The Sunday Haul (on 19-01-2020)

At around the time when my interest in writer’s memoirs and autobiographies was gradually rising I read about ‘The Performing Flea’ about PG Wodehouse. Needless to say I love Psmith, Jeeves, Bertie and all the other characters of Wodehouse. After I discovered Bill Bryson and Dave Barry I haven’t gone back to Wodehouse. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve read anything by Wodehouse and though I intend to read a Jeeves it was ‘The Performing Flea’ that I was longing to find. At last I found it at Abids last Sunday.

It was a tattered copy.The front cover was coming apart and the cover itself did not look too appealing but I bought it anyhow for a hundred rupees. I plan to start reading it one of these days.

The Sunday Haul (on 12-01-2020)

The second Sunday of the New Year turned out to be one that yielded a generous haul of books for me at Abids. I picked up five titles, four more than what I picked up the previous Sunday that happened to be the first Sunday of 2020. Though I always resolve to buy fewer books every new year I end up buying as usual- more than what I can read.

A long time back, at Abids, I came across a title that was intriguing-‘The Dressing Station’ by Jonathan Kaplan. It was an account by a surgeon of the time he travelled to many places including those where there were wars and conflicts. I had picked it up right away and also read it not long after. Somehow I lost track of the book though I think it is somewhere at home. Last Sunday I came across another copy of it but this was a hardcover copy and a first edition to boot. It was irresistible and in it went into my haul.

Some of the most commonly seen books anywhere are titles by RK Narayan. But I am on the lookout for older copies published in the 60’s and published by the same publishing house that RK Narayan started to publish his books. I saw a copy of ‘The Dark Room’ by R.K. Narayan with a striking cover with a lady’s face that I had not seen anywhere before. Inside I noticed that it was exactly sixty years ago in 1960 by Pearl Publications. I did not even think twice before picking up and adding it to my haul that was slowly growing.

My interest in knowing more about Indian literature featuring writings from other languages means I occasionally pick up titles in other languages that I know, that is Hindi and Telugu, and also books on literature in other languages. When I first saw a copy ‘Comparative Indian Literature-Volume I’ Chief Editor: K.M. George I was hesitant to buy it. For one thing it was a huge tome running into more than seven hundred pages. Another thing was the price which was five hundred rupees. But after flipping through the copy I bought it for three hundred rupees.

I don’t think anyone who reads thrillers would not know about Frederick Forsyth’s ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and other titles. I had read ‘The Day of the Jackal’ a long time ago and I still remember some of the scenes from the book especially the scene where the assassin misses his shot because de Gaulle bends down unexpectedly. It was so well written that I must have read the book about half a dozen times and I cannot ever forget Frederick Forsyth’s name.

Curiously, I did not know much about Frederick Forsyth nor did I make any effort to learn more about the writer. I was not even aware that Forsyth had written a memoir until I saw a copy of ‘The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue’ by Frederick Forsyth at Abids. I was lucky to find it because I almost gave up going across the road to look at the books a group of sellers spread out before the GPO.

The Haul on the first Sunday of 2020 (0n 05-01-2020)

It wasn’t even a week since I had picked up more than a dozen books at the Hyderabad Book Fair that ended on the first of January, and already I was eager for more books at the Abids book bazar on the first Sunday of 2020. In fact in 2019 I had bought a total of 222 books in all, and now I am wondering when I would find the time to read all the books I had bought so far all these years. I don’t even want to think about it.

I did not find any new title at Abids on this Sunday but I was lucky enough to find yet another copy of ‘All About H.Hatterr’ by G.V. Desani. I have five copies of this title including three copies with the same cover. I don’t understand why I am hoarding this title that I have found to be one of the best books I’ve read in my life. I got this copy for only hundred rupees.

The Book Fair Haul-3

Since the past few years I have been looking only into the stalls of the second hand book sellers at the Hyderabad Book Fair and finding enough titles to fill my book shelves. This year too at the 33rd Hyderabad National Book Fair I did the same in the first two visits and also the third and final visit. There are more than two dozen second hand book stalls in this year’s fair too and by the time I was done with all of them the book fair was over. On my third and final visit to the book fair a day before it ended I found four good titles.

