The Sunday Haul (on 17-07-2022)

 Since missing going to Abids the previous Sunday because of rain and also a bit of ill-health I was eager to make it to Abids last Sunday. When Sunday finally dawned there was the sky all clouded over and bit of a drizzle. It looked like it would rain all day but an hour later it became clear and I was relieved to discover that I would be going to Abids after all.

The Abids trip began on a good note. There were a lot of good titles with a seller including a copy of a George Orwell title, one by Edith Wharton that I somehow did not buy. I patiently went through each and every title piled up in three stacks but in the end there was only one that seemed interesting. It was an old copy of ‘The Skeleton’ by Amrita Pritam, a slim book not more than seventy pages. I got this title for fifty rupees.

The next find was in another pile of a different seller. All the books were for hundred rupees each and after some sifting through the books I found a nice copy of ‘The Kite and the String’ by Alice Mattison that turned out to be a book on writing. It was a hardcover book and books on writing are something I do not leave behind so I bought it.

I finished reading ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark a couple of weeks ago. She is one of writer I like very much for her story telling. Last Sunday I spotted a copy of ‘The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories’ by Muriel Spark. There are eleven stories in this collection- The Black Madonna; The Pawnbroker’s Wife; The Twins; Miss Pinkerton’s Apocalypse; ‘A Sad Tale’s Best Winter’; The Go-Away Bird; Daisy Overend; You Should Have Seen the Mess; Come Along, Marjorie; The Seraph and The Zambesi; and The Portobello Road.

A couple of months ago I had bought a copy of ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ by Zora Neale Hurston that I am yet to read. Last Sunday at Abids I spotted a copy of ‘Spunk’ by Zora Neale Hurston that I took. There are nine stories in this collection- Spunk; Isis; Muttsey; Sweat; The Gilded Six-Bits; Cock Robin Beale Street; Book of Harlem; and Story in Harlem Slang. I got this book also for fifty rupees only.  

The online Haul

 Last Sunday it rained all day from morning till night. In fact it had been raining since Saturday evening. Also, Bakrid was on Sunday and since all the sellers at Abids celebrate Bakrid I felt there would be no point in going to Abids and so stayed put at home. I was also recovering from a bad cold so I thought it would do me some good if I rested instead of going out. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t go to Abids since I had planned to pick up a few titles that I had seen the previous Sunday but hadn’t bought. But it wasn’t a totally book less weekend. On Saturday I received a couple of books I had claimed in a sale conducted by a bookseller in Mumbai on his WhatsApp group.

A long time back when I really had no idea about what I liked to read, and which title was good and worth reading, I came across a title by Jonathan Raban. I liked the book very much and some years afterwards I found a couple of titles by Raban, (Arabia, Hunting Mister Heartbreak, Old Glory) one of which was ‘For Love and Money’ which was a sort of a memoir that I enjoyed reading very much. In a sale I had claimed a copy of ‘Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings’ by Jonathan Raban that I received in the mail last Saturday. It is about his in the Inside Passage, a journey from Puget Sound to Alaska on a boat. It is a hardcover title and looks almost new.

I came into Anita Brookner’s books only recently, and have enjoyed reading all her books that I’ve read so far. I am desperate to find ‘Hotel du Lac’ that I haven’t been able to get anywhere and I really hope I find it soon enough. I had also claimed a copy of ‘Family and Friends’ by Anita Brookner in the sale on WA which was also delivered last Saturday.

I’ve written it here several times that I love anything on Africa, a continent I am fascinated by. I have managed to find many titles on Africa written by Africans themselves and also by non-Africans. A couple of months ago I had seen the Instagram page of a Goa based bookseller where he had pictures of covers of a few books on sale. The first was a copy of ‘Small Wars, Small Mercies: Journeys in Africa’s Disputed Nations’ by Jeremy Harding that I could hardly wait to lay my hands on after claiming it. It is a Penguin title and is a journalist’s account of his journeys in some African nations.

Another title that I managed to claim and also get was a copy of ‘Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart’ by Tim Butcher. A couple of months ago I had found a different title by Tim Butcher- ‘Chasing the Devil’ which I had read and liked very much. Tim Butcher is a journalist with Daily Telegraph and had been its Africa Bureau Chief. I am very glad I got this book that no one had claimed on the sale.

With these two titles I have a long list of books on Africa that I have to begin reading soon.

The Sunday Hauls (on 19-06-2022 onwards )

 I’ve been quite busy the past month with heavy work conducting  three-day training courses at the rate of one every week. It is quite stressful conducting them as it requires a lot of coordination, paperwork, and on top of it I was also taking sessions for two full days in each course which meant standing almost all day. It left me quite exhausted and though I visited Abids and picked up books I simply did not have the time to do the posts. So I am doing a combined post of three Sunday hauls.

