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The Last Gift
From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, an astounding meditation on family, self and the meaning of home.
Abbas has never told anyone about his past-before he was a sailor on the high seas, before he met his wife Maryam outside a drugstore in Exeter, before they settled into a quiet life with their children, Jamal and Hanna. Now, at the age of sixty-three, he suffers a collapse that renders him unable to speak about things he thought he would one day have to.
Jamal and Hanna have grown up and gone out into the world. They were both born in England but cannot shake a sense of apartness. Hanna calls herself Anna now, and has just moved to a new city to be near her boyfriend. She feels the relationship is headed somewhere serious, but the words have not yet been spoken out loud. Jamal, the listener of the family, moves into a student house and is captivated by a young woman with dark blue eyes and her own complex story to tell. Abbas's illness forces both children home, to the dark silences of their father and the fretful capability of their mother, Maryam, who has never thought to find herself-until now.
Abbas has never told anyone about his past-before he was a sailor on the high seas, before he met his wife Maryam outside a drugstore in Exeter, before they settled into a quiet life with their children, Jamal and Hanna. Now, at the age of sixty-three, he suffers a collapse that renders him unable to speak about things he thought he would one day have to.
Jamal and Hanna have grown up and gone out into the world. They were both born in England but cannot shake a sense of apartness. Hanna calls herself Anna now, and has just moved to a new city to be near her boyfriend. She feels the relationship is headed somewhere serious, but the words have not yet been spoken out loud. Jamal, the listener of the family, moves into a student house and is captivated by a young woman with dark blue eyes and her own complex story to tell. Abbas's illness forces both children home, to the dark silences of their father and the fretful capability of their mother, Maryam, who has never thought to find herself-until now.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
505 people are currently reading
3451 people want to read
About the author
Abdulrazak Gurnah
31 books2,195 followersAbdulrazak Gurnah was born in 1948 in Zanzibar and lives in England, where he teaches at the University of Kent. The most famous of his novels are Paradise, shortlisted for both the Booker and the Whitbread Prize; By the Sea, longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and Desertion, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021 "for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 277 reviews
February 28, 2025
I really enjoyed the story. It immediately draws me in with Abdulrazak Gurnah’s apt language, subtle yet enveloping tone, and the gradually tightening sorrow, like a silk cloth gently constricting the heart.
”When people know they are nearing the end of their lives, it is instinctual to look back on their life. We often say, "I'll take this secret to my grave," but in reality, we are not content to become an unsolved mystery. Before closing our eyes forever, we feel an unresolved need to face ourselves honestly. The past is not so easily forgotten; it doesn't disappear but instead takes root and grows. Time may bring a superficial sense of calm and reconciliation, but occasionally, something unexpected from the past will catch us off guard. At least, that’s how it is for me, dodging and weaving through life, making a weak and futile resistance against an ever - stronger opponent.”
This opening was already enough to captivate me, but Gurnah goes further, addressing the theme of immigration. Reflecting on where we come from is unavoidable; it concerns the survival and identity of outsiders. Immigration is a representative topic: you must abandon everything from your past and live in a completely unfamiliar place. Many of us have experienced being strangers in a foreign land, or as Gurnah puts it, fugitives. It requires immense courage. When I was in London, shopping at a mall near my apartment, standing on the long escalator with my headphones on, listening to local songs, I looked at the faces passing by me, realizing they would never understand what was playing in my headphones, nor comprehend my emotions at that moment. I was the one who needed to work hard to fit in, and it was my past that was being ruthlessly erased. This is the struggle of a drifter, inescapable identity anxiety.
The immigration story in the book is even more complex, involving issues of ethnocentrism, colonialism, painful history, and the hollow confusion of second - generation immigrants. This makes the story more three - dimensional and realistic, fitting well with Gurnah’s own experiences.
Gurnah is meticulous, and only such meticulousness and sensitivity can produce such beautiful prose, even while telling a fragmented story. The use of flashbacks, interjections, and multiple narrative perspectives creates a strong immersive reading experience.
All these while, I didn't think much about the importance of one's roots or returning to where one belongs. But this time, I felt that exhaustion, having lived a lifetime, and the burden of not being able to live carefreely. "And now I am still here, like a weary guest in my own life."
As Gurnah said, leaving is already a form of death; dying again doesn't seem like something that would be too hard to endure.
4.2 / 5 stars
”When people know they are nearing the end of their lives, it is instinctual to look back on their life. We often say, "I'll take this secret to my grave," but in reality, we are not content to become an unsolved mystery. Before closing our eyes forever, we feel an unresolved need to face ourselves honestly. The past is not so easily forgotten; it doesn't disappear but instead takes root and grows. Time may bring a superficial sense of calm and reconciliation, but occasionally, something unexpected from the past will catch us off guard. At least, that’s how it is for me, dodging and weaving through life, making a weak and futile resistance against an ever - stronger opponent.”
This opening was already enough to captivate me, but Gurnah goes further, addressing the theme of immigration. Reflecting on where we come from is unavoidable; it concerns the survival and identity of outsiders. Immigration is a representative topic: you must abandon everything from your past and live in a completely unfamiliar place. Many of us have experienced being strangers in a foreign land, or as Gurnah puts it, fugitives. It requires immense courage. When I was in London, shopping at a mall near my apartment, standing on the long escalator with my headphones on, listening to local songs, I looked at the faces passing by me, realizing they would never understand what was playing in my headphones, nor comprehend my emotions at that moment. I was the one who needed to work hard to fit in, and it was my past that was being ruthlessly erased. This is the struggle of a drifter, inescapable identity anxiety.
