Not a Sunday Haul

 Last Sunday I couldn't make it to Abids to look for books as I was not well. I wanted to rest and take it easy though it wasn't possible because I was wondering what titles I would have found had I been to Abids. My Sunday feels incomplete without a visit to Abids. However, I compensate for that by either visiting a bookstore or buying books on a few WhatsApp groups of sellers of second hand books. They have regular sales where they post pictures of the covers and whoever claims the book first gets it. These are some of the titles I managed to claim and get in such sales in the past couple of weeks. 

I love William Trevor's writing and I got this title in the post only yesterday. It is a novella of about 70 pages. I am looking forward to read it sometime this week. 

Another title I had heard about and was looking forward to find was a copy of this monster of a book with 1007 pages. 'Funeral Nights' by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih. I need at least a month to finish reading this title. 

Sometime last week I claimed and got Pico Iyer's 'The Art of Stillness' that I had noted down in my 'to buy and read' list. I had not expected to find it so soon but here it is. It is a collection of essays. 

I first read about Wislawa Szymborska in a poet's post on FB a long time back, and ever since I have been looking for a title by this poet. When I saw this title posted on a WA group I jumped to claim it first. Funnily enough, just as no one had claimed William Trevor's 'Nights at Alexandra' Szymborska had no claimants! 

The Sunday Haul (05-06-2022)

Last Sunday again it was a sort of heat wave condition making it very hot outdoors. Though it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer it was hot enough for me to take along a cap and a water bottle. Surprisingly, the heat had not deterred the book lovers because there was the usual crowd at Abids looking over the books laid out on the pavements. I ended up buying three good titles at Abids and also at Chikkadpally on the way home.

Of late I have become interested in books about other countries, especially those travelogues with a geo-political angle and so far I have managed to gather quite a few titles on many major countries and regions. This includes China too and last Sunday at Abids I finally bought a copy of ‘The China Syndrome’ by Harsh V. Pant that I had been seeing with a seller for the past few weeks. I decided to buy it since no one seemed to be interested in the book. It was a copy without a jacket but the title was pasted on the front cover. I got it for a hundred rupees.

Naturally enough I would be more interested in reading about my own country especially books written by non-Indians. Books on India also occupy a fairly large space on my bookshelves and last Sunday I found one more title but not at Abids. At one of the sellers in Chikkadpally I found a copy of ‘India Seen Afar’ by Kathleen Raine, hardcover book without a jacket and only the spine displayed the title. It seemed interesting so I bought it. I paid a hundred rupees for this book too.

I saw a copy of ‘Death in Venice & Other Stories’ by Thomas Mann with another seller in Chikkadpally. I already have a copy of ‘Death in Venice’ that I had found recently somewhere. This book had other stories too so I bought it paying eighty rupees for it. The other stories in it include Little Herr Friedemann; The Joker; The Road to the Churchyard; Gladius Dei; Tristan; Tonio Kröger, and the title story.

The Sunday Haul (on 29-05-2022)

Last Sunday it was sunny but not too warm and I went to Abids without my cap. It didn’t matter much because it wasn’t uncomfortable as I looked around the books on the pavements. There are some days when you know the haul isn’t going to be as good as it was in the previous Sundays. Last Sunday turned out to be one such Sunday as I found only one title.

I saw a nice copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald that was a Penguin title that I automatically buy knowing it would be good. This was a crime fiction title, something I like to read, and so was tempted to buy. Actually there were two titles by the same author but when I looked at the prices on the back cover I put them back since I did not want to pay the two hundred odd rupees that I knew the seller would ask. It turned out to be a smart decision since I saw another copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald in a heap of books with a Rs 50 sign. I bought it right away and felt smart, for once.

The Sunday Haul (on 22-05-2022)

It had rained a bit sometime during the week in Hyderabad and the mercury had come down making it cooler. I was at Abids last Sunday at my usual time and on my usual hunt for good titles of which there are too many. I ended up four good titles in my haul at Abids last Sunday.

