It was quite a week: there were three simultaneous booksales occurring, and I had a field week just choosing and purchasing books. More books were added to the sale in our local bookstore chain; there was a rummage sale in our library; and finally, there was also a sale hosted by our university’s literature society. I had taken advantage of the local bookstore sale the most: recent literary-award shortlisters, like Martin Amis and Colm Toibin, had their novels sold at 90 to 95% discounts. The same can be said about a new Penguin Classics version of Jose Rizal‘s Noli me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and Maxine Hong Kingston‘s Fifth Book of Peace. On one hand, I’m glad and grateful of the cultural Philistinism pervading our society, because it allows me steals like these; but on the other hand, it also makes me bitter: the novels I had bought are the novels that should be highly regarded for their quality of writing and thought, and not novel series like Twilight. It’s their loss, anyway, but I’m still bitter about it. Read the rest of this entry »