Book Review on Village By The Sea

Hi! I've just finished reading a book called Village By The Sea. It's quite a thin book but I took a week to complete it as I had to read it carefully since this was going to be my literature exam. Overall, I find that this book displays a great view of India in a rural point of view where the story takes place in Thul, near Bombay. The story is about a boy, Hari, going to Bombay to earn a living for the family since his father was often drunk and his mother was very ill. His sisters also are not able to work as their mother and father go to the hospital in Alibagh when Hari goes to Bombay. Their eldest sister, Lila, has to take care of their two younger sisters, Bela and Kamal, and do household chores for the De Silva's who come to stay in Thul whenever it is holiday season.

The characters in this story are Hari, Lila, Bela and Kamal, Pinto the dog, Hari's father, Hari's mother, Hira-bai (Hari's neighbour's mother), the Khenekar brothers ( Hira-bai's sons), the new watchman of the upcoming factory which is to be built in Thul, policeman in Bombay, Mr Panwallah the watchmender who taught Hari watchmending skills, Jagu the owner of an eating house who gave Hari a job to clean plates and make chapatti, Adarkhar the person who led the villages to protest against the government, Biju the richest man in town whom people think he smuggles, Sayyid Ali the birdwatcher, de Silva's who come to Thul during holidays and stay at mon Repos, Ramu who is Hari's friend and Jagu's wife.

There are five themes applicable to this story: Family, Change and Adaptation, Urban and Rural India, Poverty and Wealth and Benefactors.

Family: This story tells us how Hari gets along with his family and how they manage to survive despite thiers poverty.

Change and Adaptation: This story tells us how Hari managed to find a job to earn a living in Bombay, a concrete jungle. Hari tries to adapt from a dilapidated village to a hard sturdy country.

Urban and Rural India: This shows how Hari goes from Thul to Bombay.

Poverty: This shows how poor Hari's family is.

Benefactors: This shows how de Silva's helped Hari's family by providing them with jobs and brought his mother to the hospital and paying for her bills.