272 pages
Published Jan. 29, 2004 by Penguin Books Ltd.
'The Sheltering Sky is a book about people on the edge of an alien space; somewhere where, curiously, they are never alone' Michael Hoffman.
Port and Kit Moresbury, a sophisticated American couple, are finding it more than a little difficult to live with each other. Endeavouring to escape this predicament, they set off for North Africa intending to travel through Algeria - uncertain of exactly where they are heading, but determined to leave the modern world behind. The results of this casually taken decision are both tragic and compelling.
This got on my list as a desert book, and managed to both deliver a desert story and buck my expectations at every turn. Starting with the extreme culture contrasts present in northern Africa and reaching deep into the extreme mental states that can result, this book reminds me that I'll always view the desert through the eyes of a human struggling to exist there.
I just re-read this and forgot how much I liked it. Ostensibly about three Americans traveling in North Africa, it’s really about the disorienting nihilism that comes from not having a core sense of who you are and what you value apart from the culture and people with which you surround yourself.