William Trevor is one of my favourite writers and I have almost half a dozen of his titles, and some multiple copies of particular titles because I cannot resist them. At one second hand book stall at the fair I saw a copy of ‘The Love Department’ by William Trevor. It was a beautiful copy and though I haven’t yet another title by William Trevor that I had found recently I bought ‘The Love Department’ right away.

Sometime back I found the time to finish reading ‘Look at Me’ by Anita Brookner and loved the book. I decided to be on the lookout for ‘Hotel du Lac’ by Anita Brookner. But I found a nice copy of ‘The Bay of Angels’ by Anita Brookner at another stall and bought it. I don’t know when I will finally get around to reading it when I have dozens of book to be read.

I don’t want to miss anything by Joan Didion, and no one would. I found a copy of ‘A Book of Common Prayer’ by Joan Didion at a stall I don’t remember the name of and bought it.

The last find of the 33rd Hyderabad National Book Fair was a copy of‘The Eye of the Wind’ by Peter Scott. It was an autobiography and at first I mistook Peter Scott for Paul Scott. When I read that Peter Scott was a naturalist, adventurer etc I bought the book.

The Delhi Haul on 31-12-2019

In 2019 I had been to Delhi thrice on work and just when I was thinking I may not have to make another trip it turned out I had to spend the last two days of 2019 in Delhi. I reached Delhi on the 30th which was said to be one of the coldest days in the past 100 years but I did not find it that cold. The next day after completing my work which was meeting someone for just thirty minutes in an office close to CP I went to a second hand book seller- Anil Book Corner, to check if I can find anything interesting.

I found a copy of ‘The Love of a Good Woman’ by Alice Munro with the bottom half of the front cover torn off. But the torn cover and the fact that I had already bought something close to more than two hundred books during the year did not deter me from buying it.

The Book Fair Haul-2

The first visit to the 33rd Hyderabad Book Fair on the very first day yielded only four books but my second visit a few days later got me more than double in the haul. If the first visit was a hurried one rushing from one stall to another and grabbing whatever caught the eye the second visit was a more leisurely and deliberate one. I found these nine fantastic titles but I don’t remember the names of the stalls where I found them except that they were all stalls selling only second hand boooks.

A long time back I had found a copy of ‘Fires’ by Raymond Carver and if my memory serves me well it was at a similar book fair where I found it. On the second visit I found a copy of ‘Where I am Coming From’ by Raymond Carver that I got for a hundred rupees.

In the same stall I found a nice copy of ‘Reflections’ by Graham Greene. It is a collection of his essays.

A few years back I had seen a copy of ‘The Country of the Pointed Firs’ by Sarah Orne Jewett at Abids that I somehow did not pick up. The next time I went to look for it I couldn’t find it and I felt foolish for letting it go. However at the book fair I found it and got it for fifty rupees

I buy whatever travel books I come across and about a quarter of my collection of books are travel titles. One of these is by Eric Newby- ‘A Short Walk in the Hindukush’ which I liked very much . When I saw a copy of ‘A Merry Dance Around the World’ by Eric Newby I grabbed it. I was thrilled when I saw another title by him. I found a beautiful copy of ‘On the Shores of the Mediterranean’ by Eric Newby and bought it.

I had come across the name Otessa Moshfegh several times online and wondered if I would ever find anything written by that author. When I saw a copy of ‘Eileen’ by Otessa Moshfegh I did not think twice and bought it without even bothering to read the blurbs at the back.

Another classic that was missing from my shelves was ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh and when I saw a nice copy of it I bought it right away.

In one of the stalls set up by someone from Mumbai I spotted a copy of ‘A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali’ by Gil Courtemanche, and bought it after reading the blurbs on the back cover. Since it was a Penguin title I would have bought it anyway.

More than half of the second hand book stalls at the Book Fair were put up by those who are regular sellers at the Abids Sunday book bazaar. Almost all of them are known to me and when one of them asked me if I had found anything good in his stall I picked up a copy of ‘Modern Indian Short Stories’ just to please him. I already have a copy of this title and I do not understand why I did not pick up some other title.

