500 pages | 500 tudalen
reprise! in the first lockdown we were measuring books - thick books are still in demand!
Novels only, their thickness, the other dimensions being boring. 500pp + books. In the Age of Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & the Light, thickness and page count have meaning. Quite a few failed the test, although to be honest we didn’t feel inclined to count words. Jane Austen and Emily Bronte missed the cut, falling into the 3-400pp. range. This was not Cynan Jones’s day, of course. Perhaps we will move on to thin books, low page numbers, just for him.
(note - whilst it might be taken bite-sized Cynan’s total page count in his Granta/Parthian series is 578 pages - all in stock here.)
Cynan’s most recent, Stillicide, 178pp., is in hardback, so would have spoiled the aesethetics as pictured above . . .
One measurement we could not make was readability, ie how quickly or enthusiastically or doggedly a reader might make it to the end. Putting Tolstoy or Joyce up against Pullman as page-turners might be unrealistic, even unfair, but we realise that it is a matter of taste after all and didn’t factor that in.
So we have collected together 35 books (1.40 metres) from our stock, some new, some second-hand, all over 500pp, between 3.5cm. and 6cm., mostly around 4cm., which is quite thick. See the page count for each at the foot of this page. You can measure some of your own books to get the idea and maybe look at page numbers while you’re at it. For an unspecified reason we chose p. 420 from each book for a quote to whet your appetite and also check what each weighed-in at. At the foot of this page you can calculate postage for multiple copies . . .
How many of these have you read? There is still time . . .
Cynan Jones, browsing in Penrallt, December 2019,
after his ‘Stillicide’ event, while proudly sporting his
Môr a Mynydd o Lyfrau bag
First heard on BBC Radio 4, then, auspiciously in the ffotogaleri, Pen’rallt Bookshop in what feels like another age. - new, hardback £10, paperback now available - £8
873pp. 6cm., 1302 gms - lockdown special: £15 - new hardback - available
When Anne applies to her needle, beads of blood decorate her work. Liz says, she’d be better with a cobbler’s awl, except a cobbler wouldn’t be so chatty. He will not let his wife strike her; Anne cannot be faulted for diligence, and for the rest he feels she should not be faulted. ‘I suppose she will outgrow it,’ Liz says. As Gregory will ougrow his bad dreams, in which demons who live south of the river try to bribe the guards to let them across the bridge; {. . .}
Extract from p.420
“I’m enjoying Mirror & Light very much and yes I weighed it at 1.3 Kg. This means it is also useful for my arm strengthening exercises, although I think I’d better work up to it with 500g sugar packets. Mind and body….”
672pp. 4cm., 587 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
’He flung away from her and walked to the window, beyond it the smell and blow of the hay in the sleeping parks of Dalziel of Meiklebogs. Then suddenly he turned - Christine, I’m sorry. But I’m weary as well, let’s not speak of it more. ‘
Extract from p.420
503pp. 3cm., 381 gms - £8 - new
As the Kesh saw it, the domestic animals consented to live and to die with human beings in the First House of Life. The mysteries of animal-human inter-dependence and cooperation and the mystery of sacrifice were the central preoccupation of the animal rituals of the House of Obsidian.
Extract from p.420
522pp. 3.3cm., 376 gms - £6
The wide golden prairie that Lee Scoresby’s ghost had seen briefly through the windiow was lying quiet under the first sun of morning.
Extract from p.420
806pp. 4.5cm., 538 gms - £3 - 2nd hand - one copy sold, one copy still available
Having seen her down to the hall and again kissed her hand, a little above the glove just where the pulse beat and having told her some rubbish so daring that she did not know whether to be angry or to laugh, Oblonsky went to his sister’s room. He found her in tears.
Extract from p.420
565pp. 3.5cm., 402 gms - £6 - new
Wren turned to Theo, almost fell against him. She was tired by their journey along the Holloway Road, and she felt that she would never see her father again. She was ready to cry. ‘He’s gone. He’s gone for ever!’
Extract from p.420
527pp. 3cm., 405 gms - £8 - new
The moment the mountaineers heard of the arrival of the daughter of Harlech, an ‘adlais o lawenydd’ (an echo of gladness) resounded throughout the glenn. Matrons and maidens, stout men and aged all hastened to Cader y Cil to bring their offerings of welcome to the granddaughter of their valiant chieftain, the great Dafydd.
