#maddyslibrary

[madeehamaqbool]

                                            The Lahore Book Fair.

I hadn’t been to the Lahore Book Fair for 2 years, mostly because of exams and other cities. I comforted myself with the reflection that it didn’t matter because there’s nothing at the Fair nowadays that I can’t get from my usual bookstores anyway. Plus, I still remember when they used to hold this at the Alhamra Arts Council when I was a child and that labyrinthine building gave it a glamour in my memories that is very hard for the new Expo centre to compete with.

This year, I was in town with no exam in sight so I decided to go with my mother on the very last day (telling myself that it was superfluous anyway since all the good books would probably already be sold out). BUT, I found a treasure hoard I hadn’t imagined. In the shape of the stall owned by this outfit called Multiline Books (they’re on the Mall Road near Regal Chowk so check them out if you get the chance). They had books on art and literature and if I were richer, the haul would be larger. But alas, the money I had only got me 2 books from there, but what books they were! The discount for the Fair was 10% but I cajoled the nice old man who owns it to give me 33% and if that isn’t success I don’t know what is. The beauties that got to go home with me were:

1. The politics of literature in Nazi Germany; and

2. The book cover in the Weimar Republic.

I also finally found the unabridged version of “The Count of Monte Cristo” (I read “The Three Musketeers” and “The man in the Iron Mask” when I was 16 but couldn't find this) and “The collected works of D. H. Lawrence’ at the Readings stall. I don't know why but the best books are almost always in the bottom shelf, which resulted in me  sitting cross-legged on the floor while I went through the titles and almost got run over by tall people.

It was a day well-spent and I look forward to reading and posting reviews of all the books I bought.

[madeehamaqbool]

My planning diary for this year contains poems - which collide throughout the pages with records of my mundane appointments and meeting. This is my favourite because: a). It's T. S. Eliot b). It's one of his cat poems - which I've loved ever since I read "Macavity the mystery cat" at the age of 10. Also, this is obviously dedicated to my cat, Bobo, who was named after a psychological experiment because I had exams and also because she's crosseyed and stupid 💝 🙆😻

[madeehamaqbool]

I took this picture in 2010 in Singapore while I was running to catch the bus. A girl was sitting on the bench waiting for the same bus and this picture was taken at the exact moment she snapped her book shut to get up. What's important about this photo is that it shows a culture where people borrow books from the library and read them on the go, in those little spots of time stolen from busy working days. Where I live, this is a sight for sore eyes.

[madeehamaqbool]

Confession: I only got around to buying and reading this book because the author, Ziauddin Sardar was scheduled to speak at The Last Word, a bookstore in Lahore. As you can see in the pictures, the gaping cover shows the tail-end of his signature, because how can I ever see an author without getting him to sign a copy of his book? 

(That was a rhetorical question, because I can’t resist signed books - this is the only variety of fandom I indulge in. Truly.)

Sardar Sahb himself was pretty droll. And he did not look like I expected - which is a pretty silly thing to say BUT years ago, I got Basharat Peer to sign his article on Mecca in the NewYorker, and his image was the one stuck in my head when it came to the topic of Mecca as a city. And yes, I got a copy of the NewYorker signed! Whatever.