August 25, 2007

I used to face great trouble while buying books — spending hundreds and thousands of rupees on them. Not that I considered them a waste, but I still feel that books ought to be a little less expensive. And as we say that where there is a will there’s a way, I did come across something which now helps me with buying books, without emptying my pocket.

It was when I discovered the bookshop “Old is Gold” that I came across a way to whet my passion as well as save a few bucks. Originally the shop was meant for second-hand textbooks, but once I entered the shop, I was delighted to find two shelves full of great novels. These novels were brand new and were being sold at a very reasonable price. I went to the counter and asked for Dan Brown’s novels. He pointed to a rack and there I found all four of his masterpieces. I thought each would cost me around Rs200-300, so I decided to take two only. Next moment I was at the counter to pay for the two books. “Rs120,” the guy said calmly. “What?” I nearly jumped. My joy knew no bounds. Wasting no more time, I grabbed all four of Dan Brown’s novels and bought them right way. After that I frequented the shop. My most recent visit was on last Saturday.

As I ventured into the shop that day, the first rack on the nearest shelf caught my eye — there lay the “Children’s Golden Library” books, dozens of them and they really were NOT only for children for they contained many of the golden classics too. The books were in hard-cover, the page quality excellent and as I inquired the price, his reply, “Each book, irrespective of the size, costs Rs50,” left me dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe that a book of such good quality could be so economical. Anyway, I bought three of these too. Then I went to the other rack and scoured through it for more. The Sewing circles of Herat, by Christina Lamb with its back-cover summarising the book being a story about a group of women in Afghanistan made me immediately go for it. Price Rs100!

Since I wanted my stock of new books to last me for a few weeks, Sara Paretsky’s Deadlock, seemed an interesting thriller. So I snatched it off the shelf too and rushed to the counter, price Rs50.

Just recently I had grown a bit of interest in western philosophy and as I saw the great philosopher writer Voltaire’s, Candide — the book which is said to be his best production — I just could not resist picking that up too and the next moment it had piled up over my other books on the counter. Price Rs50. Though the page-quality was poor, I wouldn’t risk losing the great piece of writing.

The total bill mounted to a mere Rs350 with me bagging so many great books to my utter delight. Lastly I asked the shopkeeper about, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to which he handed me a book with a price tag of Rs1,500. I asked him about a ‘Pakistani’ edition and he said one will be available within a week, costing probably Rs300. “Who cares about the original version when the less costlier will be available soon,” I remarked since I had absolutely no mood of purchasing a Rs1,500-book especially when I had already read the whole novel on my PC as an e-book which I had received from a friend right on the day of the book’s release. So off I went, back home and am presently relishing my days with the treasure I found.

Being a resident of Multan I would tell all those living here that “Old is Gold” is the best choice when it comes to purchasing novels. As for Lahoriites, “Readings” is one excellent shop with a great collection of novels at incredibly low prices. I know nothing about the best bargains in other cities. So check them out yourselves!