Pulp fiction a hit with the young at Greater Noida book fair

For bibliophiles, especially youngsters, the ongoing Noida-Greater Noida book fair is no less than a treat as multiple stalls are offering English and Hindi pulp fiction novels at cheap rates.

For bibliophiles, especially youngsters, the ongoing Noida-Greater Noida book fair is no less than a treat as multiple stalls are offering English and Hindi pulp fiction novels at cheap rates.

The week-long fair has been organised by the National Book Trust in Greater Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The week-long fair, organised by National Book Trust (NBT) at the India Expo Centre in Pari Chowk began on Monday and will continue till Sunday. A total of 72 publishers including NBT, Sahitya Akademi, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and Diamond publications have put up more than 85 book and stationery stalls for visitors.

Tuesday saw youngsters flocking to the fair in large numbers as multiple stalls are offering novels and classics at Rs 100. At Modern Books stall, one can find classics of Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Blake and William Shakespeare as well as novels by Dan Brown, Nicholas Sparks and Robert Ludlum.

“I am a student of English literature and it is such a delight to find my course books such as The Canterbury Tales and Miss Julie here. These books would cost me a lot in other stores but I got them at a subsidised rate at the fair,” Ayushi Sharma, a student from Galgotias University, said.

“My favourite comic hero is Chacha Chaudhary because his brain functions faster than a computer. His friend Sabu is also very strong. I bought four comic books,” Arnav Vidyarthi, a-10-year old visitor, said.

Many youngsters were also seen favouring novels of American authors.

“I have come to the fest to look for fiction novels by my favourite authors -- Dan Brown and Arvind Adiga. Since I am a management student, I find such adventure novels soothing,” Nivedita Srinivas, a student of Birla Institute of Technology and Management, said.

Students interacted with renowned Hindi author Madan Lal Verma ‘Krant’ on Tuesday afternoon.

“Around 200 women students of Savitri Phule Balika Inter College were invited for an interaction session with Hindi author Madan Krant and stories of revolutionary freedom fighters were recited by the children and Krant,” Mayank Suroliya, spokesperson for NBT, said.