The Haul on 19-06-2022.

After a fortnight’s gap I was eager to visit Abids and see what I would find in my haul of books at the second hand book markets that comes up on Sundays in Hyderabad. The previous Sunday I was unable to go to Abids as I was not well and wanted to rest instead of exerting myself at Abids in the hot sun. I picked up four titles out of which three titles seem quite good.

There is no other continent that fascinates me as much as Africa. I picked every book I can find on Africa, about Africa written by Africans and also non-Africans. Of all the travel titles I have on my bookshelves books on Africa make up for more than half. I almost missed looking at the nice copy of ‘Move Your Shadow; South Africa, Black and White’ by Joseph Lelyveld that I could spot at the last moment. It was lying on the ground among other titles but the title caught my eye. I felt excited after I saw that it was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and also that it was an ‘Abacus’ title. I do not remember reading about this title anywhere so I felt quite elated to realize that I had found a very good book. I got it for just eighty rupees.

I also read a lot of crime fiction and when I saw a copy of ‘Spook Country’ by William Gibson that was a Penguin title I picked it up instantly. I got it for a hundred rupees. But when I started reading it I was a bit disappointed with the writing and the story so abandoned it.

Again this was a book I almost did not buy because of the bad condition of the cover. ‘Say Goodbye to Sam’ by Michael J. Arlen. This was also a Penguin title that I normally buy without a second thought. I took another look at the cover and noticed that some of the inside pages were also stained. But the blurb on the cover was what finally made me buy it. It said that the book was a National Book Award winner.

Though I already have a copy of ‘The Story of a Brief Marriage’ by Anuk Arudpragasam I decided to buy the copy I saw last Sunday because I want to give this beautiful book to a friend. However, it is his next title- A Passage North- that I am looking for though I do not think I would be able to find a second hand copy so soon because it is not even a year since it has been out.

Sunday Haul on 27-06-2022

Not so long back I had, once again, foolishly let go of a Hannah Arendt title that I had spotted. To be fair to myself, I had no idea then of Hannah Arendt, and despite an urging inside to pick it up I did not. Soon afterwards I came to know who Hannah Arendt was and was filled with regret for not listening to my inner urge and ignoring her title I had seen at Abids. Anyway, on the last Sunday of June I saw a nice copy of ‘Crises of the Republic’ by Hannah Arendt in a pile of children’s’ books and grabbed it immediately. It has four essays: Lying in Politics, Civil Disobedience, On Violence, and Thoughts on Politics and Revolution.

Somehow this Sunday seemed to be the day for revolutionaries since the next title I spotted was a beautiful copy of ‘Words of Freedom’ by Aruna Asaf Ali, a Penguin title.

There’s a book, a graphic novel in fact, that my friend’s been telling me about and urging me to read. Somehow I am reluctant to read graphic novels for some reason even I cannot understand. She had told me about ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi that I had come across a few times at Abids but hadn’t bought. But last Sunday when I saw a nice copy of the title I decided to buy and fulfill my friend’s wish to read it. I got this nice copy for a hundred rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 03-07-2022)

Even though there was a forecast of rain on Sunday fortunately it did not rain in the morning while I was at Abids. However it was cloudy and cool as I went around checking out the books laid out on the pavements hoping I would strike gold and find something truly wonderful. Though I did not find anything wonderful I found an interesting title and another a copy of a title I already have.

I spotted a copy of ‘The Quiet Fear’ by Michael Halliday with a cover that seemed interesting. It was a small, slim book and I thought it would be an interesting read. Also, it was published by Hodder. I got it for forty rupees. Later when I searched online for Michael Halliday I came to know that it was another name used by John Creasey.

Sometime back I had found a nice copy of ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Jullia Cameron. I even did the ‘morning pages’ for a couple of months but couldn’t make it a habit. A lot in the book is useful advice and when I saw another copy of it I bought it hoping I would be able to help someone out by giving it to them.

Not a Sunday Haul

 Last Sunday I couldn't make it to Abids to look for books as I was not well. I wanted to rest and take it easy though it wasn't possible because I was wondering what titles I would have found had I been to Abids. My Sunday feels incomplete without a visit to Abids. However, I compensate for that by either visiting a bookstore or buying books on a few WhatsApp groups of sellers of second hand books. They have regular sales where they post pictures of the covers and whoever claims the book first gets it. These are some of the titles I managed to claim and get in such sales in the past couple of weeks. 

I love William Trevor's writing and I got this title in the post only yesterday. It is a novella of about 70 pages. I am looking forward to read it sometime this week. 

Another title I had heard about and was looking forward to find was a copy of this monster of a book with 1007 pages. 'Funeral Nights' by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih. I need at least a month to finish reading this title. 