The first title I bought at Abids was a book that I almost missed finding. It was half hidden under a stack of large sized books on top of a bookshelf, and I spotted when I went closer to look at the title on the spine. It was a slim, small volume and it was Graham Greene’s ‘A Sense of Reality’ with four stories ( Under the Garden, A Visit to Morin, Dream of a Strange Land, and A Discovery in the Woods).  I got it for hundred rupees.

The next find was a nice looking Penguin title- ‘The Summer House’ by Alice Thomas Ellis. I had not heard or read about the author before so I was undecided whether to pick it up or not. When I saw on the cover that it was not only a trilogy but was also made into a movie my decision was made. I got this title too for a hundred rupees.

I cannot resist any book with an attractive cover so when I saw a book with an eye-catching cover from afar I looked closer and saw that it was a copy of ‘Where Gods Dwell’ by Kusum Budhwar. It is a collection of folktales and legends from the Central Himalaya. It is such a beautiful looking book that I couldn’t resist buying it and the fact that it was a Penguin title made it doubly impossible not to buy it.

My curiosity about knowing about other parts and countries of the world is growing by the day. The happenings in Sri Lanka have made me claim a book on the island from a seller on WhatsApp that I am yet to get in the mail. I saw another title at Abids on Sunday ‘Sri Lanka- A Land in Search of Itself’ Mohan K. Tikku that was a National Book Trust title. I flipped through it and decided to buy it.

The Sunday Haul (on 15-05-2022)

Though not as hot as it was the previous Sunday it was uncomfortably warm in Hyderabad last Sunday. It was almost noon when I reached Abids to look for good titles from among the thousands of books laid out on the pavements every Sunday in Abids. It wasn’t until an hour had passed before I found a wonderful title.

When I was just beginning to go to Abids after a friend took me there one Sunday many years ago I used to see a lot of copies of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ by Alan Paton but it never struck me to pick it up. I did not buy this classic because I was ignorant and assumed it was no good. I was into thrillers and had not yet discovered what a good book reads like. But later on I picked up a copy of it when I read somewhere about it being a classic. I was glad I picked it up and read it soon afterwards because it was such a beautiful story about the innocence of the black people. I had a lump in my throat when I read the part about the hanging of the narrator’s son. I found many other copies of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ that I gave out to friends, and last week I found a beautiful Penguin edition with an illustration by Paul Hogarth on the cover. It was in a pile of books selling for Rs 50.

I love reading about places and travelogues are a favorite genre that fill my bookshelves. Last Sunday I saw a copy of ‘Kathmandu’ by Thomas Bell with a vivid cover that was difficult to ignore. Also the fact that it was a Penguin title made it hard not to buy though the seller quoted a steep price. I did not want to miss buying it so I paid whatever the seller asked for and picked up the book. The price was Rs 200.

The Sunday Haul (on 08-05-2022)

 

Mercifully it wasn’t too hot in Hyderabad last Sunday but it was hot enough to make me wear a cap at Abids. Since the Ramzan festival was over the stores selling dresses, shoes etc were closed and so the sellers of second hand books were present in their usual spots. On Sunday Abids looked normal and somehow I was pleased when I found four good titles.

Of late I am reading more non-fiction than fiction and travelogues account for a large space on my bookshelves. I keep reading in the papers how the war in Ukraine is affecting movement of wheat, cooking oil, and I wondered how it all happens. I also love to know about such things so when I spotted a copy of ‘Merchants of Grain’ by Dan Morgan I thought I’d buy it when I read that it was all about how wheat is marketed. I am reading it currently and it is fascinating account of the global merchants who deal in wheat and other grains moving it from one continent and other and making/losing millions.

