The Sunday Haul

I know I cannot trust myself to return from places like Abids empty handed, without at least one book in hand. The other Sunday I had resolved not to buy any more books at Abids for at least the time I manage to read about two dozen books. But last Sunday that resolve of mine crumbled when I chanced upon a book I that I had been on the lookout for. This book was on my ‘to read’ list and I was just waiting to save enough to pick a new copy someday at a bookstore. But when I saw a second hand copy at Abids I realized I could buy it at a fraction of its original cost. Somewhere at the back of my mind was another resolve of mine- not to buy used copies of books by the latest Indian writers and to buy only original, new copies at bookstores. But it was impossible to resist buying the second hand copy of Anjum Hasan’s first novel ‘Lunatic in My Head’ that was for sale at seventy five rupees. Anjum Hasan is one of the finest poets in the country and I’ve been following her work since a long time so finding the book was a lucky thing.

I’m waiting for next Sunday because it would be the first Sunday of the month which means that there will be ‘The Literary ‘Review’ supplement in The Hindu. There might be something about Philip Roth winning the Man Booker and the attendant controversy. I keep coming across Roth’s ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’ and ‘Goodbye Columbus’ at Abids in case anyone is interested. Though I have ‘Goodbye Columbus,’ I am yet to read it. Another piece of news that sort of made me glad was the one about the Naipaul-Theroux patch up that I read had happened last week. Both VS Naipaul and Paul Theroux are writers I enjoy reading so the spat between them was something which bothered me a bit. Also, this patch up could just be the excuse I need to read Theroux’s book ‘Sir Vidia’s Shadow’ which in a way contributed to the breakup between them. I had bought this book more than a couple of years ago and it sits on my bookshelf waiting for me to pick it up and start reading.

I was disappointed that Best Books have not held a sale of second hand books this summer which they otherwise do regularly. I wonder what the reasons could be. Maybe they couldn’t get space at YMCA, Secunderabad where they usually have their sale. Another grouse is that the program ‘Just Books’ hasn’t been telecast on NDTV Profit channel last week too and I wonder if they have decided to do away with the program altogether. It might not be the case but it sure hurts to learn that the television channels do not give as much importance to books as they do to other stuff.