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The African Shore
In the vein of the writings of Paul Bowles, Paul Theroux, and V. S. Naipaul, The African Shore marks a major new installment in the genre of dystopic travel fiction. Rodrigo Rey Rosa, prominent in today’s Guatemalan literary world and an author of growing international reputation, presents a tale of alienation, misrecognition, and intrigue set in and around Tangier. He weaves a double narrative involving a Colombian tourist pleasurably stranded in Morocco and a young shepherd who dreams of migrating to Spain and of �riches to come.” At the center of their tale is an owl both treasured and coveted.
The author addresses the anxiety, distrust, and potential for violence that characterize the border of all borders: the strait that divides Africa and Europe, where the waters of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. His often-remarked prose style, at once rich and spare, endows his work with remarkable elegance. Rey Rosa generates a powerful reality within his imagined world, and he maintains a narrative tension to the haunting conclusion, raising small and large questions that linger in the reader’s mind long after the final page.
With an Afterword by Jeffrey Gray
The author addresses the anxiety, distrust, and potential for violence that characterize the border of all borders: the strait that divides Africa and Europe, where the waters of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. His often-remarked prose style, at once rich and spare, endows his work with remarkable elegance. Rey Rosa generates a powerful reality within his imagined world, and he maintains a narrative tension to the haunting conclusion, raising small and large questions that linger in the reader’s mind long after the final page.
With an Afterword by Jeffrey Gray
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
4 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Rodrigo Rey Rosa
54 books156 followersRodrigo Rey Rosa is perhaps the most prominent writer on the Guatemalan literary scene. Along with the work of writers like Roberto Bolaño, Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Fernando Vallejo, Rey Rosa’s fiction has been widely translated and internationally acclaimed. His books include Dust on Her Tongue, The Beggar’s Knife, and The Pelcari Project, all of which were translated into English by the late Paul Bowles. In addition to his many novels and story collections, Rey Rosa has translated books by Bowles, Norman Lewis, François Augiéras, and Paul Léautaud.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 29, 2022
Enjoyed this enigmatic short novel set in Tangier, following a young Moroccan shepherd, a Colombian tourist who's sort of happily lost his passport, and the owl that binds them together. There's plentiful smoking of kif, so there are clouds of ambiguity, suggestion, semblance of dream, presence of a serious sky, and all the while the little young injured owl as a focal point, freer than anyone even when captured. Really liking Rey Rosa, who reminds me sort of Dag Solstad to a degree, both clear if not quite spare language-wise in such a way that lets them invoke and imbue worlds with plentiful ambiguity.
October 26, 2014
[4.5] Write-ups said The African Shore was very strange. But such is the strangeness of other books I've read recently (The Devil's Workshop, Red Grass, The Iraqi Christ, Revenge) that it doesn't seem so weird as all that. What's remarkable is the clarity of the writing: the sort of writing that's good because you don't notice it at first - it communicates perfectly, not a word out of place. This novella is, for many, readable in one sitting - but it was taking a break from it that showed me just how exceptionally well it was written. After going through a collection of drama- and metaphor-filled emails from eight years ago, let alone all the usual crap on the internet, returning to Rey Rosa's prose was like drinking the purest clear cold water when you didn't even realise how thirsty you were. (And how clumsily verbose the next books I read seemed by comparison.)
Jeffrey Gray, the translator, has done a wonderful job with the book itself, and his afterword is excellent too (a quotation which describes the style as a mixture of "clarity and enigma" is perfect). It covers the background material often found in academic introductions, including Rey Rosa's apprenticeship and friendship with Paul Bowles and his associated travel in the Tangier area, the setting for The African Shore. Grey explains that the African shore is here said as opposed to the European shore, just across the strait. It is, in a way, a post-colonial novel, although it's less obvious because the middle-class foreign tourist with a lost passport who is one of two main protagonists, is from Colombia, a country quite similar to Morocco [find quote]. Linked to him via an owl is a local teenage shepherd lad, whose life, work and earthy animist beliefs could as easily be from 98BC as from the time of writing in 1998.
This novella is so short, it would be easy to underestimate. But the co-existence of some filthy or cruel scenes with a story strand which had all the tension and charm of good children's literature, and everything in beautifully economical prose, was very striking.