Somehow I haven’t read anything by Lawrence Durrell or any of the Durrell brothers though I have read how good their books are. I spotted a copy of ‘The Dark Labyrinth’ by Lawrence Durrell that looked old and somewhat battered. It turned out to be a copy from Meghalaya State Central Library at Shillong making one wonder how it ended up here. I got it for fifty rupees only.

I had been seeing this title with various sellers at various times but did not buy it because the price was too high. Finally, last Sunday when I spotted another copy I decided to buy it whatever the price and was surprised to get a copy ‘The English’ by Jeremy Paxman for just a hundred rupees. It was a nice copy that looked almost new and I was glad I got it pretty cheap.

This title too was one I had been seeing with the same seller for a long time but hesitated to buy it for some unknown reason. Though it said on the cover that it was ‘One Fourteenth of an Elephant’ Ian Denys Peek I wasn’t very sure about how it was. So every time I walked away I had a strange feeling that I might be missing something good because on the cover it said ‘A memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand Railway’ that brought to mind the Man Booker prize winning ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North’ by Richard Flanagan.  So last Sunday I finally bought it and I paid hundred rupees for it.

Here's a corner of the Sunday second-hand book market at Abids in Hyderabad.

The Sunday Haul (on 01-05-2022)

It isn’t even peak summer here in Hyderabad but the temperatures are hovering around 40 degrees C every day. It was no different last Sunday as I set out for Abids in the morning with a water bottle and a cap. Though it was very hot the usual crowd was present browsing the titles laid out on the pavements at Abids. I joined the crowd and was rewarded with a haul of three good titles.

A few years back, in 2015 to be exact,  I had picked up a copy of ‘Paraja’ by Gopinath Mohanty but never got around to reading it. I had kept it aside to read it during vacation period but it never happened. However, I felt glad that I had found a wonderful book and keep looking at it often wondering when I will get to read it. At Abids last Sunday this was the first title I came across, and after some hesitation, I decided to buy it even if I haven't read the first copy I had on my shelf. One doesn't come across such titles too often so buy them when you find them. 

With another seller in front of the GPO I saw a nice copy of ‘Never Far from Nowhere’ by Andrea Levy. I bought it because I had read the author’s name somewhere but nothing about her titles came to mind so I decided to take a gamble and bought for a hundred rupees. (I have forgotten to take a pic of the cover.)

I had read almost all the books that VS Naipaul wrote but the only title I hadn’t read was ‘The Masque of Africa’ that I had come across many times but was put off by the price. So when I saw this almost brand new copy with a seller at Chikkadpally I decided to buy it even though the price was a bit too high. I got it for two hundred rupees but I guess the book is worth it. Apart from being a Naipaul title it is also another addition to the growing collection of Africa titles on my shelf

The Sunday Haul (on 24-04-2022)

  If it weren’t for the powerful lure of finding good books at the Abids book bazaar on Sunday I wouldn’t have stepped out of the home in this brutal heat. It was yet another very hot Sunday morning last Sunday when I started for Abids. But I was glad I went because I found three very good titles all at one place with one seller. 

 

Not only do I love reading both fiction and non-fiction titles I also love reading literary criticism, essays on literature, books. Over the years I have managed to find a few wonderful titles by writers like Harold Bloom, Julian Symons, Cyril Connolly and such writers who write perceptive essays that help me understand literature better. One name I had come across so long ago that I almost forgot it until I saw it on the cover of a book I spotted last Sunday. It was Frank Kermode and the book was ‘The Uses of Error’ that was a hardcover book with a nice plastic covering. It had a stamp of the British Library but no mention whether it was a discarded title. But I was delighted to find that it was a collection of book reviews and essays one of which was on Cyril Connolly. The actual delight was in getting the book for only fifty rupees, a steal at any rate. 

 

There were also two other titles near it and it appeared as if they all were a part of someone’s collection. One title was ‘A Tomb for Boris Davidovich’ by Danilo Kis. It was a Penguin paperback and this book too had a cover that was encased in a plastic jacket. I was thrilled to read on the cover that it had an introduction by Joseph Brodsky. I got this again for fifty rupees.

