Book Review | The Book Hunters of Katpadi: A Bibliomystery

Book: The Book Hunters of Katpadi: A Bibliomystery
Author: Pradeep Sebastian
Publisher: Hachette India, 2017
Pages: 418 
Price: 599

Never judge a book by its cover’ – the age-old adage that exhorts us to read more carefully is exactly what you will learn to ignore when you read Pradeep Sebastian’s delightful The Book Hunters of Katpadi: A Bibliomystery. Sebastian, who seems to take his cue from RK Narayan, situates his story in an idyllic Malgudi-like world – it’s actually modern-day Chennai – where steaming cups of coffee and books are the order of the day. 

Through the protagonists, the sprightly and very likeable Neelambari Adigal and her young assistant Kayal, we learn how to judge books by their covers, along with the all important title page. The joy of seeing a Jane Austen first edition; the pleasure of touching The Maltese Falcon inscribed by Dashiell Hammett in his spidery signature; the elite world of rare book auctions – this is the world Sebastian evokes. 

The plot line seems, at first, paper thin. Adigal and Kayal, who run a shop called Biblio that deals in rare or antiquarian books, have been sent on a quest by a book collector, Nallathambi Whitehead, to speak to a mysterious man who claims to possess a missing manuscript written by the 19th century British explorer, Sir Richard Burton, best known for translating the Arabian Nights. This in itself does not seem very exciting as Burton, as the characters aver, is little known today in India.

But then the plot thickens. The mystery man who possesses the manuscript seems to have stumbled upon a far greater treasure that anyone would have imagined. The result is a cat and mouse game, as the protagonists set out on a hunt to ‘bring back Burton’ while fending off people equally determined to have the manuscript. There is drama, but it is of the PG Wodehouse kind –you know that despite the scrapes, everyone and everything will be alright in the end.

For all the excitement, The Book Hunter is not without flaws. For those expecting Marquez-like magic realism, mellifluous prose and Dickensian characters, this is not the book for you. There is no romantic tale blossoming in the background. Books are in the foreground in The Book Hunters and everything else – the protagonists, the plot – merely serve as props. Sebastian has a lot to reveal and reveals it well, but expounding information through lengthy dialogues can strain the narrative. Besides, his prose is matter of fact with no stylistic embellishments; the illustrations, however, are a welcome intrusion embellishing the narrative without overpowering it.

The other things to suffer are the characters. As they are mere ‘props’, you get no back stories, making them one-dimensional. We admire, but have no real emotional investment in Adigal and Kayal, except for following them on the journey to discover more about the ‘real tales’ – the tales of books. There are also a few real-life big shots from the world of Indian publishing who crop up now and again – spot them if you can. 

In sum, The Book Hunters of Katpadi is like an exquisite meal, seasoned well, but not, as this reviewer fancies, to everyone’s taste.