An Introduction to Nadeem Aslam
Mr. Aslam was worth the wait! Despite last fall’s disappointment that Mr. Aslam could not arrive as planned, we welcome him now to GW. Tuesday night marked the beginning of the month-long seminar that Mr. Aslam will be conducting for ten undergraduates. The one credit course includes reading three novels by contemporary British authors and writing about the experience. Mr. Aslam is an enchanting and charming man, who described our weekly meetings as book clubs with a professional writer. Then he asked, “When is that writer getting here?”
He casually outlined our plans for how we will spend our time together: read the novels and discuss the writer’s construction of culture and characters. Mr. Aslam spoke about how he has spent many years with a book, returning to it time and again to puzzle out certain sequences that have stuck with him. The first novel we’ll read is Alan Warner’s Morvern Callar, and our instructions are to read the book with a pencil in hand and to decide if we think the protagonist’s actions are convincing and fit her personality.
Mr. Aslam read aloud to us and also recounted memorable moments from books he admires, such as The English Patient and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Based on my first impression, I highly recommend everyone attend Mr. Aslam’s reading this Thursday night.
Nadeem Aslam Reading, Thursday, February 7, 2008. 7-9 p.m. Free.
Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, Amphitheater, 3rd Floor