Sometime last week I claimed and got Pico Iyer's 'The Art of Stillness' that I had noted down in my 'to buy and read' list. I had not expected to find it so soon but here it is. It is a collection of essays. 

I first read about Wislawa Szymborska in a poet's post on FB a long time back, and ever since I have been looking for a title by this poet. When I saw this title posted on a WA group I jumped to claim it first. Funnily enough, just as no one had claimed William Trevor's 'Nights at Alexandra' Szymborska had no claimants! 

The Sunday Haul (05-06-2022)

Last Sunday again it was a sort of heat wave condition making it very hot outdoors. Though it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer it was hot enough for me to take along a cap and a water bottle. Surprisingly, the heat had not deterred the book lovers because there was the usual crowd at Abids looking over the books laid out on the pavements. I ended up buying three good titles at Abids and also at Chikkadpally on the way home.

Of late I have become interested in books about other countries, especially those travelogues with a geo-political angle and so far I have managed to gather quite a few titles on many major countries and regions. This includes China too and last Sunday at Abids I finally bought a copy of ‘The China Syndrome’ by Harsh V. Pant that I had been seeing with a seller for the past few weeks. I decided to buy it since no one seemed to be interested in the book. It was a copy without a jacket but the title was pasted on the front cover. I got it for a hundred rupees.

Naturally enough I would be more interested in reading about my own country especially books written by non-Indians. Books on India also occupy a fairly large space on my bookshelves and last Sunday I found one more title but not at Abids. At one of the sellers in Chikkadpally I found a copy of ‘India Seen Afar’ by Kathleen Raine, hardcover book without a jacket and only the spine displayed the title. It seemed interesting so I bought it. I paid a hundred rupees for this book too.

I saw a copy of ‘Death in Venice & Other Stories’ by Thomas Mann with another seller in Chikkadpally. I already have a copy of ‘Death in Venice’ that I had found recently somewhere. This book had other stories too so I bought it paying eighty rupees for it. The other stories in it include Little Herr Friedemann; The Joker; The Road to the Churchyard; Gladius Dei; Tristan; Tonio Kröger, and the title story.

The Sunday Haul (on 29-05-2022)

Last Sunday it was sunny but not too warm and I went to Abids without my cap. It didn’t matter much because it wasn’t uncomfortable as I looked around the books on the pavements. There are some days when you know the haul isn’t going to be as good as it was in the previous Sundays. Last Sunday turned out to be one such Sunday as I found only one title.

I saw a nice copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald that was a Penguin title that I automatically buy knowing it would be good. This was a crime fiction title, something I like to read, and so was tempted to buy. Actually there were two titles by the same author but when I looked at the prices on the back cover I put them back since I did not want to pay the two hundred odd rupees that I knew the seller would ask. It turned out to be a smart decision since I saw another copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald in a heap of books with a Rs 50 sign. I bought it right away and felt smart, for once.

The Sunday Haul (on 22-05-2022)

It had rained a bit sometime during the week in Hyderabad and the mercury had come down making it cooler. I was at Abids last Sunday at my usual time and on my usual hunt for good titles of which there are too many. I ended up four good titles in my haul at Abids last Sunday.

The first title I bought at Abids was a book that I almost missed finding. It was half hidden under a stack of large sized books on top of a bookshelf, and I spotted when I went closer to look at the title on the spine. It was a slim, small volume and it was Graham Greene’s ‘A Sense of Reality’ with four stories ( Under the Garden, A Visit to Morin, Dream of a Strange Land, and A Discovery in the Woods).  I got it for hundred rupees.

The next find was a nice looking Penguin title- ‘The Summer House’ by Alice Thomas Ellis. I had not heard or read about the author before so I was undecided whether to pick it up or not. When I saw on the cover that it was not only a trilogy but was also made into a movie my decision was made. I got this title too for a hundred rupees.

I cannot resist any book with an attractive cover so when I saw a book with an eye-catching cover from afar I looked closer and saw that it was a copy of ‘Where Gods Dwell’ by Kusum Budhwar. It is a collection of folktales and legends from the Central Himalaya. It is such a beautiful looking book that I couldn’t resist buying it and the fact that it was a Penguin title made it doubly impossible not to buy it.

My curiosity about knowing about other parts and countries of the world is growing by the day. The happenings in Sri Lanka have made me claim a book on the island from a seller on WhatsApp that I am yet to get in the mail. I saw another title at Abids on Sunday ‘Sri Lanka- A Land in Search of Itself’ Mohan K. Tikku that was a National Book Trust title. I flipped through it and decided to buy it.

The Sunday Haul (on 15-05-2022)

Though not as hot as it was the previous Sunday it was uncomfortably warm in Hyderabad last Sunday. It was almost noon when I reached Abids to look for good titles from among the thousands of books laid out on the pavements every Sunday in Abids. It wasn’t until an hour had passed before I found a wonderful title.

