had an interesting exchange w/ the bookshop owner of Adelaide’s oldest and best second hand bookstore 2day

I started with asking him “got any Phillip k?” and he slightly cocked his head up from being buried in a book, scoffed, paused like he was half offended-half ready to open a box of Cuban cigars and casually said (couldn’t tell if this always happens or never happens type of casually), “yeah just got some in” pausing. not sure if he was intentionally being suspenseful. wtf is this guys intent. he starts picking up novellas from a pile that was right next to him. most of them in plastic sleeves. “haven’t priced them yet”
“uhh ok.. so we come back later this week?”
“yeah. the cheapest one I’ve priced is $20. most expensive $350”
“ok cool, what about the Solaris?”
“$3,500”
“right, and the Neruda?”
“uhh naraudta??? don’t know we had that”
“uhh did I say it wrong? Neruda?”
“OH. I thought you said Naruto”
bro what no
“$700”
“oh ok”
then he started mumble thinking out loud about how there should be a cheaper one and went looking for it. he’s losing his composure, he can’t find it.
“wait I think I got them confused. I think the $700 one was bought by a rock star”
“oh really? local Adelaidien band?”
he’s looking at me like ohhh u rlly wanna know dont u hehe ok I’ll tell u – but again I don’t know how the fuck this guy is still deadpan and managing to convey all of these expressions;
“no it was iron maiden”
then there was small talk abt how celebrities come in and how he felt kinda bad bc when he had “”ascertained”” who he was ppl started flocking around him and he scattered
he gets the Neruda from the glass cabinet, explains how it’s got both the original poems and their English translations. says something about early prints being hard to find
it’s reasonably priced
yep I’ll get it. cool ok im ready to go
my partner is dawdling around the front
words are exchanged abt a signed book
im checked out and start picking up random books to pass the time
touch a book, guy goes “that’s a GREAT book”
I nod awkwardly “oh yeah”
I think he’s like talking or someone is talking I have no idea what’s going on im sort of dazed cos it’s hot as fuck and I want to go home
partner needs to go to the toilet
fucks sake
the guy is still talking. I’m touching random books. One of the stacks I touch is a full collection of Orwells essays and journalistic publications.
“Oh yeah! That’s a whole collection”
“I’ve never read this stuff”
“Oh yeah! He’s brilliant! Really makes you see the books he is known for from a different light”
Kinda figured what he meant to say,
“What? It makes them ironic?”
pause. I can tell so badly he wants to argue with me
But he doesn’t, his conclusion was that I had figured it out, and he agrees “Yes.. ironic”
I don’t remember the entire sequence of the rest of the conversation but some highlights were

Me: it’s good to stay neutral
Him: No, logical
Me: Well, yeah. Logic is neither either/or
Him: Exactly

Me: oh yeah, colonisation
Him: yeah.. colonisation is very interesting ((VERY much you could hear in his tone that he was pro-colonisation))
Me: oh yeah haha.. I guess I’m grateful for it, if it weren’t for colonisation I wouldn’t be here ((im Balkan but he doesn’t know that)) .. im a refugee
Him: oh yes me too. my ancestors came here in 1869, Ireland

My partner comes back and this guy is still going on. I mean at this point im here for it, he’s showing me books that are hundreds of years old
“huh cool they haven’t crumbled”
“yeah the paper back then was much better quality”
he pulls out a 400 year old book and pushes it from his side of the counter to my side. he’s caressing the papers. i don’t feel like im allowed to touch it. but I can tell he’s offering for me to.
“yeah please go on”
Feels like.. a cotton polyester blend
wtf

Finally there’s a space for me to say “alright! let’s grab these” signalling i wanted to pay and go
“oh yes some good choices”
yes ok bye

I left the store absolutely baffled tho, wondering about the coloniser exchange and whether he was the idiot or if I was the idiot. Like was he being shrewd and making fun of me? Was he trying to tell me that I am not special, or was he trying to say that he was