The superb idea was formulated by Amberina Kazi, professor and chairperson, Department of English, University of Karachi, while analysing about the book "The Beloved City - Writings on Lahore" and its author Bapsi Sidhwa at a local hotel on Wednesday.
Professor Kazi enumerated the quality novel by the author who has carved a niche in the literary world. The flow and the ethos of the book are heartrending as the writer's love for the city of Lahore flows in a systematic and finely woven narration. The reader is engrossed in the book and the time stops for him.
The book's beauty lies in its simplicity and the words seem to be coming in a natural way without any effort, said Professor Kazi, adding it is love and affection that had spread on the pages of the book in a way the reader feels that he or she is walking and sharing the fond memories of the city with the author.
Muneeza Shamsie, an eminent literary critic, thought the book simply marvellous and its reading was a pleasure. No book is beyond the piercing eyes of a critic but sometimes a book is so good that critics find themselves in a quandary as it has no blemish and criticism becomes superfluous. She thought that Sidhwa had a gift of telling the story in such a natural style that it becomes a pleasure to read it without any yawns or some other distraction coming to the reader.
M.P. Bhandara, MNA, read excerpts from the book with gusto and delighted the audience with its beauty and the finest selection of proper words. Bapsi Sidhwa also read some passages from her book and thanked everyone for the warm reception they had given to her and the book.
Bapsi Sidhwa is the author of four internationally acclaimed novels. She lives in Houston, Texas, but was born in Karachi, and raised in Lahore. She graduated from Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, and began writing in her twenties after the birth of two children.
In 1978, at a time when publishing in English was practically non-existent in Pakistan, Sidhwa self-published her novel The Crow Eaters. Since then, The Crow Eaters has been published and translated in numerous European and Asian countries. While 'The Bride' was the first novel, Sidhwa wrote, it was the second to be published. 'Cracking India', Sidhwa's third novel, was declared a New York Times Notable Book for 1991, received the Literature Prize in Germany and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Notable Book in the same year. 'An American Brat', Sidhwa's fourth book, was published in 1993. Beloved City- Writings on Lahore is the latest one and highly acclaimed by the critics.