The Haul at the 33rd Hyderabad National Book Fair

I have made it a habit of going to the annual Hyderabad book fair on the first day itself in the hope of picking up good books long before anyone could get to them. This year too I was there on the first day of the 33rd Hyderabad National Book Fair at the NTR Stadium on Monday evening. Most of the stalls were up and the shelves filled with books in the few second hand book stalls I visited. I could pick up only four titles and that left me quite relieved since I had expected to return home with more than a dozen books.

I have managed to find and read most of Graham Greene’s titles but there are a few titles I couldn’t find all these days. When I saw a nice copy of ‘The Tenth Man’ by Graham Greene at a second hand book stall put up by someone from Mumbai I bought it. I got it for hundred rupees. The prices this year are almost the same as they were last year. The crowd too was a good one.

The second title I found was a book set in Africa. I never miss buying any book on Africa so I when I saw a copy of ‘I Dreamed of Africa’ by Kuki Gallmann I decided to buy it. It was a Penguin title and was in quite good condition. This was slightly expensive at a hundred and fifty rupees.

The third title was an old copy of ‘Poetry and Experience’by Archibald MacLeish. Inside the pages I found a poem written a piece of paper by someone who was perhaps attempting to be a poet. I bought this book for a hundred rupees.

The last title was a wonderful find. I spotted a copy of ‘The Children of Dynemouth’ by William Trevor. It was an almost brand new copy and I got it for a hundred rupees. Inside the pages I found a British Rail ticket someone seems to have used as a bookmark.

The Sunday Haul (on 15-12-2019)

With the most awaited event of the year, the Hyderabad National Book Fair, not more than two weeks away, last Sunday I was wondering whether I should go to Abids and bring home more books. I told myself that the finding books at the Book Fair is one and finding books at Abids is another thing and thus convinced I went to Abids.

Since a long time I had been waiting to find books by Surendra Mohan Pathak, who, I’ve read, is one of the most prolific and bestselling novelist in Hindi. I had come across copies of his books translated into English but I did not buy them since I wanted to read the original ones in Hindi. Last Sunday I found two titles by him, both in Hindi. I picked up a nice copy of ‘Pyaada’ by Surendra Mohan Pathak and got it for thirty rupees. Though I can read Hindi, my second language in high school, I cannot understand some words. I have no idea what ‘Pyaada’ means but I hope to find the meaning after reading the book.

A couple of years ago I came across a copy of ‘The Burden of Democracy’ by Pratap Bhanu Mehta that I gave away to Umashankar. Last Sunday I found another copy that I immediately grabbed. I need not have been so hasty since I saw another copy of the same book. The book is something I need to read to understand the mystery that our democracy is.

The last find was a nice copy of ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark, a Penguin edition. I got it for only thirty rupees.
The friendly bookseller at Abids who gives me a free pass to the Hyderabad Book Fair every year gave me another one. Habeeb is the name and he sits in the Hollywood shoes lane with a small collection of books. Though I haven’t bought many books from him he makes it a point to give me that pass and his gesture fills me with gratitude.

The Sunday Haul (on 08-12-2019)

I have to confess here that sometimes I become nervous thinking about all the books I have with me. I am overwhelmed by the thought that I may not have the time to read all of them even if I live to be seventy or more. That is, if I do not buy any more books and read only those that I have managed to pick up. Last Sunday I had picked up seven books at Abids and this Sunday I managed to pick up only three, thank god.

Ever since I read ‘Stet’ by Diana Athill I’ve become a fan of her writing and managed to find a couple of her memoirs. At Abids last Sunday I found another title by her- Make Believe. It was a brand new copy with a plastic wrapping around it that I bought for two hundred rupees. Since it was a brand new copy and a Diana Athill title I did not mind paying so much for the book though I wonder how the book got there.

