By the Sea: By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
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By the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
‘One scarcely dares breathe while reading it for fear of breaking the enchantment’ The Times
‘Gurnah is a master storyteller’ Financial Times
On a late November afternoon Saleh Omar arrives at Gatwick Airport from Zanzibar, a far away island in the Indian Ocean. With him he has a small bag in which lies his most precious possession – a mahogany box containing incense. He used to own a furniture shop, have a house and be a husband and father. Now he is an asylum seeker from paradise; silence his only protection.
Meanwhile Latif Mahmud, someone intimately connected with Saleh’s past, lives quietly alone in his London flat. When Saleh and Latif meet in an English seaside town, a story is unravelled. It is a story of love and betrayal, seduction and possession, and of a people desperately trying to find stability amidst the maelstrom of their times.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Paperbacks, New edition (8 July 2002) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 256 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 9780747557852 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0747557852 |
| Dimensions | 12.8 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm |
by Citizen45
This novel is utterly absorbing from start to finish. The deep humanity of the writer is astonishing. The characterisation of the characters is immensely detailed and credible. The story lines come together in an exceptionally accomplished manner.
by Kindle Customer
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by Honey Badger
Having read AfterLives by the same author, I’m now reading his other books. It’s the story of two families in colonial and post-colonial East Africa, misunderstandings and betrayals and a gradual reconciliation after we’ve followed the very different journeys of two of the characters from Zanzibar to England. Rather than recap and analyse the story, I’d just add that it’s beautifully told, very easy reading and worth all the accolades that have been heaped upon it.
by Celia Ritchie
An interesting, if somewhat longwinded story, at times rambling. A glossary for the many references to Arabic words would have been useful too. I’m not sure who, if anyone I would recommend this book to, but having said that, on the whole I did feel that I benefited from persevering with it to the end.
by Anna
By the Sea is beautiful, a meandering story of remembrance that takes you from Zanzibar to London, through Malaya and Persia, a story of business, love, and revenge.
Wandering through Saleh Omar’s memories and Latif Mahmud’s accusations, Abdulrazak Gurnah reminds you again and again that what you perceive as a child may not always be true. Related tenuously by marriage, the two men’s lives have been intertwined by a series of slights and betrayal, each branch of the family grasping for the property and wealth of the deceased as their own family’s prosperity rises and falls over time. Behind the scene, pulling the strings, is Hussein, who both entrances and tricks, then disappears home to Persia to let things fall out as they may.
Yet it’s not Hussein himself who brings about their downfall. It’s their pride and greed, hidden behind a veneer of religion and holiness, supported by a belief in their own perception of right.
At times, the story seems to drift too far into the past, and you end up on distant shores wondering why Abdulrazak has left you there, but down each branching river, you end up by the same shore, realising that each diverging stream had an effect that ultimately led to Saleh’s persecution and need for asylum. And it’s by the sea in London, where Saleh tries to build a new life–or at least to let what’s left of his life end peacefully–that he has to face the painful past and finally lay it to rest.
by W. Datoo
As in my previous review for Gurnah’s literary works I am a bit biased because he does originate from my country! (I thought I would put that in as a disclaimer of my inherent bias)
In this masterpiece Gurnah establishes himself as an amazing storyteller and exquisite author of narrative. There is no dull moment in the book and the stories intertwining are one of his classic characteristics. You want to read on to see why Saleh has sought asylum when his life (from what we are told) has been full of enteprise and comfort. When he does meet a person from his previous life; it seems that both individuals fill in the gaps for each other to piece together the stories of their lives.
Gurnah’s small town rhetoric is peppered with the effects colonialism has had and how the succession of power and independence failed miserably! Possibly alluding to the perils facing Africa in the modern world today?
An excellent piece of writing and a quick read (I read it over three days – mind you I do have a long commute to work!).
by Ms. Mary Fletcher
I was expecting more- more about being a refugee. It’s a convoluted account of two individuals but gets a bit difficult to follow.
by The Miller
Elegantly written intertwined story of two individuals caught up in a revolution in an unnamed East African country, time in the GDR and their eventual meeting up in England – one a penniless asylum seeker and the other an academic.