Market pressure compels publisher to pre-pone the release of Palpasa Café

Amidst confusion between the pre-launch announcement and the release date of the book, Palpasa Café is now set to hit the bookstands across Nepal.

Journalist Narayan Wagle’s pioneer novel “Palpasa Café” is available at bookstores from Tuesday (26th July 05). The novel portrays the conflict in the country and its effects on people and society.

The pre-launch of the book amidst a function in Lalitpur last week followed by widespread media coverage resulted in an overwhelming demand from book lovers and bookstores across the nation. nepa-laya, the publishers of the book was planning for a release function during the 1sy week of August, but could not stick to it’s plans due to demand pressure from the readers and sellers alike. Team leader of neap-laya, Kiran Krishna Shrestha says, " Due to the enormous market response for the book, we have had to reschedule early release of the book which was originally scheduled for early August".

nepa-laya has been encouraged by the initial response the book has received and has done all possible to meet public demands across the country. Shrestha says "there is no dearth of readers in Nepal and so long as there is an effective mechanism to take quality books to readers, there is no reason why Nepalese books should not be able to hold their heads high."

Book critics who have had the chance to look at the 245-page novel say the paper and presentation of the book meets international standards. They say there is an enormous interest in the book because it highlights contemporary issues facing the country. Analysts say the author has depicted the country's present picture with an innovative approach which people are able to relate to their lives.

The language used in the book, which is set against the backdrop of the conflict in the country, is simple and interesting and touches the hearts of the people. The book illustrates the journey of characters through the clouds of ambiguity and makes connections between the capital and the mountains.

Noted critic Abhi Subedi has called the book a "meta-fiction"and commented that Wagle has opened a way for innovative and creative writing and set new grounds of hope and life for writers. Likewise, renowned critic and writer C.K. Lal says, the presentation of pictures of Kathmandu and the mid hills of the country is written in a simple and original manner, symbolically describing coffee, oranges and rhododendrons. And Kunda Dixit says, the anti-war book will be much talked about for a long time, has termed Wagle's book as being "fiction more real than facts". The book has also been termed as a "Unique Modern" novel by youth author Shekhar Kharel. He says, being a post-modern novel; one can start reading the book from any chapter, like playing a deck of cards irrespective of how it is shuffled.

With a wave of demand for the book amongst reading enthusiasts, bookstores are optimistic about the sales of the book. The Managing Director of Educational Book House Anjan B Shrestha says Palpasa Café has set a new tradition in the conventional Nepali books scene. He says, "Even before the book is scheduled to be released, we have had enquiries from all across the country for the book. Only English novels enjoyed such demands and now Palpasa Café has set a new trend in Nepal to come up to international standards.” Jamal based - Educational Book House is amongst the authorised distributors of the book.

There have also been enquiries for the book at Jagadamba Press where the novel was printed. The General Manager of the press - Narayan Paudel says, "the response, the book has generated in the market is very encouraging and is set to make a historical mark in book selling."

Publication Nepa-laya, which strives to promote Nepalese books and authors, has received tremendous encouragement from reading enthusiasts for its pioneer venture into publication. This encouragement and support will definitely be our source of inspiration to promote Nepalese authors in the future. Team leader of Nepa-laya Kiran Shrestha says "nepa-laya's direction will be guided by the response it receives from readers when Palpasa Café is officially released in the market on Tuesday, 26th July 05."

nepa-laya, the publishers of the book – formally announces the release of the book through this press release.

Palpasa Café is priced at Rs. 250/- (paperback) and Rs. 450/- (hardbound).