The Lost Sailors - Softcover

Jean-Claude Izzo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933372354 ISBN 13: 9781933372358

Publisher: Europa Editions, 2007

Synopsis

From one of France's best-known authors comes this evocative meditation on the human comedy. A freighter is impounded in the port of Marseilles when its owners declare bankruptcy. On board, the men are divided: wait for the money owed them—money that might never come—or accept their fate and abandon ship? This may be Captain Abdul Aziz's last commission and he is determined to save his charge and stand by his men. Diamantis, his second-in-command, is in search of a woman he has never stopped loving and who may now be living in Marseilles. In these close quarters charged with physical and emotional tension, each of these marooned sailors' life stories begins to resemble a chapter in the complex, colorful, and tragic story of the Mediterranean Sea itself—rich with romance, legend, passion and drama.

The Lost Sailors is a richly textured and bittersweet tribute to Mediterranean life. It is the novel in which Jean Claude-Izzo most completely expresses his vision of human history and how it has been played out on the shores of this sea since the beginnings of time. This is a novel for anyone who loves the sea, for anyone who is attracted to the dark passions it can provoke, for anyone who feels drawn to the rich blend of races, religions and individual stories to be found in port cities the world over. It is, at the same time, a story of the prodigious forces at play in all human destiny.

About this title

About the Author

Jean-Claude Izzo achieved immediate success with his Marseilles Trilogy (Total Chaos, Chourmo, Solea). His novel A Sun for the Dying and a collection of short stories also enjoyed great critical and popular acclaim. Izzo died in 2000 at the age of fifty-five.

Review

Praise for The Lost Sailors

"The writing is divine."
—Andrea Camilleri, author of the bestselling Inspector Montalbano series

"Izzo is exceptional at describing the melancholy, aching atmospheres in which these characters find themselves; he tenderly evokes their desperation, and via their misadventures portrays the cruelty of a world where men are sold for scrap like abandoned ships."
—La Repubblica

Praise for Jean-Claude Izzo's Marseilles Trilogy 

"[Total Chaos is] full of fascinating characters, tersely brought to life in a prose style that is (thanks to Howard Curtis' shrewd translation) traditionally dark and completely original."
—Chicago Tribune

"[Izzo's] novel is rich, ambitious and passionate, and his sad, loving portrait of his native city is amazing."
—The Washington Post

"Izzo's Marseilles is ravishing. Every street, cafe and house has its own character."
—Globe and Mail (Toronto) 

"What makes [Izzo's] work haunting is his extraordinary ability to convey the tastes and smells of Marseilles."
—The New Yorker

"The author masterfully depicts his native Marseilles' sensuous diversity, from down-at-heels 
cafés to the increasingly ritzy and snobbish seaside."
—Kirkus Reviews 

About this edition

• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1933372354
• ISBN 13: 9781933372358
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262