The first book today has memories for me. I found it in a little bookshop off the main street of a nearby town, the proprietor of which wore a single earring and had a baleful expression permanently fixed on his face. He responded to questions about his stock in monosyllables, all the while adopting a threatening stare. Having received a particularly terse response to a query re. the location of his language section, I decided to forage alone, only to hear another browser I had noticed earlier tell him that his rudeness was insufferable and he should apologise to me. I instantly grabbed the nearest book I could find in which to bury myself, which proved to be Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish. I have always loved Spanish, having studied it in school with a sweet little nun who was only two years older than myself. The convent which ran the school recruited novices for the South American missions, gave them basic lessons in Spanish and set them loose on a class for teaching practice. I recall clearly the day this sweet little nun was told she was going out to Chile...she spent the hour with her head on the desk weeping, while we sat as quiet as mice and absorbed our verbs in -ir. I sometimes wonder about her, did she really go, is she still there? ... you know the way you wonder about people and things in the past. I don't wonder about that particular bookshop owner, though. The economic recession carried him and his shop into oblivion...it's a pity really, there were great books there. However, I may well have come across some of them again at the recycling centre.The first interesting thing about Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish is that it teaches Spanish through identifying the parts of it which are close to English, taking English nouns and substituting Spanish endings for the English ones, turning them - Hey Presto - into Spanish...at least that's what happens in the early chapters of the book and I haven't gone further than those at the moment...there is a by-the-way subtle introduction also to words which are quite unlike English ones, which the student absorbs along the way. it seems a pretty good system, with a modicum of the grammar you can invent endless sentences using your English nouns converted to Spanish. I would imagine it would be particularly good for those who are aiming at a reading knowledge of the language.
However, there is another, even more interesting aspect to this book: illustrations are by one Andrew Warhol. I went online to investigate, and yes, it seems that this is the famous Andy Warhol, who earned his bread and butter in his early days as a book illustrator. The illustrations appear at the start of each lesson, and they are like nothing so much as little doodles e.g. a guitar, pipes (for smoking), a postcard.a bicycle... The only ones I can find in colour (or color, since this is an American book) are the three sombreros on the front cover. The book was published by Doubleday & Company Inc., New York. and the last date on my copy is 1953. I do not recall what I paid for it but inside the front cover £1 sterling is marked in pencil.
I have to thank the local public library sale for the next two books. The drawback to books bought at such sales is that they have labels or the remains of them, as well as stamps on some pages. I have seen first editions of books, signed by their authors, sadly defaced by these labels or their remains. No effort is usually made to remove them gently, and the inside covers, back and front, bear glue or paste marks, traces of white paper, and that dreaded 'withdrawn from stock' stamp which legitimises the purchase. However, if you have had a favourite book which you have borrowed again and again, as in my own case, there is a high chance that you will eventually be able to call it your own.
"Games with Pencil and Paper", by Denise and Norman Williams, came from one of these library sales. From what I can see, you only need a pencil, paper, and sometimes a die to amuse yourself and your companions with the games from this book published in 1951 by the Blandford Press. London. It is a product of pre- personal computer or laptop days, of course, but its very simplicity without any need for an electric socket or various cables, let alone a keyboard or monitor, to my mind makes the contents vastly appealing. But I am old-fashioned. Still, if ever batteries become unobtainable and electricity in very short supply, this book will have a particular value if Scrabble or Monopoly pall. In the menu, sorry, Contents, good old Battleships and Noughts and Crosses appear among many other games. Actually, on looking at the rules for the games in general, and the necessity for 'supervisors', as well as the rules for players and teams, time limits, scoring and the totting up of results, I feel exhausted already. Many of the games involve being able to spell also, and being aware of a certain amount of acquaintances who can't write even a brief note on computer without the help of spellcheck, I have a feeling that this book would have a limited appeal.
"The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin" was donated to our local library by The Sufi Trust, and I am very glad it was. The author is given as Idries Shah and the publisher was the Octagon Press, London. My copy is dated 1995, and since I have it a few years now, it didn't stay too long on the library shelves. In fact now I see it was admitted to the hallowed walls of the library in 2001, firmly stamped on the back of the title page. It is in beautiful condition except for that stamp and the dreaded 'withdrawn from stock'. Basically it's a volume containing many really short anecdotes relating the adventures of the intrepid Mulla Nasrudin. The inscription on the outside of the back paper cover tells us that "Nasrudin is an international folk hero of medieval origin but timeless appeal. ...Whether his anecdotes are studied for their hidden wisdom, or enjoyed for their pungent humour, they are an enduring part of the world's cultural heritage." I'll go with that..I have read many of them, and enjoyed them, laughed at some of them, and been struck by the wisdom of a lot of them. So now, a short example..."You may have lost your donkey, Mulla, but you don't have to grieve over it more than you did about the loss of your first wife" "Ah, but if you remember, when I lost my wife, all you villagers said: "We'll find you someone else" So far, nobody has offered to replace my donkey".
Well, yes, of course the book may well be one you might have to acquire a taste for, as I have.
At the end of my first week blogging, I will take a photo of the books I have mentioned, so if you are really interested, you can see what they look like. I am sure they will be no more nor less photogenic than the rest of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment