The Sunday Haul- Two Books, One Mag, and a Cop

One of the many but rare joy of browsing through the second hand book bazaar at Abids is finding books by new authors. I chanced upon one such book last Sunday at Abids. The book was a collection of short stories and titled ‘A Place I’ve Never Been’ by David Leavitt. I faintly remember coming across the name ‘David Leavitt’ somewhere but am not able to recollect where. Anyway, the reason I picked the book up was that it was a Penguin imprint. Another reason was the blurb by the New York Times at the back which said that Leavitt was ‘one of his generation’s most gifted writers’ which made me take it without a second thought. It turned out to be quite a good book judging from the first story which I read later in the day.

The second book of the day was one which I had been coming across at second hand book sales quite often. Though it was a book on writing I had not bought it because of the steep price and also the archaic language in it. The book was Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s ‘On the Art of Writing’ which I got for only twenty rupees at Abids last Sunday. The book was first published in 1915 and the style is of that age, which is a bit difficult to read fast. The book is actually made of a series of lectures that the author delivered and one of the lectures is ‘The Practice of Writing’ which I want to read first.

The other find of the day was a high-brow magazine on the lines of Vanity Fair and New Yorker. It was also the first time I came across this magazine at Abids. I found almost the latest issue (Feb 8 2010) of ‘Newstatesman’ for only ten rupees. It has an interesting section called The Critics which had an interview with a literary critic Frank Kermode in which I discovered that he had written a book of essays titled ‘Bury Place Papers’ which would be interesting to read if I ever came across it. There is also another interview with Clive James who wrote ‘Unreliable Memoirs’ which I frequently come across at Abids. Next time I find it I am going to buy the book.

Last week there was a top cop in mufti browsing through the books on the pavement at Abids. This week too there was another cop but this time it was someone unexpected. It was a top cop, a lady IPS officer who I did not expect to see at Abids because only the previous month I had seen her at Landmark at Somajiguda. One could tell she had picked up quite a handful of books because following her was a safari clad assistant holding the books in his arms. It feels nice to see those in top posts not minding it a bit to be seen buying books on the pavements.

One advantage of going with a friend to Abids is that I can get to talk about books. Umashankar was with me last Sunday and we sat in ‘Light of Asia’ and talked about Kafka, books and our pathetic writing lives over a couple of cups of Irani chai. On days when I buy books and also get to talk with a writer friend about writing I somehow feel understood.