Synopses & Reviews
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 todays 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 readers mind long after the final page.
With an Afterword by Jeffrey Gray
Review
“Rodrigo Rey Rosa is the most rigorous writer of my generation, the most transparent, the one that knows best how to weave his stories, and the most luminous of all.”—Roberto Bolaño
Review
“A writer whose originality is such that he eludes all precedents or models “—J.A. Masoliver Ródenas,
La VanguardiaReview
“A colossal writer in the Spanish language who, with the prodigious exactitude of his prose and the mathematic equilibrium of his narratives, draws from an abundance of techniques amplified by true talent.” —Javier Aparicio Maydeu,
El PeriódicoReview
“Quietly mesmerizing . . . Grays unadorned translation, keeping many of the regional exclamations intact, lets the narrative shine, demonstrating why Rey Rosas reputation is growing internationally.”—Publishers Weekly
Review
“Rey Rosa creates narratives of mythic proportions.”—
San Francisco ChronicleReview
“I read Rodrigo Rey Rosas The African Shore in a single night. It is a slim volume, only 136 pages, but, more importantly, Rey Rosa is one of the most economical writers Ive encountered in a long time. The exactitude and concise beauty of his prose illustrates not only what the characters do, but above all, what they see and what they perceive.”—Justin Alvarez, The Paris Review
Review
“Bolaño wrote that Rey Rosa 'is the most rigorous writer of my generation, the most transparent, the one who knows best how to weave his stories, and the most luminous of all.' Rigorous and luminous, spare and sensual, terse and hilarious, horrifying yet with a poetic, supernatural and metaphysical imagination, his writing—like that found in the novella The African Shore, just out from Yale University Press in Jeffrey Grays translation—throws open windows in your mind as you read.”—Francisco Goldman, BOMB
Review
“La orilla africana is expertly designed; it raises a series of small and large questions, which relay one another cunningly, maintaining narrative tension up to the haunting conclusion, and indeed beyond . . . It is tempting to call La orilla africana a minimalist novel, because of its scaled-down look, but that would be misleading. Although it systematically avoids emphasis, it touches on large and urgent themes.”—Chris Andrews, The Quarterly Conversation
Review
“Elegantly written, The African Shore conveys much information about cultures, past and present, along with the people who straddle the worlds of Europe and Africa. . . . Stunning in the simplicity and clarity of its style, this novel says a great deal in very few words, and the ending is perfect.”—Seeing the World Through Books
Review
“Rodrigo Rey Rosa is a Guatemalan novelist whose short, minimalist prose demands being sifted through to uncover layers and interwoven strands that make the reading of The African Shore a rich and intense experience.”—New York Journal of Books
Review
“[Rodrigo Rey Rosas] work is extraordinarily precise, mythic, and intriguing; its literature without useless gestures, where beauty seems to be born of its authors curious inclination towards silence.”—Raphaëlle Rérolle
, Le MondeReview
“[Rodrigo Rey Rosas] prose is almost elliptical, full of sharp turns immersed in fleeting sensory, impressionistic shadows.”—Claude-Michel Cluny,
Le Figaro LitteraireReview
“Rodrigo Rey Rosas prose, dense and precise, shows his literary relationship to legendary writer Paul Bowles.”—
Der SpiegelReview
“A rare novel—perfectly executed, inhabited both by poetry and by silence—which must be included among the greatest work of a great novelist.” —Luis Alonso Girgado,
El Correo GallegoReview
“The novel has a clear and beautiful style, achieved through an appearance of sensuality—an equilibrium at once erotic and ascetic.” —Sergio González Rodríguez,
ReformaReview
“The Guatemalan writer focuses his energy, certainly, on the subtle elements of his style: the speed, exactitude and concise beauty of his prose, combined with the elliptical flow of his narratives, continue to recommend him as a young master in the art of saying more with less.”—Gustavo Guerrero,
Letras LibresReview
“Evocative, even moving. . . . The African Shore is quite gripping.”—The Complete Review
Review
“The African Shore practically demands to be read. It is a contemporary tale of international encounters in cosmopolitan, but substantially transformed Tangier, which leaves us thinking and wondering. Anyone who has spent significant time in Morocco will recognize the world that Rey Rosa evokes in his wonderfully frugal prose. And those who have not will enter into a foreign world and encounter a beautiful story that defies full comprehension. Both will leave the land of The African Shore changed.”—The Quarterly Conversation
Review
“The book reads like a vivid dream seen through an opium haze, and sentence-by-sentence, is beautiful.”—Three Percent
Review
“A dark and intriguing travelogue.”—World Literature Today
Review
"Exquisite . . . The North African setting (including Gibraltar) is as vivid and as enervating as the writings of Rey Rosas mentor. Ive been a fan of Bowles and Rey Rosa for years, especially the latters stories. Its a pleasure to read this longer narrative . . . skillfully translated by Jeffrey Gray."—Charles R. Larson, Counterpunch
Review
"Simple, elegant, and surprising . . . Rey Rosa was a protégé of Paul Bowless and, though many of Rey Rosas books are set in his home country of Guatemala, this one takes place in Tangier, which is textured, meandering, and dreamlike, as if seen through an opium haze."—Sarah Gerard, Vol. 1 Brooklyn
Review
Finalist for the Best Translated Book Award organized by Three Percent, a resource for international literature based at the University of Rochester.
Review
Shortlisted for the PEN American Center 2014 Literary Awards Translation Prize.
Review
Longlisted for the American Literary Translation Association's 2014 National Translation Award.The Shortlist will be announced in October 2014.
Synopsis
A riveting and highly praised novel by Guatemalas leading writer of fiction, now in English for the first time
Synopsis
A riveting and highly praised novel by Guatemala's leading writer of fiction, now in English for the first time
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
Synopsis
A riveting and highly praised novel by Guatemala's leading writer of fiction, now in English for the first time "Rodrigo Rey Rosa is the most rigorous writer of my generation, the most transparent, the one that knows best how to weave his stories, and the most luminous of all."--Roberto Bola o
"Quietly mesmerizing. . . . Gray's unadorned translation, keeping many of the regional exclamations intact, lets the narrative shine, demonstrating why Rey Rosa's reputation is growing internationally."--Publishers Weekly
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, a Guatemalan writer with a 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 Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. With a prose style at once rich and spare, Rey Rosa generates a powerful reality within his imagined world. 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
About the Author
Rodrigo Rey Rosa is a prominent member of the Guatemalan literary scene. Many of his works of fiction have been translated and internationally acclaimed, including Dust on Her Tongue, The Beggars Knife, and The Pelcari Project, all translated into English by the late Paul Bowles. He lives in Guatemala. Jeffrey Gray is professor of English, Seton Hall University, New Jersey. He is author of Masterys End: Travel and Postwar American Poetry and editor of the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry.