It was another cloudy Sunday in Hyderabad the sort of weather that makes one feel gloomy. It was how I felt when I left for Abids from home after breakfast praying I would not be tempted to find more than two titles. Surprisingly, I found only two titles that I brought home.
The first title was a copy of a book I already have but don’t know where it is lying at home. So when I saw a good copy of ‘Ten Novels and their Authors’ by Somerset Maugham I picked it up. It is a great book in which Maugham writes extensively and deeply about classic novels like ‘Tom Jones’ by Henry Fielding, ‘Pride Prejudice’ by Jane Austen, and other titles as well as about their authors. Reading it was a lesson in writing. I got this book for just fifty rupees.
The second title I found at one of the sellers in Chikkadpally on the way home. I saw a nice copy of ‘South African Dispatches’ by Donald Woods, a Penguin title that had a foreword by Alan Paton author of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ a classic. ‘South African Dispatches’ is a collection of columns by Donald Woods published in Daily Dispatch of which he was the editor. This book too I got for fifty rupees.
At the same seller I saw a copy of ‘The Closing of the American Mind’ by Allan Bloom that I had read about on X just days ago. However, I did not buy it and now I am regretting not buying it. I will be in Bengaluru next Sunday and I hope it would still be available by the time I return and go to Chikkadpally the following Sunday.
