Hardy, James, King.....

 People often ask me my favorite author...which is an impossible question ..but I get the intent..so my answer is always "Stephen King …and Thomas Hardy"...

   𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢

but I do wonder, is there a connection between these two wordsmiths? 

Other than my questionably low brow and Gothic tastes? 

Surely! and yes!...King loves to read and loves to talk, and so we have this random gem I found on the internet..

"Thomas Hardy...the only book of his I read (Jude) was so sad I not only never went back to it, but quit reading entirely for a while - but then I was 17"

Well, I shall take that as a compliment to my dear Mr. Hardy. 

I feel a little less sure that Hardy would have been  much effected by Stephen King's writing should it have suddenly appeared on his desk at Max Gate (via the time machine, of course) ..but still, to my mind they are complementary additions to the well rounded book shelf...

This correspondence between RL Stevenson and Henry James is amusing ..James isn't wrong, but  misses the point of reading a Hardy.  As an aside, I wonder how James would feel about the Netflix take on his "The Turn of the Screw"?...anyway, I suspect modern literary critics are missing the joy of reading King for pretty much the same reasons...

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1330&context=cq

Just to wrap up this odd flow of conciousnes....to all the customers who have left this shop with an unexpected Stephen King recommendation from yours truly...my apologies ..but trust me he's a great writer, in a much maligned genre, one which both Hardy and James would probably find themselves dabbling in were they born in this somewhat flawed, but nonetheless exciting modern age.

Adrian busy-busy out the back.....again...

Which goes some way to explain why he's a bit behind putting out the records......again...

 

Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin

Here we go ..a link to one of the short stories I have playing on a high rotate in the shop ..maybe not to everyone's tastes ..but I love it...and certainly a more popular choice with the customers than the carl Michael von Hausswolff cd*

anyway ..while we are here, I should inform you all that we are now open Sunday's, the usual hours..so swing on by for some Sunday style browsing..

 https://online.htseden.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Fur-Coat-1.pdf

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em-Qud5QPhY

Poor Old Dawkins in the Bin..again...

DO NOT donate books to the Salvation Army in Warren Street. 

For years, and years, and certainly the last 13 years that I have been in business and calling in, 6 days a week....they have been throwing away your donations with no thought. 

The nicest, newest, most interesting of books- in perfect condition..in the bin, 

Classic books of historical merit..in the bin, 

Beautiful vintage children's books, those treasured survivors from your childhood (or your parents) with the inscription "Love from Mummy and Daddy, Xmas, 1959".in the bin. 

You can check for yourself on recycling day if you can sneak a peek into the recycling bin.

It defies belief, it defies all logic....it is simply that the woman in charge of books has a very small list in her head of books she likes...Danielle Steel, the most generic of cook and craft books ..and only ever in the smallest quantities imaginable.

Every week literally $100's of dollars thrown in the bin.

The organisation itself is absolutely resistant to any help or guidance.

Occasionally a staff member will put some different book on the shelves ..the one time they put out some early edition Enid Blyton's for example. They of course sold. Numerous customers took the time to comment on their thrill at seeing them. 

But no. Never again.

In fact the lady in charge of books seemed so aggrieved at that small bust of activity she actually threw out all the books waiting to be shelved and almost overnight halved the number of books available on the shelves.

Madness.

And no, I have no idea why they accept book donations.

I have actually had people appear at my shop, in tears, when they realised half way through unloading their donations of book collections, that the people in charge were simply taking them, turning around, and throwing them directly into the bin. One particularly memorable incident was an elderly architects lifetime collection of beautiful hardcovers. But all "collections" on any given topic, are simply bin fillers. Apart from books on the All Blacks ..of course..

Books left in boxes outside the shop after hours are also all thrown straight in the bin as "we don't know what has been done to them" "someone may have urinated on them" ..which I would have thought would be an identifiable issue ..I guess in theory someone could have ..maybe slept on them? ..but then who knows what happens to books before they are put in the donation bins? I once fell asleep on a book at home...yikes!! And that suit you purchased from the Salvation Army..do you know its history? .what foul deeds could have been committed by its previous owner all while wearing said suit ..the mind boggles!!

I have stopped myself writing this piece for years, but in some ways I feel compliant in this whole situation.

Next time you wish to donate books ..take them to any one of the many Charity shops in town that you support ..but whatever you decide...do not take them to Warren Street.

Anniversary's Missed...

I had planned a post to celebrate "Little Reds" 10th Anniversary..10 years providing the very best selection of pre loved books in the Bay...however, after a chat with Keith...my business mentor and inspiration since I worked for him at our earlier incarnation as "Recycled Reading"..I realise we have been in existence

........ 12 years!!.......

which is one-twentieth as long as the lifespan of Adwaita..the tortoise, who, coincidentally was originally owned by the highly problematic Lord Clive..who..for no justifiable reason at all, was the inspiration behind the name of Clive (Waipureku) here in the Hawkes Bay...

so there you have it.

The Two Ronnies The Confusing Library

Hold This Space...

 I'm just popping this here till I have some more time on my hands for such things as Blog posts..in due course this shall be a tribute to long time bibliophile Harold Trigg and his collection of a  1001 Books You Must Read...Harold quite possibly being the only person I know to attempt such a feat...and also, quite possibly the only person who would understand this pictorial reference..in fact I can hear the echo of his hearty laugh in my head as I type..

Member of Parliament, Mabel Howard, demonstrating that oversize bloomers vary in size. Dominion Post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP-NZ Obits-Ho to Ht-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22391156

Source: Alexander Turnbull Library