Theft
I was curious to read Abdulrazak Gurnah’s latest novel – his first publication since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. Theft follows Karim, Fauzia, and Badar, who grow up between Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, become friends, and fall in love. This triangle constellation might suggest that things will get complicated, but Gurnah does not turn this story into a big, exciting drama. The climax comes relatively late in the book, and until then, as in his earlier novels, Gurnah takes his time with the story, slowly and unwaveringly providing detailed background information on each of the characters.
Parenthood is one of the novel’s central themes; it explores how some parents shirk their responsibilities, how much having a child can change the parent’s romantic relationship, as well as the burden that is placed on mothers. Karim grows up in Zanzibar, where his mother – in her search for happiness – leaves him with a half-brother. Mother and son only reconnect when she marries a wealthy pharmacist in Dar es Salaam. Karim focuses on school, earns a scholarship to university, and grows up to be a successful, ambitious man who just goes for what he wants. He doesn’t grow into caring parent himself. Badar never gets to know his parents and lives with relatives in a village near Dar es Salaam until he reaches adolescence. Then his uncle takes him out of school and sends him away to become a domestic servant for Karim’s mother. Karim feels sorry for him and helps Badar to move to Zanzibar to start working in a hotel. There they meet Fauzia. She is a serious person, an only child and, like her parents, lives in constant worry about her epilepsy. She enjoys learning and fulfills her dream of becoming a teacher. Then she marries Karim, but when they have a child, their relationship becomes toxic – and I won’t say more than that, for now.
Thematically, I found Theft somewhat less compelling than Gurnah’s previous novel, Afterlives, with its focus on German colonialism. The perspectives on parenthood and family seemed a bit old-fashioned to me – perhaps because the book is set in the 1990s and 2000s. The novel’s strength clearly lies in the careful development of the characters and the unwavering calm with which the book takes its time with all three of the protagonists.