The Sheltering Sky

I know that many of you have been eagerly counting the minutes until the launch of the second installment of the Literati Irritati Frittati reviews.
Well, dear bookworms, it is now time to reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the Sheltering Sky, and repose.
Yes, this second review is about that monumental and monstrous achievement by Mr. Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky, first published in the year of our Lord 1949.

I finished reading the book some 4 hours ago, and even though the preparation and consumption of a copious meal now separates me from the closing, chilling paragraph, I am still a bit shaken by the experience of reading this novel. It is that good and that disturbing.
If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to abandon this post this very second, close your laptop and stow it behind that stack of well-worn Victorian erotica you keep in your bedroom closet, rush to your local purveyor of Literati, purchase a copy of the book and return to your hovel with great haste to immerse yourself in the absolutely terrifying tale of three Americans and their descent into the hell of the Sahara.
I find it impossible to review this story without a plethora of spoilers, so please go read the book and then return shaken, bleary-eyed and perhaps an inch wiser to this thread.
I can tell you in advance that this brilliant work of art is the dubious recipient of 9 out of a possible 10 Winonas on the internationally accepted Literati Frittati scale.

First, I have to say that unlike the previous entry I read this book right. Its 318 pages were devoured in 5 days, which, for me, is somewhat of an achievement, since I not only have to suffer the indignity of working for a living, my AADDHDTV also kicked in like a motherfucker.
Yet, this story is so engrossing that even those like me with a perpetual wondering mind can’t help but return their horrified eyes to the printed page.

The story follows Port,Kit and Tunner, three affluent Americans, on a helter skelter journey through French North Africa, some years after World War Deux.
You realize after the first few pages that nothing good awaits these people, and yet you can’t help but cringe for these characters when they make one very bad decision after the other.
This is no small achievement from the author as none of these people are very sympathetic. But the enormously menacing and alien world through which they travel makes the reader huddle close to these characters and hope that they come to their senses and turn on their heels and head back towards the comfort and sanity of civilization.
Instead, the trio delves ever deeper into a hostile and desolate world.

We never get to learn much about the background of the three young Americans, other than some hints at the sources of their discontent, yet we feel intensely for their plight.

Bowles is an extraordinarily effective writer, and his ability to evoke dread and gloom with just a few sentences is remarkable.

The Sheltering Sky is one of those few books that isn’t a page too long, which is what I consider the mark of a great writer.
His description of Morocco, its barren, unforgiving landscape and its inhabitants is excellent.

Like all great literature, The Sheltering Sky tells a story which illuminates something about the human condition which less alert souls would normally not see.

It is a story about privileged people stumbling into the harsh reality of the African desert, but it is also a story about the terror of cosmic loneliness.

Read this book. It will change you.

Night night.