The Sunday Haul (on 21-08-2022)

 Unlike the previous Sunday it was bright and sunny last Sunday when I set out for Abids a bit earlier than usual. I had to go somewhere on work so I planned to do the Abids routine and leave early. The previous Sunday it had rained almost all day and therefore I could not go to Abids but managed to get a book at Chikkadpally. I found a copy of Alice McDermott’s ‘Charming Billy’ for just fifty rupees.

So last Sunday I ended up finding two good titles. The first one I found was a nice copy of ‘They Came Like Swallows’ by William Maxwell that I already have. This is my third copy I think. I bought it because I was getting it cheap and besides William Maxwell is a writer I would like others to know about.

The second title was a copy of ‘To a Dubious Salvation’ by Etienne Leroux, a Penguin Modern Classics title. It has a stunningly stark cover that got my attentions right away. Inside I saw that it was a trilogy – Seven Days at the Silbersteins, One for the Devil, The Third Eye- translated from the Afrikaans into English. I got this for two hundred rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 07-08-2022)

 It looks like the heavy rains aren’t going to leave Telangana any time now. Last Sunday it was cloudy with the sort of dark clouds portending heavy rains covering the sky in Hyderabad. However, it did not rain while I was out browsing the books at Abids. I hadn’t seen anything interesting and had also not found the titles I had seen the previous Sunday. It was then that I spotted a book at the bottom of a pile with the title ‘Haydn and the Valve Trumpet’ by Craig Raine. It seemed like a fiction title and I almost did not take it out until I saw Picador was the publisher. I took it out of the pile and saw ‘Literary Essays’ on the cover. I did not have to think twice before deciding to buy it though part of the title was torn off.

I have not heard of Craig Raine so far so I was pretty intrigued when I read that he is a literary critic. I was pleased I found this title because it has sixty seven essays on various writers, poets, and books. I got the book for just eighty rupees. After finding this title I did not bother to look at anything else, and besides it began to drizzle so I hurried home with my single haul.

The Sunday Haul (on 31-07-2022)

The Blog Completes 15 years.

Last Sunday it was again a bit cloudy foreboding rain sometime during the day. However it did not rain while I was in Abids on Sunday morning. I had left behind some titles that I told myself I would pick up this Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the copy of Vita Sackville West’s ‘St Joan of Arc’ and also ‘Goodbye to All That’ by Robert Graves that I had seen the previous Sunday. I was disappointed but didn’t give up hope because I know they would surface again later. However with the same seller I found a nice title by a writer whose name I remember well. I found a copy of ‘The Sympathizer’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen. While looking at the book I tried to recollect the title that became a bestseller sometime back but was not successful. But after I saw the praise for this title I picked it up though I had to pay two hundred rupees.

The previous Sunday I had seen a bunch of Orient Longman’s ‘Literature in Translation’ titles from which I had picked up only one and left behind the rest. I regretted not buying them all and so last Sunday I started for home eagerly hoping to find the titles I had not bought. Luckily no one had even looked at them. I looked at all of them carefully and chose five titles that I wanted. I got them all for three hundred rupees. 

The first title in the pile was a book by Mannu Bhandari. Only recently I had read about Mannu Bhandari somewhere so when I saw the copy of ‘The Great Feast’ by Mannu Bhandari I picked up. It was a Hindi novel originally titled ‘Mahabhoj” that was translated from Hindi by Ruth Vanita.

The second title was a copy of ‘Shock Therapy’ by Subodh Ghose. This is a collection of eighteen short stories written by Subodh Ghose in  Bengali that were translated into English by various people.  

The third title was a slim book with ‘The Long Long Days’ by P.M. Nityanandan on a colourful cover. It is a novel in Malayalam and translated into English by the author himself. Nityanandan seemed to be an interesting person. He is a Mechanical Engineer, started a company with others that manufactured gears and was also Chairman of Gears Committee of the BIS. He also wrote, was a keen flautist, also composed and performed in many concerts. Plus he was a Francophile, had lived in France and was on the board of the Alliance Francaise in Madras. I wish I could learn more about this multifaceted writer. 

The fourth title in the pile was a beautiful copy ‘The Touch-me-not Girl’ by Rajlukshmee Debee, a translation of a Bengali novel into English by the author herself. 

The fifth title was another collection of short stories title ‘Anaro & Other Stories’ by Manjul Bhagat.  Again these Hindi stories have been translated into English by the author. It has seven stories- Anaro, The Sunshine Cone, The Release, Kahari, The Secret Laughter, Bebeji, and Bano.  I have never heard of these titles or the writers but I am glad I got them all together at one place.