chiang mai | backstreet books
In less than 24 hours, our train was departing Chiang Mai and we had finished our books! On the final night, we headed to the second-hand bookstore in town to replenish our stocks. Exiting the first store with empty hands, I was slightly overwhelmed with desperation of not having a book to read so the search continued into the neighbouring store. The shelves of Buddhist books drew me towards them and into my head popped a random thought, “Maybe I can find here that old Christmas Humphreys book I read in the Philosophy library at the Ludwig Maximillian University….”
After perusing the shelves twice and with an achy neck from the constant head tilt, I went up to the counter and asked if I could do an inventory search. The man behind the desk, with half a head of white blond hair was slouching deep into a stack of books. He first answered in silence by tapping his finger on his temples and said, “It’s all in here.” So I posed him my question, half expecting him to return me a question marked look. But instead, “I’ve got two of his here. Look at the shelves again.” I secretly jumped in excitement – a 1952 Penguin edition of Christmas Humphreys’ book – though not the one I read but still…
George O’Brien is the proprietor, stock inventory and manager of Backstreet Books in Chiang Mai originally from Ireland. One Malaysian hunting for Humphreys, a Spaniard collecting Krishnamurti and an Irish man in between and upset because he can’t say ‘Barcelona’ like the Spaniard can, we had a ball together. You’ve got to give it these Irish guys for their wit and flair (yes Ray, if you are reading this, that means you too!). For these lads, it’s absolutely normal to gulp 10 pints of beer and end the night with a couple of self-penned poems to share with some friends. I never once had a dull time with them.
So when in Chiang Mai, pay a visit to George and his treasure trove of decent books. Probably one of the best second-hand English bookstore around here in South East Asia.