Extract from p.420
564pp. 3.5cm., 418 gms - £6 - new
Father is cycling along the lane, after spending the day at Scoatney again, and the boys will be home any minute now. I suppose I must go down and get tea; tinned salmon would cheer me up most, I think. It is most strange and wretched coming back to the present after being in this journal so long - I’ve been writing all day with onIy one break when I took Heloise indoors for her dinner and gave myself a very few cold sausages.
One of my worst longings to cry has come over me. I am going to run down the mound grinning and singing to fight it off.
Extract from p.420
826pp. 4cm., 584 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
He was still jogging about the room, with the purse clutched in his hand, when a great cheering arose in the yard. ‘The news has spread already,‘ said Clennam, looking down from the window. Will you show yourself to them, Mr Dorrit? The are very earnest, and the evidentlt wish it.’
Extract from p.420
531pp. 3cm., 452 gms - £8 - new
The Imperial Russian Exiles’ Club commissioned a sculptor to work on a marble tree, split in two, as a poignant but relevant symbol of Fyodor Mikhailovich’s life and his contribution to the glory of Russia. When Alexander Kerenskii’s former ministers heard of this they decided to plant a poplar tree themselves, as a symbol of eternal life and as a symbol of hope of seeing democracy restored in Russia.
Extract from p.420
531pp. 3.5cm., 630gms - £3 - 2nd hand
Comisiynodd Clwb Brenhinol y Rwsiaid Alltud Gerflunydd i weithio ar goeden farmor, a honno wedi ei thocio yn ei hanner, fel symbol ingol ond pwrpasol o fywyd Theodor Mikhailovich a’i gyfraniad i ogoniant Rwsia. Pan glywodd cyn-weinidogion Alexander Kerensky am gomisiwn y Clwb Brenhinol, penderfynodd mai plannu coeden Boplys, fel symbol o fywyd tragwyddol a’r gobaith am adfer democratiaeth yn Rwsia, oedd y deyrnged orau.
Echdyniad o t.420
551pp. 4cm., 455 gms - £6 - new - sorry, now sold
And I start to cry again and I feel him hold me tighter and I cry harder and when my arms can move a little I put them around him and cry even harder because of how he feels and how he smells and how his Noise sounds and how he’s holding me and his worry and his fretting and his care and his softness - And I didn’t know until just now how much I missed him.
Extract from p.420, #
635pp. 4cm. 510 gms - £3 - 2nd hand - sorry, latest copy sold
Of course I do. I remember every word you say. They arrive at the barbarian camp, and the blind assassin tells the Servant of Rejoicing he has a message for him from the Invincible One, only it must be delivered in private, with just the girl there. That’s because he doesn’t want to let her out of his sight. He can’t see. He’s blind, remember?
Extract from p. 420
554pp. 3.3cm., 387 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
Unfortunately, her sermon was cut short when the doctor creased in half and coughed with all his might over the abandoned clothes. Tears welled up in his eyes and Rudy couldn’t help but wonder. A new future? Like him? Wisely, he did not speak it. The examination was completed and he managed to perform his first nude Heil Hitler.
Extract from p. 420
641pp. 4cm. 442 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
It was the end of September. I was in my house one beautiful late afternoon when Anton strode in. I knew that something terrible had happened. He had just come back from Bourini. About twelve men were stationed there at a time. That morning four who were not on duty had gone down to Moutsa to swim. They must have grown careless, more Schlamperei, because they all got into the water together. They came out, one by one, and sat throwing a ball and sunning on the beach. Then three men stood out of the trees behind them. One had a sub-machine-gun. The Germans had no chance.
Extract from p.420
610pp. 4cm., 483 gms - £3 - 2nd hand - this one sold, new copy still available - £8.00
Now he seemed narrow-witted and without particular dreams. I couldn’t stand to look at him standing in the doorway, his body hanging from its frame with nothing but its own useless hands for company. And all he could think to say to his wife was ‘This can’t be.’ It couldn’t be, but it was, and Mother alone among us seemed to realise that.
Extract from p.420
629pp. 3cm., 447 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
’Nobody’s trying to say how it happened,’ said Sciola. ‘I’m just saying, don’t believe everything you hear. That’s a dangerous place up there, They ought to fence it off or something . . . Maybe you’d better sit down a minute, you think, honey?’ He said to Camilla, who was looking a bit green.
