The Sunday Haul (on 09-10-2022)

 

Last Sunday turned out to be a bit special. My son agreed to come along with me to Abids. So off we went to Abids after breakfast on a sunny and bright Sunday morning. Though he did not buy any books I bought two titles.

I spotted an ancient looking book, a hardcover with a plastic cover with a seller. It was a copy of ‘The Man Died’ by Wole Soyinka. Though the pages inside were intact and in good condition the cover on the spine was damaged but it did not matter to me since I wanted to read what was inside so I bought it. It is an account of Wole Soyinka’s time in a jail in Nigeria.

On Saturday in a second hand book store I had found a small book, about half the size of a postcard. Last Sunday at Abids I found a similar sized book that was a copy of ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ TED talk that Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie gave. I got this small book of not more than fifty pages for fifty rupees. I have a few such books that I had picked up over the years. 

Afterwards we picked up biryani at Grand Hotel behind the GPO in Abids and took it home to have for lunch. 

The Sunday Haul (on 02.10.2022)

 Last Sunday at Abids was an absolute delight finding five great titles though the festival had made the shopkeepers open their shops which meant the second hand booksellers had to shift to other spots. But only a few of them had to do it and many other second hand booksellers were at their usual places. A few minutes into the market I saw a table with Rs 50 only written on a board and felt drawn to it. On the table I found a copy of an early edition of ‘The Snow Leopard’ by Peter Matthiessen. The first copy ot this title I had picked up more than two decades ago was of the same edition. Though I have two copies already I couldn’t resist buying this copy too so in it went into my haul.

On the same table was a beautiful and almost brand new copy of ‘Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind’ by Shunryu Suzuki, another title I had found long back. I couldn’t walk away without buying it so I picked it up. I felt it was a great start to the Sunday browsing at Abids and hurried to other sellers hoping to find more good titles.

Another few minutes and I found a beautiful, original copy of ‘Maximum City’ by Suketu Mehta, a title that I had been looking for since a long time. I think this is the original edition but I am not sure. Anyway I was quite thrilled to find it since I wanted to read it. I got it for just hundred rupees which was an unbelievable price to pay for such a good book in a nice condition.

With the same seller was another title- ‘Red April’ by Santiago Roncagliolo that intrigued me. On the cover it was mentioned that it was translated by Edith Grossman, translator of books of famous Latin American writers. Apart from the translator’s name I also discovered that it was published by Atlantic Books so I felt it could be a good book though I had not heard of Santiago Roncagliolo until last Sunday. I got this book too for only a hundred rupees.

Wherever I am I am always on the lookout for travel titles especially those by Jan Morris and Dervla Murphy whose ‘Full Tilt’ I have been unable to find. But last Sunday I found another title by her, ‘Where the Indus is Young’ by Dervla Murphy. I felt very excited when I spotted it on a shelf with a seller who asks for very high prices. So I waited with bated breath while he checked the book after I handed it to him to tell me the price. I breathed a sigh of relief when he asked hundred rupees for it. It was quite cheap at that price.

The Sunday Haul (on 25.09.2022)

The Sunday before last Sunday too I had made a good haul at Abids but I couldn’t write the post because I was very busy at work and did not get the time to sit and type it out. Since today and tomorrow are Dasara holidays for us I am writing the two posts at one go. It was a normal day on Sunday so there was no rain and I was at Abids at my usual time.

The first title I saw was a beautiful copy of ‘interesting times in India’ by Daniel O’ Connor with a seller who, to my surprise, gave it to me at the price I asked him. O’Connor taught at St Stephen’s College in Delhi for a decade and this book is a kind of memoir about that period. I got this book for eighty rupees.

 Actually I wasn’t prepared to find anything good more so anything by Javier Marias whose ‘Infatuations’ I had found a couple of weeks before, and had also finished reading just a few days before Sunday. So I very surprise when I saw a copy of ‘Between Eternities & Other Writings’ by Javier Marias with the same seller from whom I had bought ‘Infatuations’ sometime last month. I was quite excited when I read on the cover that it was a book of his non-fiction writing. I paid hundred rupees for it as it was in a pile of books selling for Rs 100 each.

In the same pile I also unearthed a copy of ‘Time after Time’ by Molly Keane with a wonderful cover. This too was for hundred rupees. I bought it since I saw that it was published by 'Abacus' and had a great blurb on the cover. 

The last title I found was a nice copy of ‘Walking with the Comrades’ by Arundhati Roy that I got for fifty rupees only. It is a short book of not more than a hundred and fifty pages so I want to finish reading it in one sitting sometime soon.

The Sunday Haul (on 18-09-2022)

 After the previous Sunday’s disappointment at not having been to the second hand book market at Abids due to continuous rain I was counting the days to the next Sunday, i.e., last Sunday. The weather was clear and sunny when I started for Abids after breakfast, and managed to find some really good titles in the hour and half that I was at Abids.

