Characters in a Bookstore
On World Book Day, let's take a walk with few interesting characters ( some real, some imaginary) who can be found in a bookstore
I have always struggled with topical writing. Never managed to execute a piece with the precision to land it on a specific day. A day when everyone will talk about it, when the Algorithm Gods will shower generous blessings; when people will resonate more given the context. All logical points. But well, I have struggled at it.
Until this morning, when in a dramatic set of events, which involved me mindlessly scrolling social media, I made a discovery. It’s World Book Day [ 23rd April]. And voila, I have something that can ‘pass with grace marks’ to qualify as a contextual post. A post about bookstores.
A bookstore is a station that can take you on a journey of infinite possibilities. A good bookstore lodges incredible stories & characters, but not just within the books it houses, but also in the readers who visit them.
People who read are diminishing. A species that’s diminishing faster are the people who visit bookstores to buy books. All the interdisciplinary buzzwords like evolving economic landscape, changing anthropological behavior, disruptive impact of technology seem to have contributed to lesser traffic.
But the few generous daredevils who do visit, are fascinating characters. In this post, I dissect and analyze some of them. In addition to that, I create a few of my own. Imaginary characters, with their outlandish sketches and underwritten background stories. But don’t read too much into it. They’re just special cameos.
So here is the list-
A writer, camouflaged as a mystery shopper, scanning shoppers more than books from the corner of his eye. He waits with bated breath when someone goes near the section where his book is kept and gets heartbroken when the shopper passes by. Two years of toil doesn’t count for anything? Not even a cursory glance? He picks up the broken pieces of his heart and repeats the process.
A discount seeker - on a secret mission. He is a reader, an ardent one at that, but dons the hat of a secret spy in a bookstore. His mission, which he chose to accept, is to discover new reads to update his ‘To Be Read’ list. Create that pile, find a secret corner in the bookstore and compare rates online. The filter decides which books get to go out of the store.
Two books of the same genre, written by rival authors, competing with each other to enter the ‘Bestseller’ section. The animosity and the bitterness of the writers towards each other during the book signing event, has translated into the books as well. So when nobody's looking, these two books pull out their gloves and don’t shy away from packing punches.
A grandma, introducing her grandson to a comic book she had read when she was his age. The sound of their laughter, entertained by the theatrics of the characters, fills the air. A shared moment of a simple story, that creates a cherished bond between generations.
Two 5 year old girls, flipping through different children’s books, fighting constant disappointment. Such slim pickings with books that have girls as protagonists.
A reader, immersed in reading a tale of fantasy, breaks all shackles of reality and opens a two-way portal to let the characters travel through metaphysical realms and come to life around him.
An emergency conclave between the books from the ‘classics’ section. The agenda is to address raising voices within their community against the flashy, rebellious boisterousness of graphic novels. “ In the name of inclusivity, we are diluting our culture” a senior member was heard saying.
Two completely different personalities, speculative fiction and political non-fiction, bond over their love for gossip. They love to debate on how reality is nothing more than an individual's version of things. They intend to start a subreddit to address the importance of speculation in the world.
A sense of thrill in the thriller section, when all the books gather around to stare at a new entrant on the shelf. Some are enamored by the cover she is wearing. The finesse, the detailing, the gloss. Others are envious of how good the font of the title is. Each of them stands there, judging the new book by its cover.
As the ongoing session of the book-club is about to get over, there’s nervousness in the bookshelves. The mounting tension is nothing less than an exam day. They wait with bated breath to see which book will clear the cutoff- to be picked by the group for their next discussion. It’s a coveted crown everyone wants to don.
A senior book, patiently mentors, a junior book about the movie business. The trepidations and challenges on the way of getting adapted into a movie. The senior signs off with the wisdom “ Anchor your expectations. They will never be as good as you.”
A 5 year old boy, on an unusual mission - unwarranted, not assigned by anyone. He picks up the heaviest books from the philosophy section and brings them to his mother. In the process of an exhibition of his strength, he accidentally handed her a book that turned out to be something she really needed at that stage of her life. Something that will take her on a new path. All thanks to this tiny Samson.
Do share a few interesting characters you have met in a bookstore. In the process, you get the badge of ‘generous soul who still visits a bookstore’.