My family was understandably perturbed while I was leaving for Abids on Sunday morning. Not because it was too hot to venture outdoors but with anxiety about how many books I’d bring in this week. All available space at home- shelves, bureaus, tops of almirahs, the computer table and even part of the dining table were overflowing with books which I was bringing in at the rate of half a dozen every week. As always, I left promising not to bring more than one book. I returned with three books and one magazine.
The first find was Annie Proulx’s ‘Close Range: Wyoming Stories’, a book of short stories that I picked up from a heap of books selling for ten rupees. I just picked it up not bothering to look inside. I was surprised when I was leafing through the book later in the afternoon. It had eleven short stories and the last story was ‘Brokeback Mountain’ which was made into the award winning movie of the same name. I didn’t remember she had written the story until l read in the book.
The next find was a book I was looking for since a long time. The book was Namita Gokhale’s ‘Paro’. I had seen a copy earlier but it had the last pages missing but this was a good enough copy though faded a bit. I got it for only twenty rupees. I bought it since I hadn’t read anything written by an Indian writer since a long time. I had read a lot about this book and have already started reading it. Soon I will post a review of sorts here.
I have a weakness for books on writing and when I saw Irving Wallace’s ‘The Writing of One Novel’ I couldn’t resist picking it up though I already have a copy at home. I got this too from another heap of books selling for only ten rupees. The previous owner had covered it with a plastic jacket that kept the book in good shape though the pages seemed to be faded. I couldn’t decipher the signature of the previous on the first page but the date was 11-2-86! It was a twenty two year old book but in reasonably good shape.
‘The Writing of One Novel’ is all about how Irving Wallace came about to write his bestseller, ‘The Prize’. I love reading such books by writers who tell the readers how a particular book was conceived and written. Such books give insights into the writing process. James A Michener too has written a similar book about his novel ‘Mexico’, but it is Mario Puzo’s ‘The Godfather Papers’ that I am looking for.
The last find of Sunday was the Jan-Feb 2008 issue of the men’s magazine titled ‘m’. I picked it up because I had picked up the latest issue of ‘Man’s World’, which is now only 'MW', at a book store. Sometime soon I will do a post comparing these two magazines.
The first find was Annie Proulx’s ‘Close Range: Wyoming Stories’, a book of short stories that I picked up from a heap of books selling for ten rupees. I just picked it up not bothering to look inside. I was surprised when I was leafing through the book later in the afternoon. It had eleven short stories and the last story was ‘Brokeback Mountain’ which was made into the award winning movie of the same name. I didn’t remember she had written the story until l read in the book.
The next find was a book I was looking for since a long time. The book was Namita Gokhale’s ‘Paro’. I had seen a copy earlier but it had the last pages missing but this was a good enough copy though faded a bit. I got it for only twenty rupees. I bought it since I hadn’t read anything written by an Indian writer since a long time. I had read a lot about this book and have already started reading it. Soon I will post a review of sorts here.
I have a weakness for books on writing and when I saw Irving Wallace’s ‘The Writing of One Novel’ I couldn’t resist picking it up though I already have a copy at home. I got this too from another heap of books selling for only ten rupees. The previous owner had covered it with a plastic jacket that kept the book in good shape though the pages seemed to be faded. I couldn’t decipher the signature of the previous on the first page but the date was 11-2-86! It was a twenty two year old book but in reasonably good shape.
‘The Writing of One Novel’ is all about how Irving Wallace came about to write his bestseller, ‘The Prize’. I love reading such books by writers who tell the readers how a particular book was conceived and written. Such books give insights into the writing process. James A Michener too has written a similar book about his novel ‘Mexico’, but it is Mario Puzo’s ‘The Godfather Papers’ that I am looking for.
The last find of Sunday was the Jan-Feb 2008 issue of the men’s magazine titled ‘m’. I picked it up because I had picked up the latest issue of ‘Man’s World’, which is now only 'MW', at a book store. Sometime soon I will do a post comparing these two magazines.
‘Paro’ is only 137 pages long and I might finish it in a couple of days and then do a review here
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