The Last Gift: A Novel - Softcover

Abdulrazak Gurnah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408815184 ISBN 13: 9781408815182

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2011

Synopsis

Book by Abdulrazak Gurnah

About this title

About the Author:

Abdulrazak Gurnah was born in 1948 in Zanzibar and teaches at the University of Kent. He is the author of seven novels which include Paradise (shortlisted for both the Booker and the Whitbread Prizes), By the Sea (longlisted for the Booker Prize and awarded the RFI Temoin du monde prize) and Desertion (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize).

From Booklist:

Abbas has always lived a quiet life, believing that his own personal history was nobody’s business but his own. When a stroke nearly paralyzes him at 63, however, he suddenly becomes eager to share everything from the tiniest details of his childhood in Zanzibar to the sweeping tales of his travels around the world. Abbas’ wife, Maryam, decides to call their children, Jamal and Hannah, home to bear witness to their father’s tales and aid in his recovery. Maryam, Jamal, and Hannah, all somewhat preoccupied with their own lives and memories, absorb Abbas’ stories with a mixture of curiosity, disgust, and wonderment. Gurnah alternates Abbas’ recollections and stories from his wife and children, blending themes of reconciliation, identity, belonging, and alienation. Gurnah’s fluid, poetic prose contains striking turns of phrase that allow the reader to appreciate the beauty in even the most mundane memories. Fans of Half the Sky (2009) and The Kite Runner (2011) will appreciate the mixing of narratives in The Last Gift as the various perspectives blend to create a truly powerful novel. --Stephanie Turza

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1408815184
• ISBN 13: 9781408815182
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 279