The discussion for the book, By the Sea by Abudulrazaq Gurnah started with an introduction about the club by Dr. Seema Raizada. Dr. Raizada also talked about Literati Inkpad magazine which has the section of “Our Choice” which includes names of the books from different authors and “By the Sea” was one of them. The evening then went ahead with the introduction about the author by Adeena Syed. The introduction about the author included his history, his career and of course his writings. Anshu Vaish led the discussion of the book and told the Club Literati members about the book. Mrs. Vaish stated that though the plot is simple then the story holds you with emotions of betrayal, homesickness, empathy and much more. By the Sea, a profound work with deep universal vision, is a story of an exile with a fake name.
The fact that the book has common people as its protagonist who are trying to make a place in the world, makes it full of emotions, as well as interesting. Mrs. Vaish also read a few passages from the book, making the audience lean out of their seats to hear the work.
Mrs. Kaneez Rizwi shared that we have all been there in being in that non belongingness and that’s what she identified in the book.
Taneema Datta, a professor of economics, shared her views on the book and read her favourite passage from the first few chapters. The discussion was vibrant and full of interest and promises of more in future. And the evening was concluded with the vote of thanks by Shivangi.