The immigration story in the book is even more complex, involving issues of ethnocentrism, colonialism, painful history, and the hollow confusion of second - generation immigrants. This makes the story more three - dimensional and realistic, fitting well with Gurnah’s own experiences.
Gurnah is meticulous, and only such meticulousness and sensitivity can produce such beautiful prose, even while telling a fragmented story. The use of flashbacks, interjections, and multiple narrative perspectives creates a strong immersive reading experience.
All these while, I didn't think much about the importance of one's roots or returning to where one belongs. But this time, I felt that exhaustion, having lived a lifetime, and the burden of not being able to live carefreely. "And now I am still here, like a weary guest in my own life."
As Gurnah said, leaving is already a form of death; dying again doesn't seem like something that would be too hard to endure.
4.2 / 5 stars
August 11, 2022
it isn't always a bad thing when a short book takes me ages to finish.
but i don't think it's ever really been a good thing.
this took me 4 full days and is not quite 300 pages long. you do the math.
this is a book, as many books are, About A Family, and the perspective (which smoothly switched between all four of its members ) was really impressive.
but none of these characters felt full.
in particular, the female characters felt flat and silly almost to the point of misogyny.
and i'm a reader who has publicly forgiven misogyny in the face of talent!!!
but this was just not it.
bottom line: we'll get em next time!
review to come / 2.5 stars
-------------------
tbr review
had this sent to me by the publisher...
this is kind of a foreboding title for something given to you for free.
(thank you to bloomsbury for the copy, please don't cut me off)
but i don't think it's ever really been a good thing.
this took me 4 full days and is not quite 300 pages long. you do the math.
this is a book, as many books are, About A Family, and the perspective (which smoothly switched between all four of its members ) was really impressive.
but none of these characters felt full.
in particular, the female characters felt flat and silly almost to the point of misogyny.
and i'm a reader who has publicly forgiven misogyny in the face of talent!!!
but this was just not it.
bottom line: we'll get em next time!
review to come / 2.5 stars
-------------------
tbr review
had this sent to me by the publisher...
this is kind of a foreboding title for something given to you for free.
(thank you to bloomsbury for the copy, please don't cut me off)
October 21, 2021
Hanna used to say to Jamal that they were a strange family, an odd family. Their mother was an abandoned baby who had no idea of her real parents, and their father never spoke about his. Jamal did not really think they were strange or odd, although he agreed with Hanna when she said that. She made them sound odd. He couldn’t remember when he first heard his mother’s story, and whether he heard it first from Ma or from Hanna. Hanna was always telling him things when they were small. He seemed to have known that story all his life though, and as time passed the meaning of it seemed to grow, as did the oddness of his father’s silence.
The 8th novel by the 2021 Nobel Prize Literature winner
From the Nobel Citation
The Last Gift, from 2011, relates thematically to Pilgrims Way and ends with something of the same bitter brew when the ailing refugee Abbas dies and bequeaths the gift of the book’s title, consisting of a tape recording of a cruel history unknown to the surviving family.
That book is described as exploring “the multifaceted reality of life in exile”, with the “protagonist, [after] having tried to hide his past, …. Entice[d] …. to tell his story”
It is perhaps notable that the book has the shortest coverage of any in the citation (which is also strictly inaccurate) – it also has almost no detailed reviews on Goodreads.
The book, like many of Gurnah’s novels, is largely set in England with a key protagonist as an exile from Gurnah’s own Zanzibar – albeit unlike other of his novels I have read the exile here is more voluntary than as a refugee seeking asylum.
The novel tells the story of a nuclear family – Abbas (now in his sixties), his wife Maryam (17 years younger) and their two children – Hanna (28) and Jamal (early 20s) – the story being told over a series of long chapters, with each of the four acting as a third part point-of-view at times during each chapter.
Abbas and Maryam met in Exeter (outside Boots) some thirty years earlier. Maryam was a foundling, passed around various foster homes before settling with an Indian-English couple (Vijat and Ferooz). Abbas an itinerant sailor– and the two quickly eloped first to Birmingham and later (when Abbas got a job as an electrical engineer) to Norwich – where Maryam became a cleaner and later canteen worker in the local hospital.
Both are reluctant to discuss their past – Maryam the reason for her departure from her foster parents (and reluctance to ever contact them – thus ruling out any chance of really tracing her birth parents) and Abbas his entire past pre-England (even his birth in Zanzibar is only hinted at).
The book opens with a moment of crisis which changes the family dynamic – Abbas suffers a collapse from a combination of a near-coma from undiagnosed diabetes and a mild stroke and the effects render him largely invalided, even more so when he suffers a second stroke – this in turn gradually causes both he and Maryam to tell more of their past with (contrary to the Nobel citation) Abbas’s main “cruel” secret emerging mid-book and some time before they listen to the tape recording (which I have to say seems slightly to lack credibility in its coherence given Abbas's condition).
The two children react differently to their complex background and their parents silences (followed by revelations).