Since a long time I’ve been looking for books by Krishna Sobti especially her ‘Zindaginama’ that I found with a seller on WA last December. Last Sunday I found a hardcover copy of ‘Listen Girl’ by Krishna Sobti, the English translation of her ‘Ai Ladki’ that I had read about many time in several places. Translated by Shivanath and published by Katha ‘Listen Girl’s is a little over a hundred pages, just right to finish in a single sitting that I plan to read only after I finish reading ‘Zindaginama’ that is somewhere on one of the shelves at home.  

Then with the same seller I found a book that was by title Penguin that I automatically buy. It was a copy of ‘Ennal’s Point’ by Alun Richards, a writer I had never heard of before. However it seemed interesting as it was described as a ‘vivid and moving story about lifeboats and the men who sail in them’ on the back cover.

In the same pile of books I saw another title by an author I had again never heard of. It had an attractive cover and the title was ‘Saturday Night at the Greyhound’ by John Hampson. The reason why I picked it was that on the cover it also said ‘Hogarth Fiction’ published by Hogarth Press. On the back cover was a blurb by Graham Greene- ‘A Book I greatly admire’ which convinced me that it could indeed be a good read. I got these three books for only hundred rupees. 

Just before I decided to have a cup of tea in the local Irani I saw a nice copy of ‘Right of Passage: Travels from Brooklyn  to Bali’ by Rahul Jacob. It was a collection of travel essays by Rahul Jacob, and since I love travel titles I decided to buy it. I had seen the book earlier too but somehow I did not buy it then.

Even though I do not read sci-fi I couldn’t resist picking up the copy of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick that I saw. I messaged a friend who loves sci-fi if he wanted it but he messaged back saying he had a copy of it. So I bought it for eighty rupees.

A Recent Haul

Not only do I buy books at Abids and second hand bookstores in Hyderabad, I also buy them on WhatsApp groups of a couple of second hand booksellers based in different cities in the country. Last week I had claimed two wonderful travel titles that I wanted to post here since I couldn’t go to Abids on Sunday because it was raining quite heavily all day in Hyderabad.

The first title I had claimed was a nice hardcover copy of ‘The Penguin book of Indian Journeys’ edited by Dom Moraes who has also written the introduction. It is a collection of travel essays by many travel writers such as Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Salman Rushdie, VS Naipaul, Mark Tully, Charlie Pye Smith, James Cameron and many others on various places and journeys within India. Some of these essays I have read elsewhere.

The other title was a nice copy, hardcover again, of ‘Out of God’s Oven’ by Dom Moraes and Sarayu Srivatsa that is described as ‘a revelatory blend of memoir, travelogue and reportage’ of the travels of the authors in India during a time when momentous events took place that shook the country’s conscience and took it in a dangerous direction, perhaps never to be the same again. Somehow I want to read this book right away without losing much time.

The Sunday Haul (on 04-09-2022)

I really do not understand how I missed knowing about this book that was published in 2010, more than a decade ago. I try to learn about books on book and the ‘The Possessed’ by Elif Batuman is one such title. On the cover it says ‘Adventures with Russian books and the people who read them’ which should have alerted me. I guess I haven’t seen this title at Abids or anywhere. But even if I have found it a decade after it was published I don’t mind. On Sunday I saw this book in a pile of Rs 100 books and I was glad I took my time to check out each and every book that looked interesting.

About a few months ago I had read about Stefan Zweig somewhere online and the name stuck in my mind. So last Sunday when I saw a copy of ‘Beware of Pity’ by Stefan Zweig I bought it though I have never read anything by Zweig till then. One reason why I bought it was the attractive cover and the other than it was a Penguin title that I always trust. I got this book for sixty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 28-08-2022)

It turned out to be a sunny and bright Sunday morning as I left for Abids to look for books. My heart is full of eager anticipation as I head out to Abids. Every Sunday I manage to find good titles and last Sunday too I found four good ones.

The first title I found was a Penguin title. I spotted a nice copy of ‘Rocking the Babies’ by Linda Raymond and checked to see what it was about. It was an unusual story about two different women who end up caring for infants in a neonatal ICU and bond with each other after some initial mistrust. I wanted to read it right away because it was an unusual story. I got it for eighty rupees.

The next two finds were with the same seller and these were titles I already have. I picked up the two nice copies of ‘The Heart of the Matter’ by Graham Greene and ‘The Quiet American’ by Graham Greene for just thirty rupees each. The seller also had a copy of Greene’s ‘Travels with My Aunt’ which also I have but did not buy. Maybe next Sunday I might pick it up if I see it.

