★The seventh novel by Gurna, the 2021 Nobel Prize-winning writer and shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It is one of the writer's masterpieces and has a clear autobiographical flavor. ★A poignant and moving love story, successfully portrays two African female characters belonging to different eras. The portrayal of the characters' psychology is very delicate and highly contagious. The novel "Abandonment" was first published in 2005. It is one of Gurna's masterpieces and was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Award. It tells the story of the love tragedy of two generations who cannot tolerate the secular world.
The first story takes place in the British colony of Kenya at the end of the 19th century. Martin Pierce, a British writer, traveler and orientalist, was in danger in the desert and was discovered and rescued by a Muslim young man, Hassanali. After being rescued, Pierce came to thank Hassanali and met Hassanali's sister Rihanna. The two fell in love at first sight and came together regardless of colonial and religious restrictions.
The second story takes place in Zanzibar and London, England, before and after independence in the mid-20th century, telling the story of two brothers, Amin and Rashid. Brother Amin fell in love with Jamila, a young and beautiful but not well-known local woman - she is the granddaughter of Pierce and Rihanna in the previous story. However, due to the firm opposition of her parents, they were forced to break up. Since then, they have lived with the guilt and regret caused by "abandoning" each other. His younger brother Rashid won a scholarship to study in the UK and "abandoned" his hometown in turmoil.
Reader comments
Why is the title of the book "Abandoned"? What you see in a foreign land are faces that are completely different from your own, what you hear are incomprehensible languages, and what you feel is the sadness of being incompatible with this world. In front of you is a new life that you can't integrate into, and behind you is a gentle hometown that you can't go back to. Suddenly I remembered the poem "Bashan Chushui Desolate Land, I left it for twenty-three years" that I had already recited in elementary school. As a stranger in a foreign land, I resonated with the words in the book. The bullet fired twenty-three years ago finally hit the center of the eyebrow, and education completed its closed loop at this moment.
The love story in this book really makes me love and hate it! I especially hate Amin's parents. How could they break up a couple for worldly reasons? Just like my parents always don't let me play games, I really want to "abandon" them. But I understand A Ming quite well. If my parents didn't let me be with the girl I like, I would be very sad. Gulna portrayed the psychology of the characters so delicately that I felt like I was in the book.
Why is the title of the book "Abandoned"? What you see in a foreign land are faces that are completely different from your own, what you hear are incomprehensible languages, and what you feel is the sadness of being incompatible with this world. In front of you is a new life that you can't integrate into, and behind you is a gentle hometown that you can't go back to. Suddenly I remembered the poem "Bashan Chushui Desolate Land, I left it for twenty-three years" that I had already recited in elementary school. As a stranger in a foreign land, I resonated with the words in the book. The bullet fired twenty-three years ago finally hit the center of the eyebrow, and education completed its closed loop at this moment.
The love story in this book really makes me love and hate it! I especially hate Amin's parents. How could they break up a couple for worldly reasons? Just like my parents always don't let me play games, I really want to "abandon" them. But I understand A Ming quite well. If my parents didn't let me be with the girl I like, I would be very sad. Gulna portrayed the psychology of the characters so delicately that I felt like I was in the book.