Hanna (who outside the family renames herself Anna) largely rejects her “mongrel origins” and gives up “trying to unravel” them – albeit when her mother does talk about her past she effectively interrogates her. At the time of the story she has just given up a five-year teaching role to move to Brighton with her rather domineering boyfriend Nick (from a traditional and upper-middle class White British family).
Jamal is much more interested in the family background (and more patient in waiting for stories to emerge) – and has an obsession with asylum seekers, having started a Post Doctorate in Leeds in his specialty of migration trends and policies in the European Union. In Leeds he falls in love with a fellow student in his shared accommodation.
I found this overall a different book stylistically to the other books of Gurnah’s I have read – although absolutely a classic Gurnah thematically (exile, split identity, colonialism) and even in plot (exile from Zanzibar to the UK, complex father backstory with hidden secrets)
Gurnah himself acknowledges the rather large overlap with his other books with a rather tongue in cheek ending where Jamal sets out to write a short story “Another father story. Such a predictable immigrant subject”. A contemporary Guardian review of the book (by Giles Foden – himself very close to Gurnah) picked up on this and noted “It will be fascinating to see what Gurnah himself writes next. All of his previous novels, with which this book shares many complicities, concern immigrant experience in one way or another. Most directly confront the diaspora of Zanzibar …..But the irony with which he now treats the subject suggests that the sea breeze of Gurnah's inspiration is carrying him elsewhere.” – which does not seem to have been the case at all given the subject matter of his ninth novel “Gravel Heart”.
Incidentally something I have not seen referred to much at all is what seems to be a very deliberate piece of meta-interaction of this novel - with the storyline of his fifth novel “Admiring Silence” – with the Abbas in this novel (and in particular the crucial act of his past) bearing a huge (although not as far as I can see complete) overlap with the Abbas of that book (complete with a merchant, an Aunt and a slit of a window).
Where I think the book was a little different stylistically is that it filled out a wider range of characters – giving each a point of view and a clear interior as well as exterior life (much of his other novels really concentrates on one character). In many ways this made the book richer than some of his others.
Where I am a little more ambiguous was that much of the life of the other characters seemed rather to be shoehorned into his themes. So while for example I am more than OK with the logic of Jamal’s studies (his motivation being clear) it seemed a little too much of a coincidence for a fellow student to study statistics but to (in a throwaway aside) specialise in modelling bird migratory patterns. Similarly while I can see that Anna would naturally gravitate to a white, very British boyfriend – his family seemed rather a caricature (a number of them having done Imperial/colonial roles in Africa, openly discussing the British Empire in a way which I have to say I have encountered more in Gurnah’s works over the last month than in say the last 10 years living in England, referring to her as a “jungle bunny”) and her fractious relationship with Nick ends up being rather artificially refracted by them through a coloniser/immigrant lens.
But this was offset by some fascinating additional pieces which reinforced the story – Maryam’s work in an Asylum centre which involves a performance event (nicely capturing the sense of telling stories of exile), Maryam’s encounter with her foster parents which avoids neat solutions and only adds complexity to her back story, a reluctant encounter between Jamal and a neighbour and an interesting (as well as symbolic) discussion of some photos in the latter’s flat (which turn out to be someone else’s story he has chosen to hold on to and link back to, in contrast to the pain of his own).
I would also add that as a writer who normally captures well a dual sense of place – England and Zanzibar (for example famously in Pilgrim’s Way where Canterbury – where Gurnah did much of his teaching – is integral) this seemed to be to lack a sense of England. Brighton and Norwich (for that matter Leeds and Exeter) seemed 1-dimensional (not much more than a name). And a one word reference to the Cathedral and knowledge of the correct London terminal does not make up for calling Norwich twice “ small town” (given its been a City since 1194 and is 30th largest town or City in the UK).
Another interesting novel from an important author whose work I am enjoying exploring.
May 23, 2016
I discovered Mr Gurnah first as a Mann Booker judge for 2016, only discovering later he had himself been short listed for the Booker twice previously. Intrigued I chose this book to read first almost randomly.
As to subject matter, a lot has been said already on Goodreads about the way the book deals with the lingering sense of immigration decades after arriving in a country, the loosening of family ties in a second generation, loneliness and so on. I will not add to the many good reviews on the books content.
I was, however, somewhat taken aback, and then intrigued with the book structurally and in particular with the sense of 'floating protagonist' it delivered. A first a little irritating, I came quickly to realise that this was a deliberate device, utilised to underpin the exploration of the difficulty in establishing a sense of identity in an alien culture whilst at the same time honouring your roots. Similarly, there is a clear shift of voice when the book's spotlight moves to the second generation of the family, their greater identification with the new country's culture and their remoteness from the original. This generational culture gap and the alienation of the older generation from the younger that results is something dealt with profoundly and sensitively.
The Last Gift is not a book to be read for light relief. It demands much of a reader but giving it what it calls for is rewarding, particularly for the educational and experiential gifts it returns.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is now a fixture on my reading list and will remain for some considerable time to come.
As to subject matter, a lot has been said already on Goodreads about the way the book deals with the lingering sense of immigration decades after arriving in a country, the loosening of family ties in a second generation, loneliness and so on. I will not add to the many good reviews on the books content.
