| Spending time in a bookshop can be most
enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or merely go there to buy a book as a
present. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden
shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your
surroundings. The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust-jacket is
irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you
might end up with a rather dull book. You soon become engrossed in some book or
other, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spend too
much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment
without buying a book, of course. This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, 1 think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can wander round such places to your heart's content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: "Can I help you, sir?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing. Then, and only then, are his services necessary. Of course, you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led you there, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book. You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of bonks in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on, say, ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brass-rubbing—something which had only vaguely interested you up till then. This volume on the subject, however, happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting, that you just had to buy it. This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section. Book-seller must be both long-suffering and indulgent. There is a story which well illustrates this. A medical student had to read a text-book which was far too expensive for him to buy. He couldn't obtain it from the library and the only copy he could find was in his bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shop and read a little of the book at a time. One day, however, he was dismayed to find the book missing from its usual place and was about to leave when he noticed the owner of the shop beckoning to him. Expecting to be told off, he went towards him. To his surprise, the owner pointed to the book, which was tucked away in a comer, "I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it," he said, and left the delighted student to continue his reading. |