I have developed a thing for books especially memoirs by editors and publishers and have managed to collect a small pile of such books. So last Sunday when I saw a hardcover copy of ‘My Mistake’ by Daniel Menaker I really was not keen on picking it up and seeing what it was. However curiosity got the better of me and when I read on the back cover that Daniel Menaker had been an editor with The New Yorker I bought it without a second thought though I have never heard of Daniel Menaker. It was a lucky find and I am pleased with myself for having bothered to check out the back page or I would have missed this wonderful memoir.

The Sunday Haul (on 21-08-2022)

 Unlike the previous Sunday it was bright and sunny last Sunday when I set out for Abids a bit earlier than usual. I had to go somewhere on work so I planned to do the Abids routine and leave early. The previous Sunday it had rained almost all day and therefore I could not go to Abids but managed to get a book at Chikkadpally. I found a copy of Alice McDermott’s ‘Charming Billy’ for just fifty rupees.

So last Sunday I ended up finding two good titles. The first one I found was a nice copy of ‘They Came Like Swallows’ by William Maxwell that I already have. This is my third copy I think. I bought it because I was getting it cheap and besides William Maxwell is a writer I would like others to know about.

The second title was a copy of ‘To a Dubious Salvation’ by Etienne Leroux, a Penguin Modern Classics title. It has a stunningly stark cover that got my attentions right away. Inside I saw that it was a trilogy – Seven Days at the Silbersteins, One for the Devil, The Third Eye- translated from the Afrikaans into English. I got this for two hundred rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 07-08-2022)

 It looks like the heavy rains aren’t going to leave Telangana any time now. Last Sunday it was cloudy with the sort of dark clouds portending heavy rains covering the sky in Hyderabad. However, it did not rain while I was out browsing the books at Abids. I hadn’t seen anything interesting and had also not found the titles I had seen the previous Sunday. It was then that I spotted a book at the bottom of a pile with the title ‘Haydn and the Valve Trumpet’ by Craig Raine. It seemed like a fiction title and I almost did not take it out until I saw Picador was the publisher. I took it out of the pile and saw ‘Literary Essays’ on the cover. I did not have to think twice before deciding to buy it though part of the title was torn off.

I have not heard of Craig Raine so far so I was pretty intrigued when I read that he is a literary critic. I was pleased I found this title because it has sixty seven essays on various writers, poets, and books. I got the book for just eighty rupees. After finding this title I did not bother to look at anything else, and besides it began to drizzle so I hurried home with my single haul.

The Sunday Haul (on 31-07-2022)

The Blog Completes 15 years.

Last Sunday it was again a bit cloudy foreboding rain sometime during the day. However it did not rain while I was in Abids on Sunday morning. I had left behind some titles that I told myself I would pick up this Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the copy of Vita Sackville West’s ‘St Joan of Arc’ and also ‘Goodbye to All That’ by Robert Graves that I had seen the previous Sunday. I was disappointed but didn’t give up hope because I know they would surface again later. However with the same seller I found a nice title by a writer whose name I remember well. I found a copy of ‘The Sympathizer’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen. While looking at the book I tried to recollect the title that became a bestseller sometime back but was not successful. But after I saw the praise for this title I picked it up though I had to pay two hundred rupees.

The previous Sunday I had seen a bunch of Orient Longman’s ‘Literature in Translation’ titles from which I had picked up only one and left behind the rest. I regretted not buying them all and so last Sunday I started for home eagerly hoping to find the titles I had not bought. Luckily no one had even looked at them. I looked at all of them carefully and chose five titles that I wanted. I got them all for three hundred rupees. 

The first title in the pile was a book by Mannu Bhandari. Only recently I had read about Mannu Bhandari somewhere so when I saw the copy of ‘The Great Feast’ by Mannu Bhandari I picked up. It was a Hindi novel originally titled ‘Mahabhoj” that was translated from Hindi by Ruth Vanita.

The second title was a copy of ‘Shock Therapy’ by Subodh Ghose. This is a collection of eighteen short stories written by Subodh Ghose in  Bengali that were translated into English by various people.  

The third title was a slim book with ‘The Long Long Days’ by P.M. Nityanandan on a colourful cover. It is a novel in Malayalam and translated into English by the author himself. Nityanandan seemed to be an interesting person. He is a Mechanical Engineer, started a company with others that manufactured gears and was also Chairman of Gears Committee of the BIS. He also wrote, was a keen flautist, also composed and performed in many concerts. Plus he was a Francophile, had lived in France and was on the board of the Alliance Francaise in Madras. I wish I could learn more about this multifaceted writer. 

The fourth title in the pile was a beautiful copy ‘The Touch-me-not Girl’ by Rajlukshmee Debee, a translation of a Bengali novel into English by the author herself. 

The fifth title was another collection of short stories title ‘Anaro & Other Stories’ by Manjul Bhagat.  Again these Hindi stories have been translated into English by the author. It has seven stories- Anaro, The Sunshine Cone, The Release, Kahari, The Secret Laughter, Bebeji, and Bano.  I have never heard of these titles or the writers but I am glad I got them all together at one place.