I was, however, somewhat taken aback, and then intrigued with the book structurally and in particular with the sense of 'floating protagonist' it delivered. A first a little irritating, I came quickly to realise that this was a deliberate device, utilised to underpin the exploration of the difficulty in establishing a sense of identity in an alien culture whilst at the same time honouring your roots. Similarly, there is a clear shift of voice when the book's spotlight moves to the second generation of the family, their greater identification with the new country's culture and their remoteness from the original. This generational culture gap and the alienation of the older generation from the younger that results is something dealt with profoundly and sensitively.
The Last Gift is not a book to be read for light relief. It demands much of a reader but giving it what it calls for is rewarding, particularly for the educational and experiential gifts it returns.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is now a fixture on my reading list and will remain for some considerable time to come.
September 23, 2022
Romanlarında mülteci ve göçmen sorunlarını ön planda tutan Gurnah bu sefer ilk kusağın yanı sıra ikinci kuşağın yaşadıgı sıkıntıları da dahil etmiş romanına. Böyle olunca da romanın merkezi kaybolmuş biraz. Normalde romanlarında belli bir trajedeyi acele etmeden uzun uzun anlatan romancı bu sefer küçük küçük trajedelere yer vermeyi tercih etmiş :)
Want to read
August 25, 2024The author is a Nobel Prize winner (2021) and this novel goes a great distance toward illustrating why. It is almost entire narrative, an exploration of one family and how that family's past and the immigration of the parents to England has shaped the way they view the world and interact with others in the world. It's written with lush but completely accessible language, and the author imbues the narrative with a full sense of place no matter where he takes the reader: from Zanzibar to Norwich. If you're looking for non-stop action, this would not be the book for you. If you prefer an exposure to well-developed characters with secrets, longings, failures, flaws, and triumphs, you will enjoy this novel. It's utterly unpretentious and completely human.
December 29, 2021
i really wanted to like this book AND there were definitely some good parts about turbulent migrant experiences but i don't think the prose was strong enough to carry the plot through 😭 character-wise i did not vibe with hanna / anna (westernised daughter of the immigrant protagonist) until the end (come on you can't just brush your mum's recounting of her near-rape experience like that gosh) ig the realisation of privilege is always a messy experience, though i never felt she did confront that messiness, beyond sympathising with the tragedy of her father's loss. nick's family was very caricature-ish and the colonial-colonised dynamic in nick and anna's crumbling relationship seemed a bit trite, tacked-on and undeveloped.
nevertheless i appreciated all the faint parallels drawn between the members of the family, each grappling with nebulous pasts both invented and found. wish gurnah had spotlighted abbas and maryam's pasts rather than their children's presents, though. 3.5 ☆
nevertheless i appreciated all the faint parallels drawn between the members of the family, each grappling with nebulous pasts both invented and found. wish gurnah had spotlighted abbas and maryam's pasts rather than their children's presents, though. 3.5 ☆
March 22, 2022
”En dag, långt innan oroligheterna började, smet han i väg utan att säga ett ord till någon och vände aldrig tillbaka. Och så en annan dag, fyrtiotre år senare, föll han ihop alldeles innanför ytterdörren till sitt hus i en liten stad i England.”
Jag blir från första meningen (ovan) uppslukad av berättelsen om Abbas och Maryam samt deras barn (H)anna och Jamal. Paradiset krävde lite mer ansträngning av mig som läsare inledningsvis, här bara flyter det på.
Den här stillsamma romanen har en vardagsbaserad handling där allmänmänskliga göranden och låtanden är i fokus. Författaren är i första hand lojal med karaktärerna och undviker att vrida upp spänningen i enlighet med den dramaturgiska kurvan. Livets alla faser finns representerade och hur dessa kan te sig för pojkar och flickor, kvinnor och män. Ungdomens hoppfulla naivitet krockar med den erfarnes blick. Jag blir starkt berörd av att läsa om familjens cykel, barnets frigörelse och förälderns känsla av oförrätt när barnet ratar hen. Och sen det dramatiska som alltid sker till sist, en förälder blir sjuk och närmar sig döden. Vad kommer man att ånga på dödsbädden? Här understryks livets föränderlighet genom att barnen flyttar i samma veva som Abbas blir sjuk. En ny fas är inledd. Författaren lyckas fånga hur livet är en rörelse, inte nödvändigtvis framåt. Den började för Abbas sedan länge i Zanzibar och drog med sig honom och senare Maryam och rörelsen fortsätter tumla vidare med deras barn. Gurnah tar också itu med erfarenheten av migration, jämförandet av olika samhällen, tillhörighet och utanförskap. Han berättar historierna som finns bakom prickarna i statistiken, som ju är skönlitteraturens uppgift. Det revolutionerande är att det här är en berättelse om migration utförd med medvetandeströmmens berättarteknik vilket sätter fokus på psykologiska spörsmål som alla kan känna igen sig i. Det borde finnas många sådana romaner kan man tycka, men jag tror inte att det gör det. Åtminstone inte i den här klassen.
Läsaren har via den allvetande berättaren förmånen att ta del av Abbas bakgrund vilken han inte delat med sina familjemedlemmar. Det är en ynnest att få läsa den tystlåtna gubbens enskilda tankemonologer. Jag brukar föredra första person singularis men Gurnah visar prov på hur ett mycket väl utfört tredje-person-perspektiv har fördelar och kan släppa läsaren nära inpå fler karaktärer. Berättaren framför karaktärernas samtal med sig själva på ett närmast perfekt vis. Tidslinjen är inte kronologisk och berättelsen hoppar också mellan de fyra olika protagonisterna. Även detta är sömlöst och hela texten flyter i en harmonisk ström. Jag förstår nobelprisjuryns förtjusning.