Jeffrey Gray, the translator, has done a wonderful job with the book itself, and his afterword is excellent too (a quotation which describes the style as a mixture of "clarity and enigma" is perfect). It covers the background material often found in academic introductions, including Rey Rosa's apprenticeship and friendship with Paul Bowles and his associated travel in the Tangier area, the setting for The African Shore. Grey explains that the African shore is here said as opposed to the European shore, just across the strait. It is, in a way, a post-colonial novel, although it's less obvious because the middle-class foreign tourist with a lost passport who is one of two main protagonists, is from Colombia, a country quite similar to Morocco [find quote]. Linked to him via an owl is a local teenage shepherd lad, whose life, work and earthy animist beliefs could as easily be from 98BC as from the time of writing in 1998.
This novella is so short, it would be easy to underestimate. But the co-existence of some filthy or cruel scenes with a story strand which had all the tension and charm of good children's literature, and everything in beautifully economical prose, was very striking.
January 3, 2025
I am not sure how I feel about this novel. Unlike Latin American literature, it is not following the magical realism streams of writing, however, it can't be categorized as a realistic piece. Set on the geographic (and cultural) borders between Spain and Morocco, the novelle presents two seemingly unrelated, though very related, stories. Hamsa, the shepherd, who dreams of making illegal money and migrating, and Martin, the Colombian tourist who lost his passport. The ambience is quite perturbed, with themes of distrust, violence, and unclarity. What I liked most about the book is the image of the owl which connects the two stories and reflects so much about both characters.
August 3, 2016
A beautiful book - one of those that when I finished I turned back to the start and read again, not to revisit some plot twist that I'd missed but simply for the pure pleasure of the prose.
Rodrigo Rey Rosa is the literary heir to Paul Bowles, who translated all his previous works to appear in English, and this is clearly based on experiences from his time spent with Bowles in Tangier.
The story is based on two separate tales, of a Columbian tourist stranded, not unwillingly, in Morocco after he loses his passport, and a local shepherd boy, and want-to-be smuggler, whose stories are bought together by an owl. The text is relatively simple and very readable, the story is short and yet somehow Rey Rosa packs in a number of significant post-colonial themes.
Jeffrey Grey must be congratulated on his excellent translation, and The African Shore was a worthy runner-up in this year's Best Translated Book Awards. Indeed against less illustrious company than Krasznahorkai it might have won in another year.
Why not 5 stars? Well the book was a little insubstantial for my liking: another reason for my re-read was that I was feeling a little undernourished from one read, and the re-read took me less than half an hour.
Rodrigo Rey Rosa is the literary heir to Paul Bowles, who translated all his previous works to appear in English, and this is clearly based on experiences from his time spent with Bowles in Tangier.
The story is based on two separate tales, of a Columbian tourist stranded, not unwillingly, in Morocco after he loses his passport, and a local shepherd boy, and want-to-be smuggler, whose stories are bought together by an owl. The text is relatively simple and very readable, the story is short and yet somehow Rey Rosa packs in a number of significant post-colonial themes.
Jeffrey Grey must be congratulated on his excellent translation, and The African Shore was a worthy runner-up in this year's Best Translated Book Awards. Indeed against less illustrious company than Krasznahorkai it might have won in another year.
Why not 5 stars? Well the book was a little insubstantial for my liking: another reason for my re-read was that I was feeling a little undernourished from one read, and the re-read took me less than half an hour.
January 18, 2024
Intriguing story in a North African setting with a somewhat mysterios atmosphere, in which much is said in not many words. Beautifully done. JM
March 10, 2021
A lovely novella that was a bit of reading serendipity for me with other recent reads that have included a Moroccan connection (A Life Full of Holes: A Novel Recorded and Translated by Paul Bowles and Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow).
Paul Fulcher's review pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book, so rather than rehashing it, I'll just point you to his spot-on review here.
Paul Fulcher's review pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book, so rather than rehashing it, I'll just point you to his spot-on review here.