Though I am not much of a movie watcher some movie titles are such that one cannot forget them. One such movie title is ‘Midnight Cowboy’ that stayed in my mind all these years, and last Sunday I found the actual novel- ‘Midnight Cowboy’ by James Leo Herlihy. I spotted it in a heap and bought it though the cover and the spine weren’t in such a good condition. I got it for thirty rupees.

The next title was one I picked up on a hunch. It was a nice copy of ‘Murder as Usual’ by Hugh Pentecost published by Keyhole Crime. It appeared interesting so I bought it. I got this one too with the same seller where I bought ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and got it at thirty rupees.

Bookstore news: The Bests Books branch at YMCA, Secunderabad has been shut down. An eatery has come up in its place!

The Sunday Haul (on 01-12-2019)

The Sunday before last Sunday I missed the weekly hunt for books at Abids. There were some important guests coming over so I was ordered not to step out of the house that Sunday. But last Sunday I went to Abids and made for the Sunday before picking up six good titles. I came home with six books taking my haul of books so far this year to 196. There are still four Sundays to go before the year ends not to forget the Hyderabad Book Fair beginning a day before Christmas. It means at least another dozen books are likely to be added to the year’s haul that will cross the 200 figure again.

There’s a mix of reasons why I picked up ‘Khushwant Singh’s India; A Mirror for its Monsters and Monnstrosities’ by Khushwant Singh last Sunday at Abids. Firstly, I like to read analytical essays by intelligent observers. Secondly a curiosity to know how some problems have grown over the years in the country, and thirdly, I am attracted to books published in the country in the late sixties and early seventies. The last reason is a desire to know how Indian writers present the country and its problems to the Western reader. All these made me buy this title within moments of finding it with a seller who gave it to me for only thirty rupees.

The next book I found was of a similar vintage but a fiction title. I found a bound copy of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ that I did not look at closely when I first saw it. I already own a nice copy but something about the cover and the overall appearance of the book made me pick it up for a better look. My interest grew when I noticed that it was published by Prentice Hall in 1973. The font was one that almost universal in the country during that time which I found to be quaintly charming. What really made me buy it was the name of the person stamped on the front page. The name was- Syed Shahid Raza, Lieutenant 4112-Z, Indian Navy. The copy was from the American Library at USIS Calcutta. What a long journey that this copy of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ in my hands must have made over the years.

The next two finds were two cookbooks that I found one after the other though with different sellers. When I saw a decent copy of Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘A Taste of India’ in a pile of fifty-rupee books I couldn’t resist buying it though I already own a copy that I found quite recently.

The other cookbook was a beautifully preserved copy of ‘Classic Indian Cooking’ by Julie Sahni that I grabbed off the pavement the moment I spotted it. It was published first by ‘Grub Street’ London in 1997, and reprinted in 2008 in India. I got it for only seventy rupees though the book runs into nearly 450 pages and has some beautiful illustrations.

With the same seller I found two more wonderful titles. I had resolved to read all titles by Charles McCarry after I read his ‘Tears of Autumn’ that I had picked up on a hunch some years ago. Over time I found his other titles like ‘Second Sight’, ‘The Better Angels,’ ‘The Miernik Dossier,’ and ‘The Last Supper.’ So last Sunday when I saw a nice copy of ‘The Secret Lovers’ by Charles McCarry I was pleased with myself.

The other titles was a hardcover book with a jacket and appeared like a library copy. It is only a few years for my retirement, less than five years in fact. Naturally, thoughts of retirement have replaced other thoughts in my mind and the foremost thought is what I should do after retiring. The things I could do after my retirement range from finally beginning to write seriously to going back to the small town where I was born to live a quiet life with my collection of books. Of course, there are always new things getting added frequently- travelling, living on a farm, learning something that would keep me occupied and so on. So when I spotted a book with the title ‘taking retirement- a beginner’s diary’ in small letters I was curious about it. The author was Carl H. Klaus who, I read on the inside of the back cover, was the founder of the non-fiction writing program at Iowa University. I needed no other reason to buy it. This book I will certainly read before I retire.

The last title was a children’s book. I picked it up because it looked like something good. It was a copy of ‘Wandy and the Bumbly Wizard’ by James Flora who also illustrated the book.