”Han försökte verkligen låta bli att tänka på en massa saker, och i många år trodde han att han hade lyckats, även om han då och då överrumplades av något som dök upp ur tomma intet, oväntat brutalt. Det kanske var så för många människor, att man väjde och kryssade sig fram genom livet, ryggade tillbaka när man då och då fick sig en smäll i förbigående och halvhjärtat försökte försvara sig mot en allt starkare motståndare. Eller också var livet inte alls så för de flesta människor, utan lugn och försoning infann sig med åren, det var bara det att han inte hade haft sådan tur eller inte hade förstått att han hade det. Trots alla sina försök att slingra sig undan hade han vetat att tiden skulle vinna över honom och att det blev allt svårare att strunta i det där som han borde ha ställt till rätta med hade undvikit.”
Den här allvarliga romanen tar itu med alienationen mellan generationer, förälder och barn, mellan nuet och dåtidens minnen (inom varje individ), mellan tillhörigheter. Med andra ord finns det möjlighet för alla att känna igen sig i åtminstone vissa av problemen som Gurnah skriver om. Jag tänker mig att barn till invandrare har extra mycket att hämta. Ur ett intersektionellt perspektiv fördjupar Gurnah förståelsen av hur exempelvis en far-och-son-relation försvåras ytterligare när olika maktordningar samverkar tillsammans med migration. Ett annat genomgående tema kopplat till migration är skuld.
Jag blir från första meningen (ovan) uppslukad av berättelsen om Abbas och Maryam samt deras barn (H)anna och Jamal. Paradiset krävde lite mer ansträngning av mig som läsare inledningsvis, här bara flyter det på.
Den här stillsamma romanen har en vardagsbaserad handling där allmänmänskliga göranden och låtanden är i fokus. Författaren är i första hand lojal med karaktärerna och undviker att vrida upp spänningen i enlighet med den dramaturgiska kurvan. Livets alla faser finns representerade och hur dessa kan te sig för pojkar och flickor, kvinnor och män. Ungdomens hoppfulla naivitet krockar med den erfarnes blick. Jag blir starkt berörd av att läsa om familjens cykel, barnets frigörelse och förälderns känsla av oförrätt när barnet ratar hen. Och sen det dramatiska som alltid sker till sist, en förälder blir sjuk och närmar sig döden. Vad kommer man att ånga på dödsbädden? Här understryks livets föränderlighet genom att barnen flyttar i samma veva som Abbas blir sjuk. En ny fas är inledd. Författaren lyckas fånga hur livet är en rörelse, inte nödvändigtvis framåt. Den började för Abbas sedan länge i Zanzibar och drog med sig honom och senare Maryam och rörelsen fortsätter tumla vidare med deras barn. Gurnah tar också itu med erfarenheten av migration, jämförandet av olika samhällen, tillhörighet och utanförskap. Han berättar historierna som finns bakom prickarna i statistiken, som ju är skönlitteraturens uppgift. Det revolutionerande är att det här är en berättelse om migration utförd med medvetandeströmmens berättarteknik vilket sätter fokus på psykologiska spörsmål som alla kan känna igen sig i. Det borde finnas många sådana romaner kan man tycka, men jag tror inte att det gör det. Åtminstone inte i den här klassen.
Läsaren har via den allvetande berättaren förmånen att ta del av Abbas bakgrund vilken han inte delat med sina familjemedlemmar. Det är en ynnest att få läsa den tystlåtna gubbens enskilda tankemonologer. Jag brukar föredra första person singularis men Gurnah visar prov på hur ett mycket väl utfört tredje-person-perspektiv har fördelar och kan släppa läsaren nära inpå fler karaktärer. Berättaren framför karaktärernas samtal med sig själva på ett närmast perfekt vis. Tidslinjen är inte kronologisk och berättelsen hoppar också mellan de fyra olika protagonisterna. Även detta är sömlöst och hela texten flyter i en harmonisk ström. Jag förstår nobelprisjuryns förtjusning.
”Han försökte verkligen låta bli att tänka på en massa saker, och i många år trodde han att han hade lyckats, även om han då och då överrumplades av något som dök upp ur tomma intet, oväntat brutalt. Det kanske var så för många människor, att man väjde och kryssade sig fram genom livet, ryggade tillbaka när man då och då fick sig en smäll i förbigående och halvhjärtat försökte försvara sig mot en allt starkare motståndare. Eller också var livet inte alls så för de flesta människor, utan lugn och försoning infann sig med åren, det var bara det att han inte hade haft sådan tur eller inte hade förstått att han hade det. Trots alla sina försök att slingra sig undan hade han vetat att tiden skulle vinna över honom och att det blev allt svårare att strunta i det där som han borde ha ställt till rätta med hade undvikit.”
Den här allvarliga romanen tar itu med alienationen mellan generationer, förälder och barn, mellan nuet och dåtidens minnen (inom varje individ), mellan tillhörigheter. Med andra ord finns det möjlighet för alla att känna igen sig i åtminstone vissa av problemen som Gurnah skriver om. Jag tänker mig att barn till invandrare har extra mycket att hämta. Ur ett intersektionellt perspektiv fördjupar Gurnah förståelsen av hur exempelvis en far-och-son-relation försvåras ytterligare när olika maktordningar samverkar tillsammans med migration. Ett annat genomgående tema kopplat till migration är skuld.