May 31, 2014
about a third of rodrigo rey rosa's dozen and a half books have been translated into english (many by his late friend paul bowles), and each offers a glimpse of talents impressive and diverse. the african shore (la orilla africana) - one of two runner-ups for 2014's best translated book award (won by krasznahorkai's incomparably impressive
seiobo there below
) - is a slim, evocative work from the guatemalan novelist and short story writer. seemingly disparate narratives are linked by a nocturnal bird of prey in this deceptively simple tale. the african shore offers sketches of different cultures via glimpses of dissimilar characters. nearly everything about the african shore is muted and understated, yet complemented by an exacting form and style.
*translated from the spanish and afterworded by jeffrey gray
*translated from the spanish and afterworded by jeffrey gray
April 26, 2014
Absolutely amazing. Blown away by this book. Definitely the best thing I've read so far this year. So creepy, powerful, moving... left me wordless. No wonder Bolaño was a fan--Rey Rosa has now jumped up to the top of my MUST READ list as a result of this book. The prose is flawless and immensely readable. The structure is also fantastic, very innovative. Cosmopolitanism, borders, migrants, exiles, drug smuggling, empathy, cultural misunderstandings, identity, modernity, elliptical references... boy, did this book ever get me. This is literature of the 21st-century at its understated finest. And that owl, man! The owl!!! If nothing else read this book so that you find out what happens to the owl!!!
May 24, 2020
Segundo libro de Rey Rosa que leo, a diferencia del primero, en este logro encontrar genialidad y una propuesta distinta.
Historias que nacen independientes, se unen brevemente y se bifurcan para siempre.
La narración del entorno es alucinante. El (des)orden del relato esta en función de la historia, y de cierto juego con el lector.
Historias que nacen independientes, se unen brevemente y se bifurcan para siempre.
La narración del entorno es alucinante. El (des)orden del relato esta en función de la historia, y de cierto juego con el lector.
June 24, 2021
Incredible book, perhaps even a new favorite. Reads as both a modernist novel and like something very contemporary, even though it was published in ‘99. I loved the switching perspectives, and felt they were expertly deployed. I appreciated the length but the brevity made it lose a bit of depth. Still, a beautiful, original work.
August 18, 2016
Una historia interesante, la narración definitivamente muy buena, los lugares bien descritos.
¿Qué pasará con él?
Dos historias que se unen en un instante y al otro se vuelven a separar, dejando a cada uno con las consecuencias de su forma de actuar.
Buscar la "libertad" y quererla retener... vaya ironía.
¿Qué pasará con él?
Dos historias que se unen en un instante y al otro se vuelven a separar, dejando a cada uno con las consecuencias de su forma de actuar.
Buscar la "libertad" y quererla retener... vaya ironía.
October 4, 2016
This is basically a Bowles book but not nearly as good
April 1, 2019
Me declaro infractor: no tenía idea de la existencia del escritor guatemalteco Rodrigo Rey Rosa. Y, si no fuera por un libro suyo que apareció en los saldos de una librería, seguiría ignoto para quien esto escribe. La cual, puedo ahora afirmar, hubiera sido una verdadera lástima.
“La orilla africana”, novela corta catalogada por Alberto Manguel como “una pequeña obra maestra”, entrelaza un par de historias ubicadas en la ciudad costera de Tánger, en el Marruecos norteño: por un lado tenemos a Ángel Tejedor, un colombiano que, seducido por el encanto marroquí, decide hacer todo lo posible por permanecer en esta ciudad; por el otro, aparece Hamsa, un adolescente pastoril, que vive junto al mar en un ambiente primitivo. Las anécdotas se cruzarán gracias a una lechuza, comprada por Ángel y curada, tras sufrir un pequeño accidente (del cual el veterinario dijo que nunca sanaría, y que nunca volvería a volar), por Hamsa.
Rey Rosa escribió este libro por una “suerte de nostalgia anticipada”: él vivió en Tánger y, cuando imaginaba que iba a partir de la ciudad, veinte años después de su primera visita, decidió comenzar el relato; “el tiempo que tardé en escribirlo (…) me conté como el guatemalteco más afortunado a todo lo largo de la costa norteafricana”, dijo.
No sé si obra maestra, pero “La orilla africana” sí es una interesante y atractiva narración que invita a fascinarse por lo exótico, a dejarse seducir por lo otro, lo ajeno. Como dice Luis Antonio de Villena: “Una bella novela corta, que quiere trasladar la magia de lo distinto, narrándolo sin explicarlo, como la poesía”.
