Skip to main content

Book Fair 2020 - What's new



What kind of pain would carry pleasure?

Ask me, I would say it is the pain of thirst in a reader as eyes fly across piles of books. Yes, I was at my favourite place this weekend, the one every reader waits eagerly for - the 43rd Chennai Book Fair 2020! What a great way to start the year!

I am a reader who rarely sticks to an author, but later last year, I fell head over heels in love with Jeffrey Archer's writing when I read his novel Sins of the Father, Part 2 of the Clifton Chronicles.
I was starving and knew I wouldn't have the heart to separate. I kept my search alive and was determined to stock up for the upcoming year.

My eyes scanned all stalls for interesting novels I could go home with and got my hands on everything I saw and relished it to the most. I forgot to add, today is exactly a year from my first time at the Chennai Book Fair, which is where I met Meera ma'am for the first time. Unfortunately, Meera ma'am couldn't be here this year. But, ma'am, I am very happy for you and you inspire me everyday to do better. I still remember your words, "Don't say 'I will try', say 'I will'." These words led me to publishing Solitude and eventually writing for magazines and newspapers. And as you say, the rest is Mayaakatha.

This year's book fair, what caught my eyes was the Keezhadi excavation section, which provided needed insight into this intriguing subject. I am usually crowd-o-phobic and I still am, but the excitement and suspense in me did not get dampened on the way.

In my honest opinion, I was a tad disappointed with this year's book fair, considering the vast difference in collection. Of what I remember, the book fair held last year had much more variety in collection and was a little more interesting to me. Last year, the book fair held new books form debut authors and was perked up with diversity that could match every reader's taste. I think, this year, the book fair lacked this diversity and liveliness and half the books I found this year were ones I already saw here last year.

A difference that I saw this year was the increasing number of secondhand book stalls in the book fair. One could get his hands on titles unheard of, from these stalls. A negative that I experienced is the randomness of the books. My kind request to the people in charge would be to segregate the books in these stalls either by the authors or by genres.

I was looking forward to meet more authors and people in the literature field, but I couldn't. I was also expecting more stalls of Neelam, something I enjoyed visiting last year. Nonetheless, I came home with several books I had been meaning to devour. In the last few stalls, I found a vast collection of Paulo Coelho and Jeffrey Archer.

Overall in my experience, I would say, most book stalls had a repetitive collection of bestsellers of the last two years. I was looking forward to seeing more variety and diversity, but this year's book fair, in my opinion, fell short of my expectations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reminiscing

(Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash ) It was a still, quiet night. The air seemed untouched by the maddening chaos in my mind. I glanced at the night sky, and spotted a star glimmering in the distance. The unusually gripping sight brushed me back to a fragment of my past, a chapter sealed long before. A whiff of my past my naive self still lived in. A life I had long left. I used to enjoy observing the tiny flickers of light, while my heart filled with hope for tomorrow. They looked like little flames whose glowing tips waltzed in the gentle evening wind. Those quiet, fulfilling moments spent squinting at tiny specks of light, while savouring the crisp air with traces of floral detergent from the clothesline, were one of a kind. Something no productivity chart would ever be able to explain. It was something I was not yet accustomed to; living a new life with new people, making new memories. Those little joys and fears that would excite my younger self. It's moments like these, moments...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Letter to Thatha

The little specks of pearl in the sky Glowing and fuming, With the vapours of our memories.  In my swollen, glistening eyes, I saw the flare of your pyre in the stars, Like a spangle caught in my tears, The light of our love stretches its arms. I never knew a pain greater,  When my fingertips caressed your cold, grey folds of skin I never knew I could feel so broken inside, With scalding memories and a heart wanting justice. With last words untold, goodbyes unsaid. I never thought the day would come,  When I came home to your warm smile and open arms, But would instead be greeted by your empty chair. I never thought I would shudder and hide at your sight, Until you lay in the icy coffin like a child, Oblivious to our cries and wails. I never knew I would so badly yearn, To hear you call me one more time. I watched you become a child again. I never minded your faltering memory, Your greying eyes that often stared out in the open, I was content, With your pupils carrying a ...
1 comment
Read more

On New Revelations : My COVID-19 Story

The past couple of months have been a roller coaster ride. Several things had come tumbling down for me all at once - a nervous breakdown, the death of a very dear loved one, and now, testing positive for COVID-19.   How it has been   Day 1 was not by any means forgiving: I almost collapsed the moment I got out of bed, with fever, chills, severe dizziness and a flashing headache. The virus had caught me off guard and already begun wrecking my body. I remember feeling optimistic at first, that this was just exhaustion was taking a toll on me (for the previous week I had been working long hours) then slightly apprehensive as my brother tested positive the very next day.  I remember making a casual joke on testing positive right before taking my test. But then, two days later, I found myself going to bed with racing thoughts and mixed feelings - I had just received my results. That night was probably among the most anxious I've spent in my life. The first few days were the r...
Post a Comment
Read more