So I have a 750 rs book coupon for Premiere Book Store, and for the life of me, I can’t think of what to buy. I thought of getting Shantaram, but not only was the book out of stock, but I sincerely doubt if adding to my backlist is going to do me any good right now.
I was actually thinking of buying The Never Ending Story, which I remember seeing the last time I was at Premiere. Unfortunately, that was about a month and a half ago, and that book seems to have disappeared.
There’s also Anita and Me, but again….*sigh* reading Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries has spoiled me silly, and I doubt if I would enjoy teenage reminiscences of someone who is NOT Amelia Thermopolis.
Wolves of the Calla is buyable. But I would rather wait for Best Book Stall to come up with killer discounts/second-hand stock. And I need to read at least part of the first four books again before my fantasy-trilogy-quadrology-pentalogy-addled brain makes any sense out of the storyline. Come to think of it, I still haven’t read Black House just because I want to read The Talisman again.
Premiere does not have any movie/music related books. The only ones I saw were Bob Dylan’s Chronicles Vol 1 which I am not remotely interested in, and Bunny Reuben’s biography of Pran. (Because of reasons too strange to delve into, the book is named “…and Pran”. Something as monumentally weird as “…aur Pyaar Ho Gaya”, which translated into English means “..and Love Happened”, which at least makes an iota of sense. )
eBay.com, on the other hand, tempts me, with a cornucopia of graphic-novel-related Items for Sale, even during low-seller-ridden Holidays. ( Did you know that Sidney Sheldon uses the word “cornucopia” at least once in each of his books? Erm…books?) There was someone selling The Complete Baby Cart Series ( you know, those six blood-and-gore cinematic renditions of the Lone Wolf and Cub books) for very cheap, and I was about to click on on the buy-it-now button, when I noticed the small print. “Only French/Chinese Subtitles”. Great. A little more brain-addledness on my part and I would have sworn off eBay for …I dunno….at least three months. I don’t think that would have been too bad, either.
This reminds me of this incident a couple of days back. I was browsing through baazee.com, and suddenly came across this listing of a near-complete volume of Harijan. The newspaper that was begun by MK Gandhi sometime in the forties, there were about four hundred issues on sale, and the quick-buy option said “rupees one thousand only”. Saying that I was excited would be an understatement. But the listing also said that this gentleman was based in Chennai and he would be selling them only after he met the buyer personally. A phone number was included in the listing.
I called him up. Enquired about the listing. He said they are all in Mint condition. Carefully stored in four Bound Volumes ( My heart sank a little at this. I am not a fan of Bound Volumes )
Then, there is a thud, which is the sound of my heart that breaks when the person clarifies the price. “A thousand rupees”, he says, “Per issue.” The total would have come to 4.5 lakh rupees, but “I am willing to bargain. I am not expecting more than three lakh.”
Gulp. I didn’t explain why my interest level in his collection dipped all of a sudden, but I managed to cough up some apologetic phrases and kept the phone down. Whew. Collectors are scary people.
Back to the point. Seven fifty rupees. And no idea what to buy. I hate myself.
I personally wanted to get a copy of:
http://www.indiauntouched.com/
See also:
http://www.tgfworld.org/buy.html
http://www.tgfworld.org/
Dude, I haven’t even read Gurcharan Das’s India Unbound. My backlist is humongous, trust me.
Er, are you asking me for that book? ;-)
Excellent, as is mine. I just ordered another $50 worth of books (using a $25 gift certificate that a friend gave me for xmas) with the backlog at hand ;-)
Maybe I should ping you before I fly into India if you care for some of the books I own. I’d be happy to let [some of] them go for free/cheap as long as they’re guaranteed a good home. I really need more mobility and owning a ton of books doesn’t help the cause. Can you remember to ping me in April 2005?
Nah, I already did ask a friend who is currently vacationing in Madras ;-) I might go ahead and purchase the US Edition later on. Don’t know. I’m still undecided about a few things. Thanks for checking though – it was really meant to be a suggestion. I’ve heard good things about the book.
I’ll definitely ping you. And the offer for Rooh-afza/acco is still on. :)
India Untouched costs 295 rs in India, FYI.
Dunno if your bookshops stocks them, but George R.R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire is worth buying. You should be able to get at least the first two books in the series.
Y’know, I’m crazy about history and politics, but 4 lakhs for newspapers is crazy…
Oh, another good book I read recently [but I am not sure if it is available in India] is Matt Ruff’s _Set This House in Order_. A very engagingly told tale about a person with multiple personality disorder.
I have been on the lookout for George RR Martin’s books, ( other people have been raving about him) but Premiere does not have them – the science fiction/fantasy section there is rather poor. The only interesting books in that section ( to me) were the Philip K Dick novels.
May you all live for a hundred years! I was just about to recommend George Martin when I saw this comment.. :)
Beatzo, have you lost interest in regular fiction?
Define regular fiction, sir. :)
The universe of all fiction minus all the fiction books you’ve written and raved about in the last few months! :)
Martin is great [except for his tendency to take too long to finish his books…] – I have rarely read such well-written political intrigue.
Couldn’t find anything about Martin on the site you linked to, but I did find out that R.N.Patterson is coming out with a new book next month. he death penalty and the Pagets…should be fun. :)
If you havent already read George R. R. Martin’s books
http://www.greylib.align.ru/libfan.htm
just go to the shop and buy whatever u like in a moment’s decision, that way u can save urself the trouble. its a coupon right? indulge urself. have fun!!
Thanks for the advice. Just that I moan a lot about stupid things like this. :) I know it’s free and all, but if I buy something and see something better the next day, I will keep kicking myself mentally at least for a week after that.
*sigh*
…I doubt if I would enjoy teenage reminiscences of someone who is NOT Amelia Thermopolis. ..
Don’t be stupid! There is no comparing these two. This is an entirely different story. I haven’t read the book but I found the movie quite funny. Doesn’t have the antiseptic looks of Disney’s Princess Diaries. BUY!
Re: …I doubt if I would enjoy teenage reminiscences of someone who is NOT Amelia Thermopolis. ..
Ma’am yes ma’am. But even that was sold out when I went there today ma’am.
hmm.
Quite the quandary.
you read any of the Lemony Snicket’s series?
Nope, none of the Lemony Snicket books. Anyways, Premiere didn’t have them. :)
dude
I think I have the pagan poetry video!
Re: dude
And I’m still waiting for the invite.
sent you an email at the pramati id. Is it inactive? Need to get in touch,daa..lemme know..it’s urgent.
sent. :) I don’t check my pramati id too often.
“….and Pran”
“…… and Bunny Reuben’s biography of Pran. (Because of reasons too strange to delve into, the book is named “…and Pran”.”
Pran’s name in most of the bollywood movies always comes last…..
Starring:
Shashi Kapoor
Prema Narayan
AND Pran (with trumpets blaring)
I guess that could be the reason for the book’s name….
-Vasu
Re: “….and Pran”
You the Man! Thanks for the funda.
P.S You haven’t bought the book, have you?
aaah, Beatzo in a predicament.. heh heh
just finished William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, nice read. Explains a few bits n pieces left alone in the movie. Will pick up another book *ahem* soon
Nihilanth 2004-2005
Hi, would you be able to organise a quiz or two during this year’s edition of Nihilanth that IITD is planning to organise on March 5,6. We really enjoyed your quiz last year and would love to have you there again. My mail ID is infinitelyprolonged@yahoo.co.in.