The Sunday Haul (0n 20-07-2025)

I was in a far better mood last Sunday the anxiety I had the previous fortnight having abated. So it was with a lot of expectation and excitement I left for Abids but not before stopping at Chikkadpally to look at the books there. I had seen a nice hardcover copy of ‘The World of Nagaraj’ by RK Narayan with one seller at Chikkadpally the previous Sunday but hesitated to buy it. It was a first edition published by Heinemann, London in 1990. I did not buy it right away but last Sunday I finally picked it up. There is some damage one the top right of the dust jacket and inside in ballpoint writing was written G. Gopala Krishna Rao, 12.7.1991, New Delhi on one of the inside pages. 

With the same seller I saw a copy of ‘The Art of Rhetoric’ by Aristotle with a beautiful cover that I bought right away because I had not seen this title anywhere before. I got this too for a hundred rupees though I have no idea when I will read it. 

Down the road was another seller who usually has a large collection of books out of which sometimes I’ve picked up some wonderful titles in the past. Last Sunday I saw a copy of ‘The Time of the Hero’ by Mario Vargas Llosa that had a wonderful cover that I bought right away. 

Since I had already bought three titles at Chikkadpally I did not want to buy any more books at Abids. I met my friend Srinivas and later Srivatsan joined. We had a long chat about books, movies, studies, and so on. It was already half past one and I thought I’d do one final round before leaving for home. I saw a crime fiction title- ‘Laidlaw’ by William McIlvanney that seemed good so I bought it. 

‘A moment after I bought ‘Laidlaw’ I spotted another title with only the words ‘travel book’ on the cover I could see. Intrigued I pulled it out and read the complete title – ‘At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig’ by John Gimlette. I do not have a single travel book about South America except ‘In Patagonia’ by Bruce Chatwin so I was excited to read that this title was about travel in Paraguay. I got it for only fifty rupees.