Extract from p.420
560pp. 3.5cm., 367 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
Hovell recovers from his cough; he doffs his hat at van Cleef. Van Cleef stands, and leans over the prow to take Hovells hand. The spurned inspector and interpreter, meanwhile, half sit back down. Deputy Fischer now stands, clumsily, and the boat rocks. Hovell swings the large van Cleef over on to the longboat. ‘One in the bag, Mr Hovell,’ mutters the Captain. ‘Deftly done.’ Faintly comes the rumble of Chief van Cleef’s thunderous laughter.
Extract from p.420
561pp. 3cm., 414 gms - £9 - new, paperback
It was peaceful. I wasn’t afraid. I was only frightened at finding you dead. A wound, blood. Blood turns me faint, I detest it. So I go in and my mouth’s dry and my ears are singing, and then I see you coming with an armload of books!’ She laughed, but this time her voice cracked. She turned left profile to him, glancing at him once sidelong.
Extract from p.420
854pp. 5cm., 612 gms - £7 - new
I clenched my fists, realizing that my hands were shaking. I looked at Robert and said, ‘I cannot do that, at least not yet. But I will take an oath to you to assist honestly in the trials with any questions of law. I understand it will help you to have a Serjeant-at-law advising you,’ I added boldly, ‘so our aims coincide.’
Extract from p.420
933pp. 4.5cm., 708 gms - £5 - new
And Bloom letting on to be awfully deeply interested in nothing, a spider’s web in the corner behind the barrel, and the citizen scowling after him and the old dog at his feet looking up to know who to bite and when. - Adishonoured wife, says the citizen, that’s what’s the cause of all our misfortunes. - And there she is, says Alf, that was giggling over the Police Gazette with Terry on the counter, in all her warpaint.
Extract from p. 420
987pp. 5.5cm., 1105 gms - £8 - new
{. . .} the fact that people just have their limits, the fact that some are more limited than others, the fact that somebody said the MAGA hats are the new KKK hood, the fact that I hope that’s not true, because there are a lot of MAGA hats around, the fact that once in New Haven, that neighbor kid Zeck borrowed some eggs from us and Mommy was really mad because he never returned them, Zeck, the fact that it was short for Ezekiel, the fact that I wouldn’t mind so much now because we have plenty of eggs around, but it did kind of surprise us then, {. . .}
Extract from p.420
632pp. 4.3cm., 509 gms - £7 - new
After several attempts the boy mastered the move. ‘Now you know half of it,’ said Shadow. ‘Because the moves are only half of it. The other half is this: put your attention on the place where the coin ought to be. Look at it. Follow it with your eyes. If you act like it’s in your right hand, no one will even look at your left hand, no matter how clumsy you are.
Extract from p.420
510pp. 3cm., 363 gms - £7 - new
At this point my host saw that darkness had arrived and that the man before him, who was now almost entirely turned into a silhouette, was struggling to see. There was a power outage. So he motioned for Jamike to stop and went out of the house to an open area where there was a kitchen - a half-covered place with old cupboards, almost black with soot. One of the people in the other flats who shared the kitchen with him was bent over a stove in the corner of the room peering into a bubbling pot with a torchlight.
Extract from p.420
504pp. 4cm., 672 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
Roedd dwy resaid arall o Schupos eto fyth ym mhen draw’r stryd. Benben a nhw roedd criw o weithwyr ifanc cegog yn eu hergydio wrth fynnu’r hawl i basio heibio. Heibio’u hysgwyddau, gwelodd Alyosha golofnau’r SA yn trampio’n bwrpasol: rhesi gwydn ohonyn nhw, un ar ol y llall, yn ddynion tebol a’u breichiau’n llawn penderfyniad.
Echdyniad o t.420
639pp. 4.5cm., 709 gms - £8 - new
’I still find it impossible, whenever I come to the mining Valleys to understand, at first, why there is not yet socialism in Britain - the need and the spirit have been evidenced so often in these proud places. But then I remember all the other places, so hard to understand from this singular experience.
Extract from p. 420
672pp, 4cm., 362 gms - £3 new
Colins Classics edition with glossary.