February 13, 2022
Sırların zorlaştırdığı, hırçınlaştırdığı, baskılandığı hayatlar. Göçmen olmanın, hatta göçmen ailenin çocuğu -ikinci kuşak göçmen- olmanın ve özellikle de sömürge ülkesi vatandaşı olmanın psikolojisi. Önyargıların yönlendirdiği davranışlarımız. Empatiye önem vermeliyiz.
Tam bir Abdulrazak Gurnah romanı. Tanıdık motifler. Ama yine çok keyifli bir okuma.
“… zulme, yaşananın zülüm olduğunu hissetmeyecek kadar alışabilir mi insan? Yoksa bu, ulusun karakter yapısı ile ilgili bir mesele midir?… bunun ulusal kültürle, bir ulusun vatandaşlarının kendilerini nasıl gördükleriyle ilişkili olduğunu söylüyorum…”, sf; 114.
Tam bir Abdulrazak Gurnah romanı. Tanıdık motifler. Ama yine çok keyifli bir okuma.
“… zulme, yaşananın zülüm olduğunu hissetmeyecek kadar alışabilir mi insan? Yoksa bu, ulusun karakter yapısı ile ilgili bir mesele midir?… bunun ulusal kültürle, bir ulusun vatandaşlarının kendilerini nasıl gördükleriyle ilişkili olduğunu söylüyorum…”, sf; 114.
November 18, 2022
Gurnah has made me a fan of his writing from my first reading of his long list of books. How sad it would have been had he not won the Nobel and been known to me, I realise! This 2011-novel is the portrait of a British family coming to terms with memories, illness, death and love. 63-year old Abbas just had a stroke which has made him bed-ridden, enough time to think over his life and the past he has been running away from. His wife, Maryam, has long given up hopes of ever being a psychiatric nurse. She spends her days doing some menial work or attending to her husband but seeing Abbas recollect his past, she is reminded of her childhood, and its loneliness. Their children Jamal and Hanna are young English citizens who are settling down in parts of the UK. Jamal is almost finishing his PhD while Hanna is moving to Brighton with her boyfriend, giving up on the teaching job she has had. Abbas' illness unsettles all of them as they run back and forth for him. But from that illness cruel, heartless secrets of the family is being disclosed while their present lives keep taking different turns. I am sure, the story has already perked you up but trust me, I have barely been able to summarise the beauty of this book. Gurnah's writing is captivating. It simply drew me in from the very first page. It was so well written that it made it absolutely difficult for me to continue the book as it dove into riveting details of ageing parents and their illnesses and of the claustrophobia in hospitals. I was on the verge of giving up on it because it made me so sad, so vulnerable but it was Gurnah's writing that made me put that aside and continue reading until I was reading 50 pages in one sitting! This book was a breeze, the experience of reading it certainly was, even though the themes were heavy and heartbreaking. I do not think I have read a portrait of Muslim lives in fiction as good as this! It defies the stereotypical images of Islam as built by Hosseini and it does something so different and yet beautiful that makes each character appear more humane, more than what the stereotypes have to offer when non-Muslims think of Muslims as the so-called other. Please please read this book! I cannot wait to read all of what he has written in the years to come.
August 31, 2022
First, I was surprised by how different it is from the first two I have read ( Paradise and Memories of Departure). Those were tales of an African youth migrating; this is the tale of a family after migration, including the second generation. Interior monologue is amazingly attention holding as four people's thoughts advance the narrative. The shifts among speakers are clearly drawn, and they sometimes provide different versions of the same events and sometimes add information. Out of them comes awareness of being different, of racism British form where microaggressions aren't all that different from racism American form. Various means of coping are explored. Abbas, with his stroke and resulting aphasia, becomes a manifestation of the silence he has lived previously voluntarily; having seen a stroke patient recover speech after therapy made me able to believe his recovery of speech. And the symbolism of speech and silence continued, and not only for Abbas.
A novel to reread.
A novel to reread.
November 7, 2021
A very good depiction of the life of a refugee. Abbas, is from an African country who has come to the UK as a stowaway after some personal loss. He meets a girl who is under foster care and elopes with her. The story starts when he's on his death bed and his two children want to know of his past and their lineage .
The identity crisis of refugees and immigrants is well depicted in this poignant tale.
The identity crisis of refugees and immigrants is well depicted in this poignant tale.
January 1, 2022
En mycket stark skildring om att växa upp, föräldraskap, sökande efter rötter och samhörighet, migration och kolonialism. Främst är boken en stark skildring av familjeband. ”Mannen såg på mig som att han kände igen mig och kom fram och hälsade på mig, sträckte fram handen och log, men det visade sig att han förväxlat mig med någon annan. Det hände så ofta på avlägsna och oväntade platser, att folk förväxlade andra människor med någon de hade känt en gång i tiden. Det måste betyda att vi är mer lika än vi tror, eller mer lika än vad vi vill tro.”
August 21, 2017
A really good story when I got into it but I must admit I got lost with some of the family members at times.
Really glad I finished reading because I really enjoyed the book in the end.
Really glad I finished reading because I really enjoyed the book in the end.
