Aganta Burina Burinata, written by Cevat Şakir Karaağaçlı, nicknamed Halikarnas Balıkçısı, is a very famous novel. It is among the oldest known works of the author. Topics such as the author, exile, and murder of his father were often mentioned. This work, which is one of the first names that come to mind among sea-themed books, is as well-known as its author. The main subject in the book is that a young man named Mahmut wants to be a sailor from a very young age. It is told that Mahmut returned to his village after fulfilling his ambition and quit his maritime business and started to deal with earthworks. In other words, the selection process of the character named Mahmut between sea and land is told in the novel.

The story begins with the narration of Mahmut's childhood. Mahmut's entire family is sailors. Mahmut also grows with the desire to be a sailor. However, Mahmut's father Süleyman Kaptan was tired of the difficulties and dangers of the sea. For him, the meaning of the sea is death, land, and life. That's why he doesn't want his son to be a sailor. Mahmut's uncle Davut is a captain who admires the sea. Mahmut always takes his uncle as an example.

Mahmut did not play with normal toys due to his passion for the sea. He builds himself a ship with branches and swims by the lake. When his father noticed this situation, he crushed the ship Mahmut made and gave it to Halil Usta as his apprentice. Mahmut does not forget about seamanship here. On the contrary, this love increases even more. Because Usta Halil is also an old sailor. While training Mahmut, he behaves like a sailor and uses technical terms. When his father finds out about this, he takes Mahmut and enrolls him in the neighborhood school. Here, while trying to learn science, the sailor tries to spend time tying the knot with the ropes he finds. Since he is not good at his lessons, he is often punished with bastinado. Mahmut, who married Ayşe in time, always carries the love of the sea. Mahmut and Ayşe are invited to a wedding held in a remote coastal village. During the wedding, they become guests at a place in that village. When Mahmut gets tired of his wedding, he finds himself in a sailor's coffeehouse. During the wedding, Mahmut always spends time in the Denizci coffeehouse. Meanwhile, his passion for the sea flares up again. In Aganta Burina Burinata novel, Mahmut goes on a ship one day and sails back to his beloved sea.