The Sunday Haul (on 17-12-2023)

After the accident though there is a minor change in my manner of reaching Abids on Sunday mornings there is no change in what I am finding at Abids. I continue to find good books at Abids every Sunday, and last Sunday too I found four wonderful titles. 

The first title I spotted was a copy of ‘The Writer and the World’ a collection of essays by the venerable V.S. Naipaul. I do not remember if I have this title or not but I couldn’t let go of such a fine copy and therefore I bought it. I got it for two hundred rupees which is a bit high. But what the heck, I’d pay anything for a good title.

Another title that I remember having bought earlier was ‘The Granta Book of India’ the copy of which stared back at me from the pavement and before I could try to remember clearly I picked it up. This title I got for hundred rupees.

Another find was a beautiful hardcover title ’Signs and Images’ by Roland Barthes and I grabbed it at lightning speed though there was no one around who would have snatched it. This is my second Roland Barthes title having found the first title ages ago and which I am yet to read. This title I got for just eighty rupees.

The last title I found was one I clearly remember having several copies of and which I’d buy any number of copies that I came across. It was almost by accident that I spotted the distinctive red cover of ‘Ex-Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader’ by Anne Fadiman, and I felt a strange thrill at having found yet another copy of this wonderful book that every bibliophile ought to have on their bookshelf. I couldn’t believe it when the seller asked just thirty rupees for this slim book.