“La orilla africana”, novela corta catalogada por Alberto Manguel como “una pequeña obra maestra”, entrelaza un par de historias ubicadas en la ciudad costera de Tánger, en el Marruecos norteño: por un lado tenemos a Ángel Tejedor, un colombiano que, seducido por el encanto marroquí, decide hacer todo lo posible por permanecer en esta ciudad; por el otro, aparece Hamsa, un adolescente pastoril, que vive junto al mar en un ambiente primitivo. Las anécdotas se cruzarán gracias a una lechuza, comprada por Ángel y curada, tras sufrir un pequeño accidente (del cual el veterinario dijo que nunca sanaría, y que nunca volvería a volar), por Hamsa.
Rey Rosa escribió este libro por una “suerte de nostalgia anticipada”: él vivió en Tánger y, cuando imaginaba que iba a partir de la ciudad, veinte años después de su primera visita, decidió comenzar el relato; “el tiempo que tardé en escribirlo (…) me conté como el guatemalteco más afortunado a todo lo largo de la costa norteafricana”, dijo.
No sé si obra maestra, pero “La orilla africana” sí es una interesante y atractiva narración que invita a fascinarse por lo exótico, a dejarse seducir por lo otro, lo ajeno. Como dice Luis Antonio de Villena: “Una bella novela corta, que quiere trasladar la magia de lo distinto, narrándolo sin explicarlo, como la poesía”.
March 19, 2019
Almost Poetic with a Gray Backdrop
With an owl that embodies various ideas we can appreciate, the author uses personification to place the reader in the viewpoint of the owl at times. There is an unseen narrator, with the viewpoint moving freely between both of the main human characters and the owl. Rey Rosa's book is different than standard descriptions can provide.
At points, when we are looking through the owl's eyes, and with the descriptions of the natural surroundings; we feel our spirits uplifted from the somewhat rough and gray atmosphere. Dark is not the right word. The subject matter can be more accurately described as terse and tense. It is clipped and concise in language, and when we switch to the owl it is like he is lifting us above the problems in the plot. These problems are wrapped up in a somewhat satisfying conclusion, despite the gray areas.
But, the perspective goes beyond that of the people. The view is from the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar... almost as seen from the North African Pillar of Hercules... or an owl's eye view of life around the Mediterranean shores. This contrast between a European view and that of Africa itself is the real feat of personification. It is this that makes the story something I liked, despite the cold gray backdrop.
I read the Kindle translated into English from the original Spanish, for my stop in Morocco on my Journey Around the World in 2019. Follow me as I sail out along the West African coast, only to be shipwrecked on the Western Sahara.
With an owl that embodies various ideas we can appreciate, the author uses personification to place the reader in the viewpoint of the owl at times. There is an unseen narrator, with the viewpoint moving freely between both of the main human characters and the owl. Rey Rosa's book is different than standard descriptions can provide.
At points, when we are looking through the owl's eyes, and with the descriptions of the natural surroundings; we feel our spirits uplifted from the somewhat rough and gray atmosphere. Dark is not the right word. The subject matter can be more accurately described as terse and tense. It is clipped and concise in language, and when we switch to the owl it is like he is lifting us above the problems in the plot. These problems are wrapped up in a somewhat satisfying conclusion, despite the gray areas.
But, the perspective goes beyond that of the people. The view is from the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar... almost as seen from the North African Pillar of Hercules... or an owl's eye view of life around the Mediterranean shores. This contrast between a European view and that of Africa itself is the real feat of personification. It is this that makes the story something I liked, despite the cold gray backdrop.
I read the Kindle translated into English from the original Spanish, for my stop in Morocco on my Journey Around the World in 2019. Follow me as I sail out along the West African coast, only to be shipwrecked on the Western Sahara.