When I was just beginning to go to Abids after a friend took me there one Sunday many years ago I used to see a lot of copies of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ by Alan Paton but it never struck me to pick it up. I did not buy this classic because I was ignorant and assumed it was no good. I was into thrillers and had not yet discovered what a good book reads like. But later on I picked up a copy of it when I read somewhere about it being a classic. I was glad I picked it up and read it soon afterwards because it was such a beautiful story about the innocence of the black people. I had a lump in my throat when I read the part about the hanging of the narrator’s son. I found many other copies of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ that I gave out to friends, and last week I found a beautiful Penguin edition with an illustration by Paul Hogarth on the cover. It was in a pile of books selling for Rs 50.

I love reading about places and travelogues are a favorite genre that fill my bookshelves. Last Sunday I saw a copy of ‘Kathmandu’ by Thomas Bell with a vivid cover that was difficult to ignore. Also the fact that it was a Penguin title made it hard not to buy though the seller quoted a steep price. I did not want to miss buying it so I paid whatever the seller asked for and picked up the book. The price was Rs 200.

The Sunday Haul (on 08-05-2022)

 

Mercifully it wasn’t too hot in Hyderabad last Sunday but it was hot enough to make me wear a cap at Abids. Since the Ramzan festival was over the stores selling dresses, shoes etc were closed and so the sellers of second hand books were present in their usual spots. On Sunday Abids looked normal and somehow I was pleased when I found four good titles.

Of late I am reading more non-fiction than fiction and travelogues account for a large space on my bookshelves. I keep reading in the papers how the war in Ukraine is affecting movement of wheat, cooking oil, and I wondered how it all happens. I also love to know about such things so when I spotted a copy of ‘Merchants of Grain’ by Dan Morgan I thought I’d buy it when I read that it was all about how wheat is marketed. I am reading it currently and it is fascinating account of the global merchants who deal in wheat and other grains moving it from one continent and other and making/losing millions.

Somehow I haven’t read anything by Lawrence Durrell or any of the Durrell brothers though I have read how good their books are. I spotted a copy of ‘The Dark Labyrinth’ by Lawrence Durrell that looked old and somewhat battered. It turned out to be a copy from Meghalaya State Central Library at Shillong making one wonder how it ended up here. I got it for fifty rupees only.

I had been seeing this title with various sellers at various times but did not buy it because the price was too high. Finally, last Sunday when I spotted another copy I decided to buy it whatever the price and was surprised to get a copy ‘The English’ by Jeremy Paxman for just a hundred rupees. It was a nice copy that looked almost new and I was glad I got it pretty cheap.

This title too was one I had been seeing with the same seller for a long time but hesitated to buy it for some unknown reason. Though it said on the cover that it was ‘One Fourteenth of an Elephant’ Ian Denys Peek I wasn’t very sure about how it was. So every time I walked away I had a strange feeling that I might be missing something good because on the cover it said ‘A memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand Railway’ that brought to mind the Man Booker prize winning ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North’ by Richard Flanagan.  So last Sunday I finally bought it and I paid hundred rupees for it.

Here's a corner of the Sunday second-hand book market at Abids in Hyderabad.

The Sunday Haul (on 01-05-2022)

It isn’t even peak summer here in Hyderabad but the temperatures are hovering around 40 degrees C every day. It was no different last Sunday as I set out for Abids in the morning with a water bottle and a cap. Though it was very hot the usual crowd was present browsing the titles laid out on the pavements at Abids. I joined the crowd and was rewarded with a haul of three good titles.

A few years back, in 2015 to be exact,  I had picked up a copy of ‘Paraja’ by Gopinath Mohanty but never got around to reading it. I had kept it aside to read it during vacation period but it never happened. However, I felt glad that I had found a wonderful book and keep looking at it often wondering when I will get to read it. At Abids last Sunday this was the first title I came across, and after some hesitation, I decided to buy it even if I haven't read the first copy I had on my shelf. One doesn't come across such titles too often so buy them when you find them. 

With another seller in front of the GPO I saw a nice copy of ‘Never Far from Nowhere’ by Andrea Levy. I bought it because I had read the author’s name somewhere but nothing about her titles came to mind so I decided to take a gamble and bought for a hundred rupees. (I have forgotten to take a pic of the cover.)

I had read almost all the books that VS Naipaul wrote but the only title I hadn’t read was ‘The Masque of Africa’ that I had come across many times but was put off by the price. So when I saw this almost brand new copy with a seller at Chikkadpally I decided to buy it even though the price was a bit too high. I got it for two hundred rupees but I guess the book is worth it. Apart from being a Naipaul title it is also another addition to the growing collection of Africa titles on my shelf