The Sunday Haul (on 24-05-2026)

 Though the weather forecast was for a hot day on Sunday it turned out to be a cloudy morning with diffused sunlight. As usual I set off for Abids halting first at Chikkadpally where I found a copy of a book I already have. I spotted a nice copy of 'A Flowering Tree' by A.K. Ramanujan and hesitated for a few minutes whether to pick a second copy of a title already on my shelves. Finally I decided to buy it and got it for a hundred rupees. 

Onwards to Abids where only one friend turned up. Before meeting him I spotted a copy of 'Entry from Backside Only' by Binoo K. John in a heap of books selling for fifty rupees only. I had read a lot about this title and had also seen many copies earlier but picked it up this time.

Later I sat in Star of India and over a cup of chai and Osmania Biscuits had a long chat with my friend about film scripts, and other things include the Telugu novel- Neela- that he told me won a prize from TANA. He told me about the TANA prizes and also added that he had 32 of the 35 novels that TANA had been awarded since a long time. I wish I could read Telugu as well as I read English. 

Next find was another title that I already have. I saw a nice copy of 'The Underground Man' by Ross Macdonald in a wide spread of books laid out on the pavement in a lane. I bought this second copy without much hesitation for fifty rupees only.

The next find was a copy of 'The Skeleton and That Man' that had an eye-catching cover. This was published by Sterling Publishers and since I have alread read a few Amrita Pritam titles I bought this title too. Though a slim book I had to shell out a hundred rupees for it.

The last find was a terrific title, something I had wanted to read. I had read about a few literary critics like but couldn't find anything by them anywhere. The copy of 'Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: A Reader' edited by David Lodge was a thick tome running into almost seven hundred pages with essays by fifty writers and critics like Frank Kermode, Henry James,Lionel Trilling, Edmund Wilson, and many other writers including Roland Barthes, Susan Sontag, Paul Valery. I had been searching for something by William Empson and there is an essay by him in this title. I was surprised why Cyril Connolly was not included. Whatever, this promises to be a feast of criticism.