THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For those who beat their breasts and pull their hairs lamenting that reading is dying a painful death, here is something to bring the roses back to their cheeks. The DC Book Fair is offering Thiruvananthapuram a treasure trove of paperbacks and hardbounds in English and Malayalam, books spanning various genres and authors. The fair, being held at VJT Hall, began on July 6 and will continue till July 14. Its timings are, from 10 am to 8 pm. From encyclopedias, quiz books, comics, novels, poetry and non-fiction, the fair includes all that can put a smile on the lips of a book connoisseur.DC Books has been organising such book fairs for many years. ‘’Last year, we could not organise the fair, but we have come back this year,’’ says Praveen, a DC Books staff. The fair features many prominent names from the world of publishing, in both English and Malayalam.‘’In Malayalam, almost all the major publishers such as DC, Current, Mathrubhumi and other big names have been represented here. In the English section, we have Penguin, McMillan, Oxford University Press, Vintage to name a few,’’ he said.The fair is a veritable storehouse of the best and the famous in books. Joseph Lelyveld’s ‘Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India,’ a book that created a flutter sometime ago, is a crowd favourite. Another work selling like hot cakes is ‘Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master’ by Sri M.Popular fiction, such as books by Chetan Bhagat, too are popular. “In the English section, fiction, especially novels, are most sought-after by customers,’’ observed Praveen. Poetry is not far off either.Translations of Tagore and the works of romantic poets like Keats have found many takers. ‘’There is an increasing market for acclaimed writers such as J M Coetzee, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa”, said Praveen, handing over a copy of ‘Shantaram’ to an eager customer.Rajendran is a frequent visitor to the fair and has been coming almost every day. ‘’I work quite nearby and come here during the lunch break. I buy small books every day, books that are easy to read,’’ he explained. However, it is books in Malayalam that find the most number of takers. ‘’Three books, ‘Khasakinte Ithihasam’, ‘Randam Oozham’ and ‘Oru Sankeerthanam Pole’ are the perennial toppers, whichever year we conduct a book fair. They trump all other works in all genres as far as sales are concerned,’’ said Praveen. The fair has a voluminous collection of Malayalam works, ranging from acclaimed fiction by greats such as Thakazhi and Basheer to poetry, political writings of figures such as EMS and P Govinda Pillai to self-help books. Ambika, a History professor at University College, was savouring the vast collection on show. ‘’I am collecting good Malayalam novels for my personal collection,’’ she says. ‘’I prefer writers such as Sethu and MT.’’ Self-improvement books are great revenue earners at the fair. They sell almost by the minute, according to the organisers. Another big seller is the genre of autobiography. The fair has many familiar names in the section, such as ‘My Experiments with Truth’. ‘’We have many new ones as well, like the autobiography of Nalini Jameela. Such books have proved to be a good attraction,’’ said Praveen. In addition, Spark Notes for students on a variety of topics are neatly arranged at the fair. Children’s books and comics solicit a lot of attraction as well.The fair sees brisk business, selling almost five hundred books every day. ‘’Surely, those who claim reading is dead should reconsider their opinion in the light of this book fair,’’ said Prakash Kumar, an engineer and an avid reader.‘’I came to this book fair without many expectations, but was quite amazed by what has been put on offer,’’ he added.
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