The Book Hunters of Katpadi: A Bibliomystery by Pradeep Sebastian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Book Hunters of Katpadi by Pradeep Sebastian claims to be India’s first biblio-mystery and, whether that’s true or not, the hardback design is a work of beauty which gives the deserved respect and attention to this somewhat experimental novel. It is one of the rare hardbacks, which I usually avoid because of the sheer volume of books and diminishing shelf space that I end up with, that I bought without much thought, and I let it adorn my bookshelf for a while before picking it up.

At the heart of the story is an antiquarian/rare books store called Biblio, in an affluent Chennai locality, which is run by the owner Neela and her employee Kayal. The resilient Kayal is the primary protagonist of the story here, a veritable spitfire when it comes to hunting down the last bit of information on any rare book or its production process. One of their most valued customers and one of the foremost collectors of rare books in India has been contacted by an obscure teacher in Ootacamund who claims to have hitherto rarely seen writings from the archives of the feted and eccentric nineteenth century adventurer and writer, Sir Richard Francis Burton, including an explosive fragment of the long rumored but never ascertained Karachi Report he was supposed to have written for the empire and which he claimed brought about his gradual downfall in the colonial service at the time. On behalf of the collector and Biblio, Kayal makes the trip to Ootacamund to determine the truth behind these claims and if so, to persuade the man to make his dealings with Biblio and their customer. What happens in during and in the aftermath of this expedition is what the rest of the story deals with. There is also a smaller track which runs parallelly, and which is quite interesting, about an old librarian who fleeces his college of their old and precious books ingeniously, and how Kayal and Neela help to recover them for the college.

The ‘Book Hunters’ from Katpadi here are not Neela and Kayal. Instead, it refers to two friends turned foes, avid book collectors (one turned to running an auction house for antiquarian books) who grew up in Katpadi (in Vellore, a district near Chennai famed especially for the Christian Medical College and my alma mater, VIT) and who go by the delightfully catchy names of Nallathambi Whitehead and Arcot Templar. While the names themselves are suited to protagonists who embark on swashbuckling adventures, over here these are older, heaving gentlemen whose primary and perhaps only passion is using their wealth for the collection of fine antiquarian books. Their craze, when it comes to light that there perhaps are some rare Burton material up for grabs, is understandable in the context of the story. But what about for us, the readers?



That’s a bit of a tricky question. For a book lover, the theme is a fascinating one, a world of people whose lives revolve around the fine art of books and writing. But purely on a storytelling level, this book lacks in the mystery and forward momentum of narrative part of things. It is quite obvious that the author (who actually did work for a brief period in an unassuming stationary shop that doubled up as a seller of antique books in Kundapur) is a lover of the mystery and history behind antiquarian books and there is a lot of painfully detailed rendering of the various aspects of the trade and of book hunting, like bindings, letterpress printing, what happens at book auctions and how once can recognize different editions among other things. In fact, it maybe a bit too exhaustive at times, taking away from developing a coherently captivating story. Though there is a mystery and a twist surrounding the purportedly rare Burton memorabilia, it seems like more of a diversion to the primary task of elaborating on the details of the rare book trade. There is also a lot of pages devoted to the retelling of Burton’s history, which may help the uninitiated in understanding the context of the work being highlighted, but which adds to the overall feeling of a discourse rather than a story. Another slight problem is the lack of development of the main characters. Thought we follow Kayal and Neela for most of the book, there really isn’t anything else delved into when it comes to who they are and their personalities. They exist mostly as ciphers to introduce the book’s themes to us rather than fully fleshed out individuals with hopes and desires.

Yet, I wouldn’t want this to seem like I’m slagging off the book. In its own right, it is a unique work of fiction, especially in the Indian English writing scene. And while I wouldn’t recommend it to the more escapist or occasional reader, who could end up being bored to tears by parts of it, it is still something the more literary and serious reader could find to be fascinating enough. And, as I had at times, there is a conundrum to be had for the avid reader; the physical form of the book is important and deserves to be appreciated for the skills and craftsmanship involved in bringing it to light, but is there a chance that fetishizing it too much will take away the import of the true soul of the book, its words?

On the plus side, that beautiful book cover will make this a finely aesthetic addition to your shelves. The care taken in its design and a few beautiful illustrations found within the pages of the story all prove that this was a labor of love all around.



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