupils have read books from the literature list during the summer holiday. Moreover, it is absurd that the domestic school curriculum contains extracurricular reading only once a week. This, in the opinion of education officials, is not an important subject. This is when reading is the basis of all education. And do you want a child, who sees a computer almost every day, as now almost every family has one, to have a desire to read? This can hardly occur by itself. A desire for, and a habit of, reading must be formed. If this does not happen, then our young people will lack an interest in books", our interviewee said.

The issue of book publishing in Azerbaijan is no less important. "Regrettably, in Azerbaijan, the leader in the Caucasus region, book publishing, in particular, children's literature, is at its lowest ebb. For example, about 40-50 per cent of the books published in Russia are for children up to and of school age. In Azerbaijan this number does not exceed 2-3 per cent. This indicates an undeveloped culture of reading in the country. If books are not in demand, then they are not printed, even they are printed, then this is done in editions of 150, at the very most, 500 copies. This is a drop in the ocean for a country with 9m people", Cafarov believes.

Now the books in Baku's bookstores are mainly from Russian publishing houses. They are completely different from Azerbaijani books in printing quality and subject matter.

What can we say about Azerbaijani speaking children having no great choice of children's books? Cafarov believes that Azerbaijan has practically no high quality children's literature and this can affect the education of future generations.

For example, every Russian printing house, irrespective of its profile, publishes a certain number of specific books annually. Why can we not learn from them? Another issue is the fact that Azerbaijan has practically no large publishing houses, for shortage of funds. And this occurs because of low consumer demand for the products of local publishing houses.

Unprofitable business

In Azerbaijan about 100 publishing houses do not have their printers; practically all of them have no orientation toward orders. Not a single local publishing house will print literature from its own funds, especially children's, since the question of selling the books will subsequently arise.

Another issue in book printing in Azerbaijan is the problem of copyright violation. A publisher pays royalties to the author, to artists, decorators, graphic designers, translators and prints a book. After a few days, reprinted copies, in a lamentable state, are at kiosks in the metro and at the stations.

Aliaga Cafarov had this sad experience with one of Cingiz Abdullayev's books published by the Ciraq publishing house in the Azerbaijani language, with 500,000 copies designated for sale in a year. However, after only one month, the books were being sold across Azerbaijan. Cafarov appealed to the Copyright Agency, but the situation has not changed for the better yet. "If a book has a print run of more than 5,000 in Azerbaijan, then it is guaranteed to be republished illegally", emphasizes the publisher.

Book printing in Azerbaijan is not regarded as a profitable business, since this sector requires a significant amount of investment, which is subsequently difficult to recoup with the low level of interest in reading, believes Cafarov.

Aydin Xan (Abilov), novelist-culturologist and head of the organization of new novelists and men of art, offers a slightly different opinion. In his view, the fact that there are about 100-150 bookstores in Baku indicates a certain increase in reading.

"Yes, we should recognize that the book is not as popular today as the internet, television and cinema. Furthermore, we should not forget that many publications are now available to readers on the internet. I think every Azerbaijani publishing house should print their publications in the Azerbaijani language, both in hard copy and also in an electronic version, to make it accessible on the world wide web. Contemporary technologies exist to promote a country's culture and literature. An effective increase in the number of Azerbaijani websites and an increase in the number of visitors provide global access to the humanitarian and cultural thinking of Azerbaijan. We already have electronic books on CD and DVD in the country. The internet creates great possibilities for the integration of domestic literature and culture with the world. Thus it will become accessible not only to 50m Azerbaijanis worldwide, but also to 300m Turkic speaking peoples", the novelist believes.

Xan Abilov thinks that now many poetic collections are published in Azerbaijan, as are translations from foreign languages. In terms of quality, Azerbaijani books undoubtedly differ from Russian ones, but this has begun to improve recently.

Actually, Azerbaijani readers are interested in the creation of such distinguished novelists as Anar, Rustam Ibrahimbayov and Elcin. Young readers prefer books by such authors as Kamal Abdulla, Vaqif Bayatli Onar, Ramiz Rovsan and others. The greatest interest is in translations of Cingiz Abdullayev's 20 books. The number of women-novelists is also growing.

"It is good that books by our novelists are published in the Middle East, in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Poland and Ukraine. The printing quality of these books is also high. Interest in Azerbaijani literature is growing worldwide. However, experts admit that there are big problems with the sale of books from Azerbaijani printing houses. Sponsors do not always help authors. Many of them are forced to publish books with small print runs due to a shortage of personal funds. And there are no guarantees that even this small print run will be sold, novelists and poets cannot get royalties for their books.

"Azerbaijan has a lot of novelists, including amateurs. Only a few, among them Anar, Cingiz Abdullayev, Rustam Ibrahimbayov and others can live on the royalties", our interviewee said.

As far back as 20 years ago our republic was a leader in the USSR for reading. Today we cannot boast this, despite the fact that the international book market is overstocked with novelties. One can find numerous interesting books among the vast number of modest authors.

However, the current abundance of books is disproportionate to the number of readers. An example from my personal experience - in the metro and on the buses, you will meet practically no men reading now. This is a pity, indeed the book is one of the simplest methods of learning, escaping reality and leisure.