I couldn't go to Abids as usual on Sunday in the morning because I had to attend an election related training. But I could go up to Chikkadpally where I found a title by an African author I hadn't heard about before. 'The God Who Begat a Jackal' by Nega Mezlekia that I got for a hundred rupees.
After 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz' that I couldn't finish this is the second Mordecai Richler title that I found last Sunday at Abids. It is a collection of essays that I got for fifty rupees.
The Diwali shopping buzz has begun and so all the shops in Abids were open. Only a few of the second-hand booksellers had shifted from their regular spots so I did not feel much of a difference in my usual Sunday hunt for books at Abids. However, I did not feel like buying every book that I saw because at home the books are taking over every available spot spacious enough to keep a book. I ended up buying just two titles last Sunday at Abids.
A long time back I had found a copy of ‘The Savage Detectives’ by Roberto Bolano that I did not find the time to read and somehow I gave it away to someone without realizing I was giving it away. Later when I read about the book somewhere and searched for my copy I couldn’t find it and belatedly realized that I had foolishly given it away. Luckily sometime later I found another copy that again I haven’t had the time to read. So while the copy of ‘The Savage Detectives’ by Roberto Bolano is still lying somewhere on my bookshelf unread I found a copy of ‘Distant Star’ by Roberto Bolano last Sunday at Abids. I got it for just fifty rupees and have begun reading it since it is quite slim and can be finished in a day.
I do not have to mention it again that I love travel titles especially those that are about the traveler living in another country and writing about the people, life and other things in that country that the writer has chosen to call it his home.
I did not buy the copy of ‘Italian Neighbours’ by Tim Parks that I saw at Abids last Sunday just like that. I had read ‘Teach Us to Sit Still’ by Tim Parks a couple of years ago and was very impressed by what he wrote about a delicate problem that he had and how he went through that using meditation and other ways. I found a nice copy of ‘Italian Neighbours’ that I got for a hundred rupees.
As someone who likes to read a lot I make it a point not to miss reading each and every piece in the ‘magazine’ of The Hindu on Sunday. Last Sunday while reading the articles in ‘the open page’ of the ‘magazine’ I came across a very interesting item titled ‘On a Literary Trail in the U.K.’ by one Sebastian Valiakala, a major Sebastian Faulks fan. I was amazed to read that he had made a 20-week ‘bibliotour’ across England, Scotland, and Ireland and wrote about coming across titles by Sebastian Faulks on his trip. I wondered how passionate a book lover Mr. Sebastian Valiakal was to have made a 20-week ‘bibliotour’ across the U.K. In a strange coincidence a few hours after reading this wonderful piece I found a copy of ‘A Week in December’ by Sebastian Faulks in a heap of Rs.100 books. I picked it up since I had not read anything by Sebastian Faulks so far.
The next find was a copy of ‘Sacred Virgin: Travels across the Narmada’ by Royina Grewal that I got for a hundred and fifty rupees. It was a title that I do not remember reading about anywhere so I was pretty thrilled to find another Indian travel title. Another reason for picking it up was that it was a Penguin title and they never disappoint me.
Funnily enough the next find at Abids was another travel title- ‘The Golden Peak: Travels in Northern Pakistan’ by Kathleen Jamie, yet another Penguin title that I picked up for a hundred rupees. I haven’t read may accounts of journeys in Pakistan, and I hope this title fill the gap in my reading about Pakistan.
Then I found a copy of ‘Bombay Time’ by Thrity Umrigar, a writer I had read about somewhere and had actually seen a book by her a long time back that I did not pick up. But when I read on the inside pages that it was her debut novel and a Picador title I decided to buy it. I got this book too for a hundred rupees.
Any book with the words ‘Books’ and ‘Bookstore’ instantly grabs my attention and I end up buying such books without a moment’s hesitation. When I saw a copy of ‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore’ by Robin Sloan that had a zany and attractive cover I bought it right away not bothering to find out whether it was fiction or non-fiction or even if it was any good. But after I noticed that it was an Atlantic Books title and a work of fiction I felt convinced that it would be a good read. I got this for only sixty rupees.
I also picked up two titles- ‘The Kingdom of Blue Skies’ by Mayakshi Chattopadhyaya and
‘Like Fishes in the Ocean’ by Gita Iyengar about which I want to write sometime later in another post.
