The Sunday Haul/ The Republic Day Haul (on 26-01-2020)

A few years back I had chanced upon a copy of Alistair MacLeod’s ‘The Lost Salt Gift of Blood’ at Abids one Sunday. Only a few days before I had picked up a copy of ‘Islands’ by the same author and finding the second book was a lucky thing especially since I had got it for only ten rupees. Much later I read ‘Islands’ and realized I had found a wonderful writer. Last Sunday at the same seller where I had found ‘The Lost Salt Gift of Blood’ I found another collection of short stories. It was a copy of ‘Man Descending’ by Guy Vanderhaeghe that I would have not bought had I not seen the blurb by Alice Munro-‘These stories are wonderful.’

These are the stories in this slim and small book:
The Watcher/Reunion/How the Story Ends/What I Learned from Caesar/Drummer/Cages/Going to Russia/A Taste for Perfection/The Expatriates’ Party/Dancing Bear/Man Descending/ Sam, Soren, and Ed.

One of the things that makes/made me go to the Abids Sunday book bazaar is the joy of finding new books, new authors and I’ve never been disappointed. Every Sunday I come home with some wonderful titles by great writers that fill me with indescribable joy. Last Sunday I spotted a book that had an attractive cover. Intrigued by the colourful cover I took a closer look at the hefty copy of ‘Footsteps’ by Pramoedya Ananta Toer. It was the third title in a quartet called the ‘Buru Quartet’ and according to what I read online about the author and his books, it is something unique. However, I was also disappointed that I had no idea if I would find the other three titles of the Buru Quartet. Sometime back I had found a copy of ‘The Climax of an Empire’ by Jan Morris, and a title in ‘The Pax Britannica’ trilogy. Till date I haven’t found the other two titles in the trilogy, and don’t expect to find them. Instead of waiting to find them I think it would be a good idea to get them online which is what I plan to do.

However, I was thrilled that I could find something from Indonesia, a country whose literature I am not familiar with. Another small thing that had me more thrilled was that I share my birthday with Pramaoedya Ananta Toer though the year is different.