November 1, 2020
I found this book unutterably boring and without any redeeming features. Don't believe the review that says it gets better towards the end!
January 15, 2022
Otrolig skildring av skuld, rotlöshet, kärlek och familj. Tror den kommer stanna kvar hos mig länge.
March 7, 2022
svag fyra! men översättningen?! ÖVERSÄTTNINGEN. genomgående grammatiskt inkorrekt.
April 11, 2024
Sometime he drifted away, into sleep or away from his moorings, into those deep places that he could not help returning to, that he hated returning to. Even in his daze he knew he had left things too long....There was so much he should have said, but he allowed the silence to set until it became immovable. p9
He did not know then that stories did not stand still, that they change with new recollections and rearrange themselves subtly with every addition, and what seem like contradictions may be unavoidable revisions of what might have happened. p40
Exquisite writing and unconventionally winsome characters feature in this tender depiction of an immigrant family, fissured by a secret.
On top of this, "so much demeaning pretence" is required. What a relief it would be
not to have the chore of pretending to be no different from people who are full of shit about themselves. p46
He could construct tables and draw graphs yet he knew that each one of those dots on his chart had a story that the graphs could not illustrate. p86/7
This short book is a simple masterpiece and well deserving of the Nobel Prize in 2021.
I know it sounds like victors logic...but you have to think cleverer than just reversing historical injustice. Otherwise you end up committing another one.... p102
He did not know then that stories did not stand still, that they change with new recollections and rearrange themselves subtly with every addition, and what seem like contradictions may be unavoidable revisions of what might have happened. p40
Exquisite writing and unconventionally winsome characters feature in this tender depiction of an immigrant family, fissured by a secret.
On top of this, "so much demeaning pretence" is required. What a relief it would be
not to have the chore of pretending to be no different from people who are full of shit about themselves. p46
He could construct tables and draw graphs yet he knew that each one of those dots on his chart had a story that the graphs could not illustrate. p86/7
This short book is a simple masterpiece and well deserving of the Nobel Prize in 2021.
I know it sounds like victors logic...but you have to think cleverer than just reversing historical injustice. Otherwise you end up committing another one.... p102
October 22, 2021
I almost gave this novel a 5. I can see why the author received the 2021 Nobel Literature Prize. It is essentially a family mystery, but not in any violent sense. Abbas, originally from Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania), marries an English woman Maryam (well, that too may be questioned) he met in a southern English port town. The story is about the end of Abbas’ life and his recollections of growing up in Zanzibar and his reasons for leaving there, to work mostly on ships for many years. Abbas and Maryam’s son and daughter feature with their own recollections and current lifestyles. Thoroughly recommended!
December 30, 2013
An immmigrant's story, told from the dying father as he unloads a lifetime of secrets. The pacing is a bit off — starts very slow and then ends with a rush — but the story is captivating, though the characters feel thinly developed.
May 20, 2024
Het verhaal van een vader die als migrant in Engeland komt en reden voor zijn vertrek pas vlak voor zijn dood aan zijn vrouw en kinderen verteld. Ontroerend en goed geschreven verhaal. Had niet eerder boek van Gurnah gelezen, ga zeker meer van hem lezen.
August 16, 2013
Excellent read! Touches issues of identity, family immigration. My full reflection/thoughts are here:
http://seriouslyplanning.wordpress.co...
http://seriouslyplanning.wordpress.co...
June 25, 2022
More like 2.5. It was ok, neither terrible nor great. Some good moments towards the end, and food for thought for anyone whose parent was an immigrant.
October 17, 2021
Like many other readers, I hadn't ever heard of Abdulrazak Gurnah's name until the Nobel Prize announcement recently. Yes, he has been in Booker-shortlists and in other major literary award shortlists, but, as his publisher noted in a recent article, he remained unknown to the vast majority of readers. Since I didn't have immediate access to one of his books, I was glad to stumble upon this one in Storytel.
'The Last Gift' is woven around the mystery surrounding the past of Abbas, who migrated from an African country to England long back. Despite the many requests from his grown-up children Hanna and Jamal, he has been reluctant to reveal much about his past and the reasons for him leaving his native country. Infact, the reader too is kept in the dark as to his origins. The first mention of Zanzibar, his native, comes much late into the book. He remains so, until he is bed-ridden following a stroke, when he starts revealing bits and pieces from his younger days to his wife, Mariam.
Now, Mariam also is dealing with issues of her identity and her own tragic backstory. Found abandoned at a doorstep as a baby, her childhood was made up of trips from one foster home to the next, until she was adopted by an Indo-Mauritius couple. As for the next generation, they somewhat want to move away from all these questions of their identity, revealed in how Hanna removes the 'H' from her name and introduces herself as Anna. The viewpoint keeps shifting from Abbas to Mariam to his two children, but I liked the parts when we were in the shoes of Abbas or Mariam the most.
'The Last Gift' is woven around the mystery surrounding the past of Abbas, who migrated from an African country to England long back. Despite the many requests from his grown-up children Hanna and Jamal, he has been reluctant to reveal much about his past and the reasons for him leaving his native country. Infact, the reader too is kept in the dark as to his origins. The first mention of Zanzibar, his native, comes much late into the book. He remains so, until he is bed-ridden following a stroke, when he starts revealing bits and pieces from his younger days to his wife, Mariam.
