We sometimes pop over to Warrandyte on a weekend. Warrandyte is a bush-chic, gorgeous little suburb not far from where we live where one can walk by the river, or let the kids can play on the great playground next to the bakery (which we of course patronise). It’s always a nice treat.
On occasion, we’ll pop into the second-hand bookshop and have a browse. I say on occasion because it is dangerous to let my husband and I loose in a second-hand bookshop, at the same time, on a day where we’re a little loose with our wallets. Especially since City Basement Books shut recently – that was across the road from Adam’s work and he’s been needing a book-buying ‘fix’.
We went on a lucky day. As I was standing before the ‘writing/literature’ section I couldn’t quite believe the number of great titles on the shelf: many I had already, many were ones I’d heard of, but never seen in a shop before (so cheap, at least).
The owner noticed my interest. “We had a writer come in this morning and sell everything they had,” he said. “This is it. A nice haul, eh?”
I wondered aloud to the owner just why the writer felt compelled to sell all his/hers books relating to the craft. Were they giving up writing? Maybe they didn’t need them anymore, they’d learned all the books had to offer.
So between the ‘writing’ section and the ‘literature/criticism’ section, this is what I got:
I was particularly happy with the anthology find, jam packed with familiar names such as Irigaray, Lacan, Foucault, Freud, Marx, Derrida, Heidegger, etc. Under $30 and over 1000 pages in excellent condition. The only title I’ve been able to dive into so far is the short story book, a little ‘history of’ which has proved most interesting. Published in 1981, it retains the sentiment of critical opinion of the time (as all books do, don’t they). For example, in the author’s opinion, Hemingway, in 1981, “[was} still in the trough into which a highly successful author’s almost inevitably falls immediately after his death, and at present it is difficult to see him either clearly or fairly” (p 146).
{Should I put ‘author’s’ (sic)? That sentence reads funny, or perhaps my morning coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.}
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I’m off into the Emerging Writers’ Festival a bit later today. I’m anticipating an intensive, inspiring weekend. If you see me, say hello!
