Theft

Name: Theft
ISBN: 9787580701732

阿卜杜勒拉扎克·古尔纳 / 黄协安Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaAug 2026

4.3

Word count: 165K words
Chapters: 28
ISBN: 9787580701732

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Summary

Theft is British writer Gurnah's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021. In 1990s Zanzibar, three young people of very different temperaments—Karim, Fauzia, and Badar—reach a crucial turning point in their lives in this young nation. Yet for Badar, a servant boy of mysterious parentage who has never received an education, the door of fate seems to have closed long ago.

Sent to do humble work in a wealthy household in Dar es Salaam, the boy Badar feels the warmth of home for the first time and forms a deep friendship with the young master of the house, Karim. Even when a devastating false accusation later forces Badar to leave his homeland, Karim and Fauzia never abandon their dear friend. As the three first taste love, the trials of work, and the experience of parenthood, their bond faces its ultimate test. Karim wavers in the face of temptation and commits a betrayal that will forever change the course of all their lives. With the calmest, most restrained touch, Gurnah delicately portrays Zanzibar's social transformation in the postcolonial era while also capturing "the most unexpected kindness" in human nature.

Editor's review

Gurnah's first novel after the Nobel continues his sustained attention to the East African coast, migration, and belonging, but focuses more tightly on the growth and fractures of three young people. Centered on Badar, a servant boy of mysterious origins and no schooling, the novel shows how friendship is tested by class difference and the tricks of fate. Gurnah's narration is consistently cool and restrained: he neither dramatizes suffering nor rushes to moral judgment, and both kindness and betrayal hide in everyday gestures and silences. The social changes of postcolonial Zanzibar form the backdrop but are never turned into preachy historical footnotes; they become part of the characters' circumstances. Huang Xie'an's translation respects the feel of the original. Suitable for readers willing to read slowly and attend to subtle shifts in relationships. The span from youth to parenthood gives the novel a quiet sense of fate, and looking back at the opening after finishing reveals the care in its structure.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like Gurnah's work and follow new books by Nobel laureates
Readers interested in African literature and postcolonial themes
Literary readers willing to read slowly and value character relationships and psychological portrayal
Adult readers concerned with friendship, class, and coming-of-age themes

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plotting and fast-paced narrative
Readers seeking clear historical conclusions or political interpretation
Readers impatient with slowly unfolding coming-of-age narratives

Reading tips

First sort out the relationships and differing circumstances of Karim, Fauzia, and Badar before moving into details
Notice the restrained passages; Gurnah often leaves key emotions in gestures and silences
When the betrayal occurs, revisit earlier scenes of the three together and see how the foreshadowing was laid
Reading up on 1990s Zanzibar can help, but it need not be a prerequisite

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
第一部分
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第二部分
11
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第三部分
16
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所有鲜活生命留下的轨迹都是未解之谜
附录 2021年诺贝尔文学奖得主阿卜杜勒拉扎克·古尔纳获奖演说

FAQ

Is this Gurnah's first book after the Nobel Prize?

According to the description, Theft is Gurnah's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021. It continues the author's attention to the East African coast, migration, and identity, but the story and characters stand alone, so there is no need to read other works first.

I haven't read Gurnah before. Is this a good place to start?

Yes. This is a standalone novel that does not depend on earlier works. Gurnah's pace is slow and detail-dense; on a first reading, follow the changes in the three characters' relationships rather than rushing after plot, and it will be easier to enter.

What does the title "Theft" refer to?

The title carries metaphorical weight and does not refer to a specific act of stealing. It points to what is taken from the characters—opportunity, family, trust, and Karim's "betrayal that will forever change the course of all their lives." Its specific meaning is best grasped in the reading.

The novel involves colonial history. Do I need to prepare in advance?

No. Postcolonial Zanzibar is the backdrop of the characters' lives, and Gurnah does not write it as a history lecture. Some general background helps, but you can follow it reading directly; the focus remains on the three characters' growth and bonds.

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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.