'Love is like a tree, it grows of its own accord, it puts down deep roots into our whole being.' Set in medieval Paris, against the backdrop of the brooding Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Hugo's take on the classic story of Beauty and the Beast tells of the hunchbacked, grotesque bellringer, Quasimodo. Rejected by Parisian society because of his appearance, Quasimodo resides in Notre-Dame, harbouring a love for the only woman that pities him, a gypsy named Esmerelda.
568pp. 3.5cm., 479 gms - £6 - new
Malcolm dragged himself to his knees, dizzy and weak and almost totally confused. Threough the tumult of voices one voice creid out to him with perfect clarity, that of Lyra, and he called back, ‘Lyra! Lyra! I’m coming!’
Extract from p.420
523pp. 3.3cm., 393 gms - £6 - new
I wheeze. Coll air hits me like a brick to the face. It pulls the scent of wet grass into my lungs. Wilted reeds tickle my feet. The dreamscape. The realisation brings me to my knees. But I have no time to waste. I have to save her. I need to bring her to this place.
Extract from p.420
555pp. 3.5cm., 419 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
The sounds of the bar spilled out onto the road, everything starting a little earlier, everything moved forward in the day because of curfew of maybe because the morning light here is intensely bright. SEven in the evening and there are cars parked outside, not all with UN markings, and the drivers are gathered again, smoking cigerettes.
Extract from p.420
725pp. 3.5cm., 531 gms - £4 - 2nd hand
In the case of the Soup Kitchen, as with the unemployed processions, most of those who benefitted were unskilled labourers or derelicts: with but few exceptions the unemployed artisans - although their need was just as great as that of the others - avoided the place as if it were infected with the plague.
Extract from p.420
686pp. 3.4cm., 483 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
I watch the boy just one year in high school and not even twelve yet. He trying to be brave, looking straight at me, eye to eye and frowning a little because he don’t know yet that you have to age into a stone face. It’s the first time he doing it, he know and I know, the son trying to stare down the father. But boy is a boy and not a man.
Extract from p.420
830pp. 6cm., 2nd hand - hardback - £3
Ah Sook decided to take her cool expression as a cue to leave, and rose from his cushion. He had calculated that he had time enough to walk to Kaniere and back again before the sun went down, and he wished to inform his compatriot Quee Long that Emery Staines would be present, that very evening, at the Wayfarer’s Fortune on Revell-street.
Extract from p.420
501pp. 3.5cm., 436 gms - £3 - 2nd hand - sorry, already sold
Shanti was always teasing Fred about how little he liked to work and how much he enjoyed his statutary siesta. I myself remember Fred with affection. He was lively, outspoken, young at heart and easy-going; and, shy as I was when I went to stay with Shanti Uncle and Aunty Henny, I didn’t feel awkward in Fred’s company as I often did with their other friends.
Extract from p.420
501pp. 3cm., 425 gms - £7 - new
’You men,’ he called sharply, ‘ Leave now. All of you.’ The labourers melted away like smoke, Samuel clambering rapidly out of the grave and following them. Left alone with Rich and Hoskyn, I slid the hand with the little jar behind my back. Rich looked into the grave. His cold eyes passed over St John’s remains, then he turned back to me.
Exract from p.420
662pp. 4cm., 501 gms - £3 - 2nd hand
I held up a banana in front of her. She shook her head as the tears ran down her cheeks. In the end I lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom window, where I stood her on the sill. That did the trick. I named all the things we saw, she stared with interest and pointed at every car that passed.
Extract from p.420
500 pp. +
PRE-PAYMENT AND COLLECTION CAN BE ARRANGED LOCAL DELIVERY AND POSTAGE
https://www.penralltgallerybookshop.co.uk/arrangements-for-paying-for-your-books
1. Direct collection/delivery (local - Machynlleth): free
2. Postal delivery: Geoff has acquired a set of post-office scales (The Store, Machynlleth, £5.99) and is keen to make use of them, so he has weighed all of of these 500pp. plus books to the gram (no imperialism here). Add up your selection and you’ll be secure in knowing how much you’d be spending on postage. This way if you so desire you can receive up to 2 kgs (2,000 gms!) of books (remembering to factor in 200gms for packaging, ink and stamp) for £3.80 @ 2nd class, (£6 @ 1st class).
And, with the bookshop currently closed we deliver locally by foot and by cycle.
Thank you to all our wonderful customers and supporters. Cadwch yn iach!