October 1, 2024
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Así ya sin cuento. Me gustó mucho mucho la atmósfera que crea. La contraportada tiene razón: esta mezcla entre una trama simple hasta el asombro con el ambiente tan lejano de Tánger es la fortaleza de la novela. Mi principal problema es ¿y esto qué me quiere contar? Me parece bien tratado este sentimiento de desencanto con la vida, de querer dejarlo todo y comenzar de cero otra vez pero... ¿sólo eso? ¿Qué rechingados tiene que ver la lechuza? ¿Es un símbolo que no estoy captando o solo es un jejeje? El anticlímax aquí también es importante.
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Así ya sin cuento. Me gustó mucho mucho la atmósfera que crea. La contraportada tiene razón: esta mezcla entre una trama simple hasta el asombro con el ambiente tan lejano de Tánger es la fortaleza de la novela. Mi principal problema es ¿y esto qué me quiere contar? Me parece bien tratado este sentimiento de desencanto con la vida, de querer dejarlo todo y comenzar de cero otra vez pero... ¿sólo eso? ¿Qué rechingados tiene que ver la lechuza? ¿Es un símbolo que no estoy captando o solo es un jejeje? El anticlímax aquí también es importante.
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August 27, 2023
Pas le public.
J'ai cru être emporté dans l'humeur légère, coulante, indistincte, de l'histoire. Et j'ai buté sur l'épuisante suite d'actions à peine considérées par les personnages, de dialogues ventilés, d'absences de temps introspectifs - je l'avoue, je suis biaisé, j'aime beaucoup quand ça cause à l'intérieur d'un personnage, que ça déboise et replante les idées puis ça les brûle et là ça agit contre tout ce qui avait été dit.
Là on suit juste, dans de très courts chapitres, aux péripéties un peu bas du front pour justifier d'avancer. Mais où ? C'est le propos du bouquin, certes. Les personnages sont portés et ballotés selon. Néanmoins, les deux protagonistes ne se chamboulent pas plus que cela des questions qu'ils se posent sur rien de moins que l'horizon et l'avenir.
La quatrième de couverture parle beaucoup pour rien dire, ça survend ; je n'ai pas retrouvé l'ambiance promise.
J'ai cru être emporté dans l'humeur légère, coulante, indistincte, de l'histoire. Et j'ai buté sur l'épuisante suite d'actions à peine considérées par les personnages, de dialogues ventilés, d'absences de temps introspectifs - je l'avoue, je suis biaisé, j'aime beaucoup quand ça cause à l'intérieur d'un personnage, que ça déboise et replante les idées puis ça les brûle et là ça agit contre tout ce qui avait été dit.
Là on suit juste, dans de très courts chapitres, aux péripéties un peu bas du front pour justifier d'avancer. Mais où ? C'est le propos du bouquin, certes. Les personnages sont portés et ballotés selon. Néanmoins, les deux protagonistes ne se chamboulent pas plus que cela des questions qu'ils se posent sur rien de moins que l'horizon et l'avenir.
La quatrième de couverture parle beaucoup pour rien dire, ça survend ; je n'ai pas retrouvé l'ambiance promise.
January 8, 2018
Buena novela por parte de Rey Rosa. Le habría dado cinco estrellas si hubiera mantenido esa vibra de libro turístico que me estaba cautivando. Por desgracia, Rey Rosa comenzó a meterle aspectos de trama forzados a la historia casi hasta el final y eso terminó bajándole la calificación. No obstante, la primera parte me parece brillante.
July 13, 2017
Starts out....nebulously, then becomes much more intriguing as the parallels between the two central characters become clear.
Read
April 10, 2020Algún día regresaré a esta reseña y encontraré las palabras adecuadas para explicar mi fascinación por esta historia. Por el momento, esto.
June 16, 2014
The African Shore came in for special mention at the Best Translated Book Award in 2014 with the judges noting:
We found Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s short novel The African Shore, masterfully translated by Jeffrey Gray, to be almost the perfect counterpoint to Seiobo There Below. In its sonnet-like perfection, even a single out-of-place word would have marred this novel’s hypnotizing effect, so due praise must be given to Rey Rosa and Gray for presenting us with this seamless, engrossing story. We also admired the strange logic by which Rey Rosa’s book functions, telling two parallel narratives that are connected by that strange symbolic creature, the owl. The African Shore felt very much to us like a story that only Rey Rosa could have told, a small, perfectly cut jewel that we can stare into endlessly. It is emblematic of the very rich exchange between Rey Rosa’s native Guatemala and the Morocco in which he lived for a decade, and its minimalist aesthetic points us toward an interesting new direction for Latin American literature to follow in the new century.