Now, Mariam also is dealing with issues of her identity and her own tragic backstory. Found abandoned at a doorstep as a baby, her childhood was made up of trips from one foster home to the next, until she was adopted by an Indo-Mauritius couple. As for the next generation, they somewhat want to move away from all these questions of their identity, revealed in how Hanna removes the 'H' from her name and introduces herself as Anna. The viewpoint keeps shifting from Abbas to Mariam to his two children, but I liked the parts when we were in the shoes of Abbas or Mariam the most.
December 29, 2022
Det tog tid för mig att komma in i den men den har väldigt smidiga övergångar som är trevliga och ett enkelt och ledigt språk. Temat är verkligen intressant men det är något med boken som gör att jag inte kan ge den 4 stjärnor. Kanske att alla karaktärerna var väldigt lika varandra och jag kunde inte skapa en relation till någon av dem.
December 23, 2023
Enthralling, a book I returned to with pleasure, well told. I think it might be a tad bit sentimental, and wish Gurnah would have kept to the third person. The change to first person in the recordings and emails felt a little jarring, and made the story, which had once felt momentous, feel like it sputters at the end. Nonetheless, he’s a great writer of character, and the book was well subplotted and structured. Really enjoyed it - just wish the ending was better.
November 16, 2021
Läste boken på svenska. Så himla bra att Gurnah fick nobelpriset så vi fick honom översatt mer till svenska. Och jag hade liksom ingen aaning om vem han var.
Jag är alltid rädd för att det skall vara för krångligt men den här boken gav mersmak för mig. Den är enkel att komma in i och tycka om men snuddar vid stora frågor som migration, identitet, rasism, föräldrar och barn, kärlek, att åldras och hinnas upp av livet och ens historia. Det finns så många teman. Samtidigt som jag som läsare kommer nära varje person. Fadern Abbas, modern Maryam och deras vuxna barn. Fadern vars liv i stort varit och barnen som är i början och modern som levt och har en historia men som kanske också ännu inte är färdig.
Jag var ledsen när den tog slut. Jag ville varit kvar lite till.
Jag är alltid rädd för att det skall vara för krångligt men den här boken gav mersmak för mig. Den är enkel att komma in i och tycka om men snuddar vid stora frågor som migration, identitet, rasism, föräldrar och barn, kärlek, att åldras och hinnas upp av livet och ens historia. Det finns så många teman. Samtidigt som jag som läsare kommer nära varje person. Fadern Abbas, modern Maryam och deras vuxna barn. Fadern vars liv i stort varit och barnen som är i början och modern som levt och har en historia men som kanske också ännu inte är färdig.
Jag var ledsen när den tog slut. Jag ville varit kvar lite till.
December 7, 2022
OMG JAG SKA TRÄFFA GURNAH OM 2 TIMMAR
February 25, 2022
The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah (The Noble Prize 2021)
I only came to know about the Author after the announcement of the award. Then, I pick up this one. As the Guardian describes the author : he is a captivating story teller. The story here is about an African(Zanzibar) imigrant Abbas,the protagonist and his family to England. Excellent character building by the author with shades to the characters as required to carry the messages intended to convey. The author is very apt and utilises his words to the fullest. I loved his way of introducing and bringing the character to the story line.. just fantastic. The issues of exile, colonialism and cultural identity are thoughtfully dealt by the author. The characters are representing different responses to various immigration issues and a generational difference can be clearly noticed as attempted by the author. The protagonist Abbas’s life is a life of a wanderer who is constantly missing his roots. However, his daughter expresses her disgust to his story as described by the author as ‘shitty, vile, pathetic, sordid immigrant tragedies’.
Although the story will feel like ‘a predictable immigrant subject’, I think the author beautifully steers through beauty and unpleasantness, politics of the time and individual choices and relationships.
I will look forward to read his other books.
Definitely worth reading.👍👍
I only came to know about the Author after the announcement of the award. Then, I pick up this one. As the Guardian describes the author : he is a captivating story teller. The story here is about an African(Zanzibar) imigrant Abbas,the protagonist and his family to England. Excellent character building by the author with shades to the characters as required to carry the messages intended to convey. The author is very apt and utilises his words to the fullest. I loved his way of introducing and bringing the character to the story line.. just fantastic. The issues of exile, colonialism and cultural identity are thoughtfully dealt by the author. The characters are representing different responses to various immigration issues and a generational difference can be clearly noticed as attempted by the author. The protagonist Abbas’s life is a life of a wanderer who is constantly missing his roots. However, his daughter expresses her disgust to his story as described by the author as ‘shitty, vile, pathetic, sordid immigrant tragedies’.
Although the story will feel like ‘a predictable immigrant subject’, I think the author beautifully steers through beauty and unpleasantness, politics of the time and individual choices and relationships.
I will look forward to read his other books.
Definitely worth reading.👍👍
December 10, 2022
A sympathetic portrait of an immigrant family in England during the patriarch’s final illness. Abbas, a dark skinned muslim originally from Zanzibar is married to Maryam, an orphan of uncertain parentage; their children are Hanna, a school teacher, and Jamal, a PhD student studying the lives of immigrants. The last gift is the tape recorded story of Abbas’ early life and exile previously unknown to the family. Narration is third person, but situated in turn in the consciousness of each of the four characters often for extended scenes, and includes their internal dialogues. In the end, a full bodied exploration of two generations of an immigrant family’s experiences.
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