Every month, the general feeling on reading the 'Literary Review' in 'The Hindu' is that of a certain euphoria of having read something really good about books and literature. But there's also a sense of disappointment and regret. Disappointment that there is only so much to read about literature. The regret of not having read some of the books and writers featured in it. Of late, another feeling has begun to manifest- a feeling of regret that I have not yet finished writing my book, a bit of envy at all the young writers who are making a big splash.
But this time there was another reason to deeply regret something else. At the back of the supplement was the 'Endpaper' column by Pradeep Sebastian where this month he writes about Alberto Manguel and his books. I had read about Alberto Manguel's 'A History of Reading' several times but when I came across it at a sale sometime last year I did not pick it up. Now, reading Sebastian extol the book I realize how dumb and also stupid I had been not to have bought the book. One reason was that the books's price was Rs. 350 but now I realize it is priceless. I had also come across his other book -' Into the Looking Glass Wood' which too I did not buy. This is the sort of regret that makes me feel like kicking myself.
The only hope is that I might come across these books again. No one had picked up 'A History of Reading' as long as long as the sale lasted. I am confident I will come across it again just as I found EM Forster's 'Aspects of the Novel' last Sunday. It was a book I had missed buying a couple of years ago. The only thing I have to do is to keep my eyes peeled open when in second hand bookstores, second hand book sales and also have enough in the wallet to pick up any book without too much agonising over the steep prices.
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