By the Sea

Name: By the Sea
ISBN: 9787532790906

阿卜杜勒拉扎克·古尔纳 / 黄协安Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaSep 2022

4.3

Word count: 177K words
Chapters: 12
ISBN: 9787532790906

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Summary

By the Sea is one of the representative works of 2021 Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, longlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The novel tells the story of Saleh Omar, a middle-aged man who arrives in England from Zanzibar at the end of the twentieth century seeking political asylum. Upon arrival, Omar is settled in a seaside town; because he used the name of his old hometown enemy Rajab Shaaban on entry, Shaaban's son Latif comes looking for him, bringing to light the grievances and betrayals between their two families from years past. Stranded together in a hostile foreign land, Omar and Latif open their hearts to each other and recall the old family feud. As the truth gradually surfaces, the two finally reach a reconciliation.

The novel employs flashbacks and interpolated narratives to explain why the protagonist Omar left his homeland, summoning up memories ranging from family grievances to the colonial and independence history of Zanzibar. The constantly shifting narrative perspective and the interplay of memory and forgetting form Gurnah's distinctive narrative art. By the Sea displays Gurnah's deep concern for the plight of refugees, especially those caught in the cracks between different cultures.

Editor's review

By the Sea is one of the representative works of Abdulrazak Gurnah, the Tanzanian writer who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Published in Chinese by Shanghai Translation Publishing House, it holds a steady Douban rating of around 8.2, reflecting widespread reader recognition. Gurnah's writing has always centered on colonial history, diasporic identity, and the trauma of memory, and By the Sea is no exception. The novel employs dual narrative threads: through the encounter between two exiles from Zanzibar—the elderly Saleh Omar and the young Latif Mahmud—in an English seaside town, it peels back layer by layer the complex interplay of individual destinies and grand history.

As an editor, I believe the value of this book lies not only in its literary standing as a Nobel work but also in Gurnah's extraordinarily restrained narrative art. Rather than mounting fierce accusations, he lets silence itself become a profound interrogation of colonial history through delicate psychological description and interwoven shifts of time and space. The passages about documents, passports, and visas seem plain but in fact reveal the rootlessness of individual identity in the postcolonial era. Gurnah's language is calm and poetic; even when describing the heaviest memories, he maintains a distinctive detachment, a tension that makes the reading experience both challenging and rewarding.

Thematically, By the Sea extends and deepens Gurnah's thinking on "displacement." It is not merely a story about exile but a dialectical exploration of "telling" and "silence," "memory" and "forgetting." The two protagonists carry different versions of the past that collide and correct each other upon meeting, ultimately pointing toward a more complex truth. This narrative structure is itself a subtle challenge to the authority of historical writing. For readers familiar with African literature or postcolonial theory, the book offers rich space for interpretation; for general readers, it is a profound window into East African colonial history and human nature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Nobel Prize-winning works, especially those focused on marginalized narratives
Readers who wish to understand East African colonial history and social change in Zanzibar
Literature lovers who enjoy delicate psychological description and intricately structured narrative
Readers who reflect on philosophical questions of identity, diaspora, and the relationship between memory and history

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers completely unfamiliar with colonial history and immigration issues who are unwilling to engage with background information

Reading tips

Before reading, a brief understanding of Zanzibar's historical background (especially the 1964 revolution) and Gurnah's life will help in grasping the text's historical references.
Pay attention to the differences and resonances between the dual perspectives; the two protagonists' accounts together piece together the full truth, and readers may compare and reflect as they read.
Do not rush toward a simple moral conclusion; the charm of Gurnah's work lies in its complexity and openness, and it is more important to immerse yourself in the texture of the language and the undercurrents of emotion.

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
遗物
1
2
拉蒂夫
3
4
沉默
5
6
译后记
附录

FAQ

What is the main content of By the Sea?

The novel tells the story of two Zanzibari exiles—Saleh Omar, an elderly merchant who entered England on a false passport to escape persecution, and Latif Mahmud, a young man pursuing a doctorate in England—who meet in an English seaside town. Through their conversations and memories, the grievances and entanglements between their two families during the colonial period and the revolutionary turmoil are gradually revealed, along with the traumas and secrets each of them carries.

What are the characteristics of Gurnah's writing?

Abdulrazak Gurnah's writing focuses on the impact of colonialism, the refugee experience, identity, and memory. His language is subtle, beautiful, and restrained, and he excels at revealing profound historical and human conflicts through calm narrative. He refuses simple narratives of victimhood, instead presenting the existential condition of African immigrants from a complex, multifaceted perspective and giving voice to silence and the forgotten.

What are the difficulties of reading this book?

The main difficulties may lie in its nonlinear narrative structure and deep historical and cultural background. The novel frequently shifts between present and past and between the two protagonists' perspectives, and relies heavily on interior monologue and memory to advance. In addition, unfamiliarity with Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) under German and British colonial rule and its post-revolution social conditions may affect understanding of the characters' motives and fates.

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About the author

阿卜杜勒拉扎克·古尔纳 Author

Abdulrazak Gurnah is an important contemporary novelist whose works have been translated into Chinese in more than a dozen editions, often classified under foreign literature and classics. His writing centers on migration, diaspora and identity, with a quiet, restrained style that reveals the psychological tensions of characters crossing geographical and cultural boundaries through everyday detail. Representative works include Paradise, Afterlives, Admiring Silence, By the Sea, Gravel Heart and The Pilgrims' Way, along with two five-volume collected editions of his works. Because public information is limited, basic details such as his dates and nationality remain to be confirmed; yet the translated works show his concern with colonial legacies, memory and belonging, and a narrative that combines realism with symbolic depth, offering a distinctive perspective on contemporary African and migrant experience.

黄协安 Author

Huang Xie'an is a translator and book compiler about whom limited public information is available. Twelve of his works are held in the library, commonly classified under foreign literature and classic works. The titles seen so far show that his work centers on bringing English-language literary classics and contemporary fiction to Chinese readers. His representative translations include The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, Herzog, Still Life, Theft, By the Sea, as well as the four-volume series on women's growth and the first collection of Abdulrazak Gurnah's works in five volumes. These works span Hemingway's spare narrative, Saul Bellow's reflective style, and Gurnah's writing of displacement, with themes often involving individual destiny, emotional experience, and cross-cultural situations. His translations strive to stay close to the tone of the originals and serve classic reading and literary teaching, giving him a certain influence in the translation of foreign literature.