The 13th Delhi Book Fair concluded last week. I was out of town in the initial days, and busy with work in the later days of the week, so I managed to visit the Book Fair last Saturday, the second last day of the fair. It was quite crowded, against my expectations, and this time I didn't find it as good as it was in the last few years. The primary focus was on Children's books, and choice of books for adults was less compared to previous times. Penguin didn't have a stall, and Rupa and Rajkamal Prakashan had smaller stalls this time. This was also the first time I saw stall owners selling used books at "heavy discounts" - if one wanted them, one could instead easily get them from different road-side stalls or Daryaganj market at lower prices.
Even so, I browsed through the stalls for more than four hours, specially since the book fair is the only source for hindi literature. One can find english fiction and non-fiction in many book stores in the NCR, but good hindi literature is hard to come by - a deplorable state. Apart from the variety, an attractive feature of book fairs are some very good deals one can get. However, the discounts on fresh copies were also not as high as earlier times - I got a discount of 10% on my purchases.
In spite of these facts, I returned with following prizes:
Hindi/Urdu Poetry:
Bashir Badr (2)
Daag Dehlvi
Dushyant Kumar
Ramdhari Singh dinkar
Hindt stories:
Ismat Chugtai - Chidi Ki Dukki
English Fiction:
Rider Haggard - She
Jane Austen - Sense And Sensibility
Mark Haddon - The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Erle Stanley Gardner - Perry Mason (2)
PS: Reader reviews to follow later ... :-)
Even so, I browsed through the stalls for more than four hours, specially since the book fair is the only source for hindi literature. One can find english fiction and non-fiction in many book stores in the NCR, but good hindi literature is hard to come by - a deplorable state. Apart from the variety, an attractive feature of book fairs are some very good deals one can get. However, the discounts on fresh copies were also not as high as earlier times - I got a discount of 10% on my purchases.
In spite of these facts, I returned with following prizes:
Hindi/Urdu Poetry:
Bashir Badr (2)
Daag Dehlvi
Dushyant Kumar
Ramdhari Singh dinkar
Hindt stories:
Ismat Chugtai - Chidi Ki Dukki
English Fiction:
Rider Haggard - She
Jane Austen - Sense And Sensibility
Mark Haddon - The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Erle Stanley Gardner - Perry Mason (2)
PS: Reader reviews to follow later ... :-)
8 comments:
Its nice to know you have so many good books and your reviews are really interesting.
I have not been to Kolkata Bookfair for last few years, which is considered the biggest bookfair in Asia. I like it very much,even more than reading the books :-)
Hi Sigma,
Thanks for your comments on my blogs.
I survived the Greek fires. Actually I was in the Islands (Kos, Crete and Mykonos) where there were no fires; only the island of Evia was somehow affected. I’m glad to be back and catch up your posts!
Book Fair, another good reason to visit Delhi...
As I’m late, my posts at Blogtrotter are still in Bali 2005. Hope you enjoy it, anyhow!
Have a great weekend!
i haven't really attended any great book fairs. The ones I have were really small with hardly great books. So my primary source of books has been Koti, Hyderabad where u could buy a book worth Rs.200 for 60-80 depending on the book. But now rarely do I buy books, thx to our wonderful library. I only buy the ones I want to own now.
But yes all these are primarily English, I have read a few Telugu Novels frm my Mom's collections, but Hindi - not really. I love Hindi/Urdu poetry though and i sneak in to other's books whenever i have a chance
It is assumed that you will have time to read all these as well! Lucky you!
Looking forward to you posting some more ashaar in the near future from some of these books!
@Pijush: How good or bad they are, is yet to be seen :-D Though I think, and hope, they should be good. I am glad you like to read about my perceptions about the books I read.
@Gil: I am glad that you came out safely through the situation. Book Fair - there are two main annual events - Delhi Book Fair, and International Book Fair. The first one is primary Indian Literature, and the second one is world literature, as the name suggests. My motivation in going to the Delhi Book Fair is finding good hindi literature, which is otherwise difficult.
And I am following you there at Bali :-D
@Maverick: I like to own books, specially the ones I like. I have read many borrowed books, especially in college days when I could not afford to splurge on books. But now that I can indulge myself, I have bought a number of books that I had read earlier. In fact, it was recently observed that there is only one thing I can be considered to crave in life - and that is - books!
@LeziB: I hope your assumption becomes true, but it might not turn out to be so! There are times when I am too preoccupied to read, and books just lie there for months. But sooner or later, I do manage to read them, since reading is my greatest passion. And since I have not invested in a TV (and I think, wisely so), I can manage to find time to read before going to sleep :-)
You'll surely come to read about the books and of course poetry ... but first will come poems by Dinkar, rather than ashaar. :-)
hmmmmm
so u were there on the same day as me n dee....
isiliye kaha tha, give me ur number, or stay in touch!!!
dint find much this time, pichle book fair ka to aaj tak padha nahi gaya, phir bhi i got, amrita pritam, dinkar and firak for myself. dee got some books for her kids from nbt.
rest, wandered a lot, had a memorable day, with deja vu hanging over like monsoon clouds as it is in the book fair last year that i must have felt the first signs of love for her, subconsciously :)
hope u r having a good time, reviews on dushyant and badr eagerly awaited.
take care
uvjrqvi
WoW...that is really an impressive collection. I also like buying books from the book-fairs although I still prefer the road-side book shops which saves a lot in our pocket. The entire ambiance although in book fairs is very nice!
@Adi: talked to you on mail about this :-))
@Kalyan: I can understand that you prefer second-hand books, as being a student, it would be difficult to afford many books. When I was a student, I too preferred the same, or borrowed books from friends to read. But since I started working, I can afford to buy books to build up my collection. I had got some masterpieces from second-hand shops earlier, but I dont like them much now because of their bad condition, and I cant bear to throw them, nor want to buy a new copy while I already have one :-). So, my advise would be, borrow/rent/buy used copies, that you want to read just to pass time (like novels etc), but buy a fresh copy of those you would like to preserve for a long time.
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