 The third title was a Penguin edition of ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark, again with a plastic jacket over the cover. Though I already have a copy of this title I bought it to give it away to interested readers. I got this too for fifty rupees. 

 

A cool haul on a hot day. 

The Sunday Haul (on 17-04-2022)

 After two Sundays that I missed not visiting Abids as I was away in Ooty on official work I was very excited to be back at Abids last Sunday morning. Only after I was at Abids browsing the books laid out on the pavements did I feel I was truly back home. Ever since I stepped off the plane the previous Sunday I was waiting for the moment when I would reach Abids on Sunday morning and begin searching for the treasures.

Once again travelogues seemed to be the theme after all the travelling I did this month. The first title I found was a copy of ‘Maiden Voyage’ by Denton Welch. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover which had an illustration of a man standing in a street and the caption says that it is a young man’s account of China in the thirties. The other thing was that it was a title from the Penguin Travel Library and I buy anything from it with my eyes closed. I hadn’t heard the name- Denton Welch- before so I was curious who it could be. Inside I read that ‘Maiden Voyage’ is the first published work of Denton Welch who was hailed as one of the gifted prose writers to emerge in post-war Britain. I was pretty excited that I had found a good book. I got this title for only fifty rupees. 

The Ooty Haul

A government job isn’t something that’ll normally take you places but the one I am doing has luckily for me turned out to be one that’s made me go quite a few interesting places. Over the years I’ve managed to be luckier than most people at my level in the government when it comes to travelling. I’ve been to Delhi about fifty times in five years, have been to Kohima, Itanagar in Arunachal, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and since the past two years, to Ooty. I must be one of the fortunate few who get to travel to Ooty on work that’ll last two weeks.

This year too I am in Ooty for two weeks coordinating a trek for officers who are getting trained in the Institute I am posted in. I will write about it in a separate post because here in this post I want to write about the Ooty haul. In my previous visit to Ooty last year I chanced upon the Church Hill Book Store where I found three wonderful titles, one being a title by William Trevor. This year too when I was told I had to go to Ooty again I looked forward to visit Church Hill Bookstore. But when I saw that it wasn’t open for the two days that I dropped in there I was disappointed. 

 

Since I hadn’t brought more than a single title to read in Ooty I wanted to buy more books. So I dropped in at Higgin Bothams on the main market road. I was excited when I saw a new copy of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ on the shelf. I have bought about a dozen copies of this title over the years because I love it very much. Whenever I see a copy of ‘On Writing’ new or secondhand I buy it right away which is what I did at Higgin Bothams- bought the copy I saw. 

Next I spotted a copy of ‘The Greatest Tamil Stories Ever Told’ selected and edited by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan and Mini Krishnan that I decided to buy after I looked at the list of authors whose stories were in it. There were writers like Pudumaipithan, Ashokamithran, Sundara Ramaswamy, Perumal Murugan, Baama, Kalki whose stories I had read. There were thirty stories in all and I haven’t read the stories by writers I wasn’t familiar with. Though it was priced at Rs 699 I bought the beautiful hardcover copy for it was worth a lot more than what I paid for it. 

 

After several calls Arthy Vivek who runs the store told me over the phone that the store hasn’t been opened since more than five months and that she was thinking of closing it down. However she opened the store once and I managed to find two titles. I found a beautiful copy of ‘Flaubert’s Parrot’ by Julian Barnes that I was looking for ever since I read ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes. 

The other title I found was ‘Rites of Passage’ by Sanjoy Hazarika. I had read a different title on the conflict in the North East by Sanjoy Hazarika and found it full of insights. Needless to say I picked up this title too. The biggest surprise was that I got both the above titles for hundred rupees each. However, I feel terribly sad that Church Hill Book Store is soon closing down. I hope it doesn’t happen.