The Sunday Haul (on 23-08-2020)

After more than a week of almost continuous drizzle that dampened everyone’s moods it finally stopped around the weekend. The sun finally came out last Sunday and greatly improved the general feeling. Because of the rain I missed going to Abids the previous Sunday and since then I had been feeling a sense of restlessness. The gap of two weeks sharpened my longing to browse the pavements at Abids and I had hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t rain on Sunday. It didn’t thankfully and after breakfast I rushed to Abids.

Aside from the improvement in the weather there was also an improvement in the number of book sellers at the Sunday second hand book market at Abids. Except for just one seller all the booksellers were out with all their books spread on the pavements last Sunday. There seemed to be so many piles and heaps of books to dip into and I ended up buying half a dozen titles.

I had been eyeing a copy of ‘Your Blue Eyed Boy’ by Helen Dunmore that a seller had but did not buy it because the seller was someone I wouldn’t normally buy because of his uppity attitude. He thought he was the only one who sold good books. I had been seeing that title since more than two months and almost bought it from him last Sunday but backed out at the last moment. It was a decision that I was glad to have taken for I saw the same title with one of the friendliest bookseller at Abids who gave it to me at one fourth of the price that the earlier seller would have asked. The copy of ‘Your Blue Eyed Boy’ by Helen Dunmore that I got for only fifty rupees was in wonderful condition.

Graham Greene is one of my favourite authors and I do not miss buying anything by him that I find at Abids. I spotted a nice copy of ‘The Portable Graham Greene’ that I immediately grabbed. It was a collection of three novels, a few short stories, essays and was edited by Philip Stratford. I got this book for only forty rupees. Alongside it I found an old copy of ‘River and Bridge’ by Meena Alexander, a collection of poems. Meena Alexander is a fairly well known poet in India.

Further up with another seller I saw a copy of ‘The Chinese: Portrait of a People’ by John Fraser with a red cover. I had read ‘Riding the Iron Rooster’ by Paul Theroux, and also had a copy of ‘Behind the Wall’ by Colin Thubron that I hadn’t yet read though I found it long back. I also had a copy of ‘On a Chinese Screen’ by Somerset Maugham that I have read. John Fraser is a journalist who lived in China from 1977 to 1979 as a bureau chief of Toronto Mail and Globe.

The last find at Abids was a beautiful copy of ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro that I couldn’t resist buying though I already have a copy. When I wanted to read it I couldn’t locate my copy so I bought it. But this cost me a hundred rupees.

At Chikkadpally I saw a copy of ‘On Writing Well’ by William Zinsser. I already have three copies of this title but couldn’t leave without buying the copy I saw last Sunday. It was a beautiful copy and I paid a hundred rupees for it.

One title that I consider a treasure in my collection is ‘The Saddest Pleasure’ by Moritz Thomsen that I found a few years ago and picked up on a hunch only to realize it was a fantastic book, and difficult to find. Then I read that Thomsen had written two more books of which I was desperate to find ‘Living Poor’ and since there appeared no chance that I would find it I looked for it online. I usually do not buy books online but this was one title I really wanted to read so I ordered it sometime last month. I received the book this week. I have never been so happy buying a book.