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Date: 23 February 2008 15:36:00
On the way to Bruges, we stopped off in London for the night and I managed to persuade Mr F that I really, really deserved some quality second-hand-book-shopping time on Charing Cross Road. I've not been there for about 7 years I think - I used to spend my birthday there when I lived nearer London, but recently have not.
So, Foyles is still there, but somehow more corporate and bland. The entire room devoted to maths books laid out on tables like at a jumble sale has been rearranged and floor to ceiling shelves added. Very disappointing, although somewhat irrelevant since I have now forgotten most of my degree-level maths.
On down the street (presumably passing 84 Charing Cross Road of Helene Hanff and Leo Marks fame, but I didn't notice it particularly) and I found (or rather re-discovered) a lovely shop called Henry Pordes Books which banished all paperbacks to the basement so the lovely hardback first-editions could have pride of place on the ground floor. This suits me very well, since shops like this tend to sell said paperbacks quite cheaply.
I bought an early Janny Wurtz, whose name now escapes me and it is downstairs so not directly to hand. Something about Storm-something. I'm halfway through it and it is mildly diverting, but not up to the standards of To Ride Hell's Chasm or the Empire trilogy.
The other book I picked up was one I had been vaguely on the look out for since someone recommended it as someone to read when you've read all the Susan Howatch novels. This was The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies, a Canadian author. I read it on various trains and through a handy patch of insomnia in Bruges. Now it is proper literature, not the usual trash I tend to read. It majors on themes in art, philosophy, music and religion with more than a dash of humour. The characters are complex, amusingly named and mostly likeable, even the rogues. I absolutely loved it and I'm definitely putting his other trilogies on my list of books wanted.
In other book-related news, I am very excited about being a Library-thing early reviewer. Sometime in the next few weeks I should be receiving a pre-publication free copy of a historical detective novel for me to review. I'll keep you posted.