The Sunday Haul

The last time I saw it I did not buy it. The excuse I gave to myself was that since I had already watched the movie ‘No Country for Old Men’ I needn’t buy the book. On hindsight it was another of those decisions which I later decided can only be called as absolutely stupid. That Sunday and the rest of the weeks until last Sunday I felt horrible for missing buying Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men’ . But since I am very lucky when it comes to books it turned up again at Abids last Sunday. This time I did not think twice about buying it but only after a brief bargain which I have learnt to do more out of habit than anything. The result was that I got the book for just seventy five rupees. The find put me in a good frame of mind despite the fact that I had to go to office later in the day.

I was glad I had bought the book because of the fantastic reviews I read on the back cover and the inside pages. One particular review in ‘Scotland on Sunday’ said ‘Even the spare best of Elmore Leonard would have trouble beating this neo-Western in a foot race…’ This alone is making me restless to begin reading the book right away. However, since I have four books that I have to finish reading before I begin a new book I plan to begin reading it as soon as I finish them. I also plan to keep an eye out for his other books especially ‘Suttree’ and ‘Blood Meridian’ that I am sure I will find it at Abids someday soon.

The previous Sunday I had decided not to buy the copy of Balraj Khanna’s ‘Nation of Fools’ that wasn’t the original Penguin edition. The copy I had seen was by Tara Press published in 2004 and it did not appeal to me. But I had also decided that I would buy the book if I found it at Abids the next Sunday. So last Sunday I saw the book again and bought it. I already have Balraj Khanna’s second book ‘Sweet Chillies’ that I want desperately want to read after I read a few paragraphs in it. But I will read it after I read ‘Nation of Fools’ first. BOOK FAIR NEWS The 27th Hyderabad Book Fair opens today (Friday) and I cannot wait for it to be evening to go there and browse. Like always I plan to drop in on the first day itself though not many stalls would be open. I want to be an early bird and pick up as many good second hand books I can get in the stalls of those sellers who come from other cities. It is a matter of only a few hours now before I rush there. Surprisingly I never come across my other book loving friends at the Book Fair. But I wonder what new things the organizers think up this year. The sale is on for more than ten days and I plan to drop in at least three times or more if my wallet permits me. Sometime on Sunday I saw an ad for a circulating library ‘JustBooks’ that seems to have about half a dozen branches in Hyderabad though there isn’t a branch near enough for me to check it out. It is wonderful to learn about such a thing when all around the existing libraries are on the verge of extinction or have become extinct. Odd that there's already a television program on books with just that name 'Just Books' that I am missing watching because of work even on holidays.