The African shore = La orilla africana / Rodrigo Rey Rosa ; translated by Jeffrey Gray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rey Rosa, Rodrigo, 1958-

Contributor:

Gray, Jeffrey, 1944- translator.

Series:

Margellos world republic of letters book

A Margellos World Republic of Letters book

Standardized Title:

Orilla Africana. English

Language:

English

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Colombians--Morocco--Fiction.

Colombians.

Marrakech (Morocco)--Fiction.

Marrakech (Morocco).

Morocco.

Morocco--Marrakech.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

146 pages ; 21 cm.

Other Title:

Orilla africana

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2013]

Language Note:

Translated from the Spanish.

Summary:

Loosely interweaving the stories of Hamsa, a Moroccan shepherd preparing himself to serve as a lookout for a smuggling operation run by his uncle, and of a Colombian tourist (not named until the end), who, having lost his passport during a night of drunken debauchery, finds himself stuck in Morocco. Like that stranded traveler, who occupies most of the storyline, the narrative is content to meander, seemingly refusing action and appearing to take pleasure in passivity. The two strands of the work coalesce around an owl, impulsively purchased by the tourist and sought after by Hamsa, who believes that the bird's plucked out eyes will work as an amulet should the job his uncle promises materialize. Less a conventional novel, more an episodic exploration of ennui, superstition, and the intersection of European, Latin American, and Arab cultures.

Notes:

"Originally published as La orilla africana, first edition copyright ©1999 Seix Barral; second edition copyright ©2010 F&G Editores"--Title page verso.

ISBN:

9780300196108

0300196105

OCLC:

829645923

Publisher Number:

99955557753