After Lives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
- Abdul Basith
- Jan 15, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 16, 2023
Date Completed: 13th January 2023
Participants: Basith, Priyal
Discussion Moderator: Basith
top of page
bottom of page
Updated: Oct 16, 2023
Date Completed: 13th January 2023
Participants: Basith, Priyal
Discussion Moderator: Basith
I had high expectations from a Nobel prize winning author, however, I found his writing style to be quite erratic filled with details that made it hard to follow the main narrative of the story. I liked reading about Afiya's life and I was glad it turned out the way it did, but I wish he didn't not rush the end of the story and gave Ilyas's story more depth.
As Basith said, the achievement with this book was simply completing it, even if it was a little torturous.
Found the first half of the book to be quite slow and filled with too many details that did not add anything meaningful to the story. It got better in the latter half, however the ending was a little underwhelming. The story of Hamza persevering through all the difficulties and challenges in life with dignity stood out for me in the book. The development of his relationship with Afiya was heart warming and the character arc of Khalifa was quite interesting too.
This was the first book we read in our book club and we persevered through the slow first half of the book to finish it within the deadline we set for ourselves. If not anything else, I would…