Books Burn Badly - Manuel Rivas [257]
‘It’s not easy to find what you’re looking for. And I’m in no fit state to rummage around. If I made an effort now, it was because of your father. He called me from hospital the first time he was admitted. He was excited. Very excited. Had a lead. So old Ren here got back on his feet.’
He flourished Ulysses. ‘It would seem half the world would go crazy for this book. It has only one little defect, apart from the fact you can’t understand it. A flyleaf is missing.’
Gabriel anxiously flicked through the pages. Muttered, ‘I wonder if it has an ex-libris.’
Ren was sweating. Took off his hat and laid it on the suitcase. Wiped his stunted head with a handkerchief. Breathed in through his nose. Seemed to be sniffing a new scent that had found its way into the house. A scent sewn to the plants.
‘It may have. I don’t know, nor do I care.’
‘It’d make it more valuable,’ said Gabriel.
‘More valuable? I doubt it. Who the heck cares about ownership? These pieces are of incalculable value.’ He whispered the word again, like an echo, ‘Incalculable.’
‘How much is incalculable, Ren?’
Ren dried his hands on the handkerchief and stuffed it, withered and hanging, back into his jacket pocket. Said, ‘Let’s see. These objects are difficult to value. Some things are just priceless. Your father would have paid well. Extremely well. In this case, I’d have said the payment would have been splendid.’
‘How much?’ asked Gabriel again.
Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Copyright
Also by Manuel Rivas
Dedication
Author’s Acknowledgements
Books Burn Badly
1. The Water Marks
2. The Night of the Moths
3. The Newspaper Seller
4. The Breadcrumb
5. The Matador
6. The Burning Books
7. The Books’ Burial
8. The Invisible Man
9. I’ll Just Go and See Who It Is
10. The Rabble and Providence
11. Natura Est Maxima in Minimis
12. Live Phosphorus
13. Open Body
14. Dead Man’s Slap
15. The Doorknocker
16. The Street Singer
17. The Lead Locomotive and the Flying Boat
18. Dez and Terranova
19. Curtis’ Second Fight
20. The White Roses
21. The Prickles of Words
22. Grandpa Mayarí’s Cane
23. O and Harmony
24. Chimpanzee Language
25. The Strategy of Light
26. The Urchin Woman
27. Jolies Madames!
28. The Apprentice Taxidermist
29. The 666 Chestnuts
30. The Gravedigger
31. King Cintolo’s Cockroach
32. Acetylsalicylic Acid
33. The Witch’s Kiss
34. Pinche’s Bike
35. The Woman at the Window
36. The Judge’s Drawer
37. The Mysterious Outsider
38. The Yoke Collector
39. The Supplier of Bibles
40. I Was Forsook
41. The Bramble Sphere
42. The Unfalling Leaves
43. The Star and Romantic the Horse
44. The Prohibited
45. The Championship for God
46. The Photos
47. The Paúl Santos Smile
48. The Inhabitants of Emptiness
49. The Diligent’s Ball
50. The Roswell Man
51. The Chemin Creux
52. O and Famous Men
53. The Phosphorescent Diver
54. Your Name
55. The Price
56. Élisée’s Book
57. Nel blu dipinto di blu
58. Banana Split
59. Montevideo’s Cabin
60. The Song of the Birds
61. Leica and Silvia
62. A Dramatic History of Culture
63. ‘A Sacred Feast’
64. The Compulsive Writer
65. The Lighthouse’s Novel
66. O and Animals
67. The Portuguese Architect
68. The Hotel of Mirrors
69. The Lights Going Out
70. The Denunciation
71. The Notebook
72. A Load of Suspicion
73. Judith
74. The Whale’s Belly
75. The Tachygraphic Rose
76. Ren’s ‘Museum’
77. Blue Mist
78. The Arrest
79. Popsy’s Delivery
80. The Lucky Gambler
81. Disguises
82. The Camden Town Fire-Eater
83. Felicity of Expression
84. The Medal
85. Purple Rain
86. Coccinella septempunctata
87. Working for Eternity
88. Bigarreaus
89. You I Can
90. Something Special