American composer, translator and writer Paul Bowles translated a number of Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s works into English as well as having his works translated by Rey Rosa. As a resident of Tangier for over fifty years, the setting of this novel in Morocco is a significant homage to his mentor. Paul Bowles himself recalled his first meeting of Rey Rosa in 1980 at a “creative writing” workshop at the American School of Tangier.
The youngest of the class was a Guatemalan, who wrote in Spanish. He had a fertile imagination, and used it to invent situations which were generally sinister. His texts were very short, often mere scenes or prose-poems of atmosphere, rather than tales, but all of them showed a power of invention capable of creating truly original situations.
“The African Shore” is one of those “truly original situations”, with short, sharp sections (“prose-poems”), we have a tale of a shepherd and an unnamed Columbian tourist, linked together through the fate of an owl.
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/
We found Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s short novel The African Shore, masterfully translated by Jeffrey Gray, to be almost the perfect counterpoint to Seiobo There Below. In its sonnet-like perfection, even a single out-of-place word would have marred this novel’s hypnotizing effect, so due praise must be given to Rey Rosa and Gray for presenting us with this seamless, engrossing story. We also admired the strange logic by which Rey Rosa’s book functions, telling two parallel narratives that are connected by that strange symbolic creature, the owl. The African Shore felt very much to us like a story that only Rey Rosa could have told, a small, perfectly cut jewel that we can stare into endlessly. It is emblematic of the very rich exchange between Rey Rosa’s native Guatemala and the Morocco in which he lived for a decade, and its minimalist aesthetic points us toward an interesting new direction for Latin American literature to follow in the new century.
American composer, translator and writer Paul Bowles translated a number of Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s works into English as well as having his works translated by Rey Rosa. As a resident of Tangier for over fifty years, the setting of this novel in Morocco is a significant homage to his mentor. Paul Bowles himself recalled his first meeting of Rey Rosa in 1980 at a “creative writing” workshop at the American School of Tangier.
The youngest of the class was a Guatemalan, who wrote in Spanish. He had a fertile imagination, and used it to invent situations which were generally sinister. His texts were very short, often mere scenes or prose-poems of atmosphere, rather than tales, but all of them showed a power of invention capable of creating truly original situations.
“The African Shore” is one of those “truly original situations”, with short, sharp sections (“prose-poems”), we have a tale of a shepherd and an unnamed Columbian tourist, linked together through the fate of an owl.
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/
April 3, 2014
can't wait to read more rey rosa.
story of a man ;shipwrecked' in morocco (lost his passport) but is not in too big of a hurry to leave anyway, as he's getting used to his kif, and visiting and living in this new land where he can forget his troubles.
rey rosa is paul bowles executor, but has much for humane way of dealing with his humans/characters.
*Been busy building an opac, so just making placeholders for books I’ve read in march and april 2014. This is the opac though.
http://stwr.ent.sirsi.net/client/defa...
story of a man ;shipwrecked' in morocco (lost his passport) but is not in too big of a hurry to leave anyway, as he's getting used to his kif, and visiting and living in this new land where he can forget his troubles.
rey rosa is paul bowles executor, but has much for humane way of dealing with his humans/characters.
*Been busy building an opac, so just making placeholders for books I’ve read in march and april 2014. This is the opac though.
http://stwr.ent.sirsi.net/client/defa...
March 29, 2014
really good...really weird/disgusting in places (always a plus!)
May 1, 2014
Half mystical, half all too real. Like a Borges story passed through Bolaño in a 21st century North African setting
July 4, 2014
Effectively creepy evocation of clash of culture novella; much lauded and well worth reading.
September 1, 2014
A remarkable novel that plumbs the depths of the Western and Eastern mindset. Told with sparseness and elegance, this book is a classic.
May 4, 2017
Don't know how to fix this detail but the author of the book is Rodrigo Rey Rosa
August 29, 2020
This novella is remarkable In its clarity of description and plot movement without ever being expository. I was transported. I’ll be going back to this book and author again and again.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews