Caveat Emptor

Back in the 1970's I picked up a battered copy of The Dice Man by  Luke Rhinehart (a nom de plume for George Cockcroft) from a second hand bookstall. I recall it had a black cover and the words "This Novel Changes Lives," were emblazoned across the front. 

Whether I could actually imagine living my own life by the roll of a die I'm unsure, but the tale captivated me sufficiently that I was never tempted to skip to the end of the book to glance at the ending, as I confess I am wont to do with many novels. That was probably a big mistake because when I reached the final page, it was only to discover that the previous owner had removed it!

Still at least the advertising claim on the front proved its truth, because I have never since bought a second hand book without first inspecting it carefully to ensure the presence of all pages.

I was reminded of this during lockdown when Mister E and I watched the whole of The Sopranos, all 86 episodes, which, despite the hype, we had missed originally. In this instance I came across the box set in a Charity Shop and was assured it had had only one previous loving owner. Memories of The Dice Man hanging over me, I even checked to ensure that every DVD was present and unscratched, especially the final one. Imagine getting through some 80 hours of video only to find you miss the concluding seconds because of a dirty, great gash in the disc.

It didn't happen. Instead we struck unlucky at the beginning of series 6 when, for some unknown reason, the disc refused to play more than one episode. One previous careful owner my foot; had he bent it or spoiled it in some other way?

The internet came to the rescue but not in the way you might expect. Whilst it established the availability of series 6 to download, it also provided a sea of information on getting DVD players to read discs. Ultimately some white vinegar and swapping the disc into another player did the trick, but it was a close run thing.

My one abiding memory of lockdown is inevitably going to be the morbid and revulsive fascination of binge-watching Italian American mobsters with lifestyles and values so contrary to my own, on screen, evening after evening. Also the panic when our viewing was interrupted by a corrupt disc. Did I honestly ever think I would spend the equivalent of more than 3 full days of my retirement transfixed by such unattractive, mysogynistic, volatile, brutal and materialistic characters? Moreover, we couldn't have timed it better as The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel by David Chase who was, of course, responsible for creating The Sopranos, is scheduled to be released early in 2021; that's 6 months later than originally planned because of the pandemic. This time, however, lesson learnt, we shall have to go to the cinema to see it or else move into the 21st century and download it.

Soiled goods; second hand bargains; let the buyer beware.