With ‘World Book Day’ just two days away I set out for Abids on Sunday morning for the second-hand book market with an eager anticipation about what I would find. Luckily, I kept on finding some very good titles one after the other ultimately ending up with seven wonderful books in the haul.
‘A Room with a View’ that I found some time ago was the only Virginia Woolf title that I had read. When I saw a copy of ‘The Waves’ by Virginia Woolf I hesitated for some time wondering if I’d ever find the time to read it. But in the end I bought it as the seller said he would give it to me for just twenty rupees.
The next find was a book that I had been noticing since a couple of months with a seller who was rather uptight about the prices of his books. Every time I saw the copy of ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett with its attractive cover in red and the title in a cursive font I was tempted to buy it for the cover alone. Week after week the seller quoted the same price which was too high for me to buy it. But at the same time I hoped no one would dare buy it. However last Sunday when I asked the price of the book again he wearily told me I could have it for any price I wanted to pay for it. There was a hint of contempt in his voice and I was embarrassed and guilty at the same time for trying to take unfair advantage of the seller who was unable to find any buyers for that book, and for trying to buy it at a low price, though, to be honest I was quite able to afford to pay the price the seller was asking for it. Anyway, perhaps it was guilt or something I bought it at a price that made the seller happy if not overjoyed.
Soon after wards I found another book that I already owned. A friend had gifted me a copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ by Nilanjana Roy on my birthday last year and I started reading it the moment I got home. Needless to say I enjoyed every word in this wonderful book about reading and books. Hoeing somebody would also similarly enjoy it I bought the copy of ‘The Girl Who Ate Books’ that I saw with a seller who gave it to me for a hundred rupees.
It has been my experience that it is in the unlikeliest places that one finds extraordinary things. In a pile of books being sold for twenty rupees I spotted a copy of ‘Unfinished Journey’ by Yehudi Menuhin which turned out to be his autobiography. I do not have any autobiography by musicians but I had found a copy of Celine Dion’s autobiography that I found before I began this blog.
Given my choices in books that range from across several genres it may sound odd, if not silly, if I mention that Dave Barry is one of my favourite writers. No one can make me laugh the way Dave Barry does with his goofy humour in his articles. I always think I’ll do a lengthy blog post about Dave Barry and his humour writing but somehow I am unable to do it. Though I may not have read all his articles I am certain that I have read almost all the books he has written. I have multiple copies of several Dave Barry titles. At one time I had half a dozen copies of ‘Dave Barry Turns 40’. I do not let go of good copies of any Dave Barry title that I come across. Last Sunday I saw a beautiful copy of ‘Dave Barry in Cyberspace,’ a hardcover one that I got for just thirty rupees.
There are a few writers I have read only one of the several title they have published, usually a non-fiction title. Though I have two copies of ‘Havanas in Camelot’, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, ‘The Long March’ ‘Darkness Visible’ and also ‘This Quiet Dust’ that I had found at various times I have not found other titles by him such as ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ that I kept reading in several articles as one of Styron’s best work. I spotted a much used copy of ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ by William Styron that I bought for just ten rupees.
In the same pile of books in which I found ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ I also found a beautiful, new looking copy of ‘’The Ipcress File’ by Len Deighton. This is perhaps the third or fourth copy of the book that I have bought so far. This copy I got for only ten rupees.
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