Probably the greatest bargain I will ever run across in a lifetime of used book buying came in an antique store in Nebraska City a couple of years ago. Well, all right; it was more of a “retro junk” store than anything, but on with the tale. We were in the area for our annual fall meeting of the Notting Hill Napoleons, a weekend stay at the Whispering Pines bed and breakfast inn where we enjoy our discussion of each year’s Charles Dickens’ novel, the debate over next year’s rota, and much more.
Anyhow, on a Saturday afternoon browse through the old downtown area we found this little store and in the basement was a hardbound collection of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly novels – all 25 of them in a splendidly preserved 12 volumes dating from the turn of the century! The price was even more remarkable – $45! If I hadn’t had the money on me, I would have gone out right then and collected pop bottles along the roadside to get the scratch.
It was a terrific opportunity; like I said, probably the best that will ever come my way because the “collectible craze” has made nearly every vendor aware of both market prices and the technology of things like Ebay which have opened such businesses to the world. No, the days of book bargains are pretty much over. So I sigh, enjoy my memories of finding those occasional treasures…and get on with the one thing that is even better than collecting books – reading them!
Anyhow, here’s the actual motivation for this post. In reflecting on my Scott discovery, I was reminded that I had completely forgotten to record my reading of Guy Mannering last month. It was, in fact, the July selection for the Napoleons. Sorry.
Everyone in the discussion really liked Guy Mannering with a few even going so far as to now claim it as their favorite of any of the Scott novels we’ve read as a group. (Seven of them so far.) Well, I couldn’t go that far. Ivanhoe, Old Mortality and others I find even better. But I could and did join in the overall enthusiasm for Guy Mannering because is a wonderful tale of adventure: plenty of action, suspense, a clear conflict between good and evil, romance, history and even a bit of comic relief now and again. And it is all told by one of the most accomplished wordsmiths in the English language (and, for that matter, in the Scottish dialect too).
Guy Mannering – this Sir Walter Scott classic gets a solid 5 star recommendation from the Notting Hill Napoleons.
