Stranded

After what seemed like an eternity, one visited Strand Book Stall in Fort again.

Little seems to have changed: the eclectic collection, the huge selection of Modern Library classics, the discounted piles of hardbacks, the somewhat dismaying sense that the books on offer have been selected because of deals with publishers rather then pure merit, the friendly if garrulous staff, and the always-available boxed sets of Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities. (Those hunting for bargains would be well-advised to seek out here copies of Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner; The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Frost by Harold Bloom and Collapse by Jared Diamond: all three at well below published price.)

One's own purchases reflected the eclectisicm of Strand's selection: the Stephen Mitchell translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching; Thomas Cahill's Sailing The Wine-Dark Sea: Why The Greeks Matter; and, perhaps most delightful of all, Herge's Red Rackham's Treasure, featuring the indomitable and ageless Tintin.