THE BLACK DOG OF FINCA VIGIA

“That shop is closed,” a helpful passerby shouted from across the street. I peered through the windows of the locked-up double doors. “There is nobody inside, they have all gone home.” It was two o’clock in the afternoon of the twenty seventh, two days after Christmas. I guess there was no reason for a shop to stay open past midday in the small village of Barrydale. It was quite understandable; one has got to guard against burnout at this time of the year. But I desperately wanted one of the books on the open shelf on the veranda. There were no instructions and no honesty box either. And my Dutch Reformed background (as my old pal Droes would have said) did not allow me to nonchalantly “lift” the book from the veranda.

Getting hold of Hemingways is difficult. They are like hen’s teeth. Hemingway’s Book Shop in Hermanus has a shelf full of them, but at Hermanus prices. I wanted pensioner’s prices. And here was this pensioner-priced Hemingway now on the veranda... begging to be taken.

Folks just walked up and down the street and nobody gave the bookshelf so much as a second glance. We are seeing more and more of this phenomenon; piles of books with signs saying, “just help yourself”., on a table, just like that. Fantastic, a real gem, and it was for free. And just recently at Groot Brak there were two huge tables heaped with books, ... for free! Was this lot also for free?