Honestly, most people hadn't even heard of Abdulrazak Gurnah until the Nobel Committee basically shocked the world by handing him the prize in 2021. But if you’re looking for a book that actually explains why the world feels so fractured right now, you have to read the By the Sea book. It isn’t just a "migrant story." It’s a messy, quiet, and deeply uncomfortable look at how history follows us like a shadow, even when we try to outrun it.
Saleh Omar arrives at Gatwick airport with nothing but a mahogany box containing incense. He’s old. He’s tired. He’s seeking asylum. He pretends he can't speak English because, frankly, silence is a survival tactic. It’s a brilliant setup. Gurnah doesn't give you a fast-paced thriller; he gives you a slow-burn interrogation of memory.
What Actually Happens in the By the Sea Book
The plot kicks off when Saleh’s path crosses with Latif Mahmud. This isn’t a happy coincidence. It’s a collision. Back in Zanzibar, their families were entangled in a web of debt, betrayal, and colonial fallout. The By the Sea book operates on two timelines that eventually crash into each other in a cold, rainy English seaside town.
It's about the maps we carry in our heads. Saleh is a man who owned a furniture shop; Latif is an academic. They represent two different ways of being displaced. Gurnah focuses on the physical objects—the incense, a diary, a house—to show how "home" isn't an abstract concept. It’s stuff. And when you lose the stuff, you lose the map of who you are.
The Weight of the Mahogany Box
That incense burner is everything. It smells of "ud-al-qamari," a scent that bridges the gap between the Indian Ocean and the sterile halls of British immigration. Gurnah uses this to highlight the sensory nature of displacement. You can change your name, but you can’t change what your childhood smelled like.
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Most readers miss the fact that Saleh Omar is an "unreliable" narrator not because he’s lying to us, but because he’s lying to the state to stay alive. The British authorities see a refugee. We see a man who has lived a thousand lives before he ever stepped onto a plane.
Why Gurnah’s Narrative Style Breaks All the Rules
Gurnah writes with a specific kind of rhythm. Some sentences are short. Sharp. Like a punch. Then he’ll pivot into a sprawling, multi-page recollection of a 1950s Zanzibar street scene that feels like you’re drowning in silk. It’s a deliberate choice. He wants you to feel the disorientation.
The By the Sea book refuses to use a traditional "hero's journey" arc. Saleh isn't searching for a prize. He’s searching for a place to sit down and be left alone. This subverts almost everything Western readers expect from "post-colonial literature." There is no grand reconciliation. There is only the slow, painful process of two men talking in a kitchen until they understand why their lives were ruined by people who died decades ago.
Dealing with the "Englishness" of it All
The book is set largely in a decaying British seaside resort. It’s bleak. Gurnah captures that specific grayness of the English coast—the vinegar smell of chip shops, the biting wind, the polite but freezing indifference of the locals. It’s the perfect foil to the vibrant, humid memory of Zanzibar.
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- Saleh lives in a B&B.
- The wallpaper is peeling.
- The tea is weak.
- The bureaucracy is endless.
This isn't the "Cool Britannia" of the late 90s (when the book was written). This is the England that treats people like paperwork.
The Complicated Reality of Colonialism
We talk about colonialism like it’s a chapter in a textbook. In the By the Sea book, it’s a living thing. Gurnah shows how the British didn't just take resources; they rewired the brains of the people they ruled. Latif Mahmud’s obsession with European poetry is a direct result of that rewiring. He’s a man caught between two worlds, belonging to neither.
He doesn't make the "victims" perfect. That’s the genius. Saleh and Latif’s families did terrible things to each other. They were greedy. They were petty. They were human. Gurnah suggests that the tragedy of colonialism isn't just what the colonizer did, but how it forced the colonized to tear each other apart for the scraps that were left.
Real-World Context: Zanzibar’s Revolution
To really get this book, you sort of need to know about the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. It wasn't just a political shift; it was a total social upheaval. People were disappeared. Property was seized. The racial tensions between Arabs, Africans, and Indians—which had been simmering under British rule—boiled over.
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Saleh Omar’s loss of his shop isn't a metaphor. It’s a historical reality for thousands of people who were purged during that era. When he arrives in England, he’s carrying the trauma of a revolution that the rest of the world has largely forgotten.
How to Approach the Book if You’re a New Reader
If you’re picking up the By the Sea book for the first time, don't rush. It’s a dense read. You’ll probably get confused by the family trees and the shifting names. That’s fine. It’s part of the experience.
- Pay attention to the silence. What the characters don't say is usually more important than what they do.
- Look at the metaphors of "ownership." Who owns the house? Who owns the debt? Who owns the story?
- Don't expect a "happy" ending. Expect a "true" one.
The Lingering Impact of Gurnah's Work
Since 2021, there’s been a massive surge in interest in East African literature. But Gurnah remains the gold standard. He doesn't write for the "white gaze," meaning he doesn't stop to explain every Swahili word or every cultural nuance. He expects you to keep up. This gives the By the Sea book an authenticity that feels raw and unmediated.
Critics like James Wood have pointed out that Gurnah’s strength lies in his "gravity." He doesn't resort to magical realism or flashy gimmicks. He just tells you, in very precise language, how it feels to be a person who no longer has a country.
Final Thoughts on the By the Sea Book
This novel is a masterclass in perspective. It challenges the idea that any of us have a "single" identity. Are you the person your passport says you are? Or are you the sum of everyone you’ve ever loved and betrayed?
If you want to understand the current global migration crisis, stop watching the news for an hour and read this. It won't give you policy solutions. It will give you something much more valuable: the ability to see the human being standing in the airport line, holding a small mahogany box, and wondering if they will ever be warm again.
Actionable Next Steps for Readers
- Read the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution history: Spend twenty minutes on a reputable archive site to understand the racial and political backdrop of the novel.
- Compare with "Paradise": If you finish this and want more, Gurnah’s earlier novel Paradise provides a "prequel" of sorts to the cultural atmosphere of East Africa before the fall of the Sultanate.
- Listen to Gurnah’s Nobel Lecture: It’s available for free online and explains his motivation for writing about the "refugee experience" long before it became a trendy literary trope.
- Trace the incense: Research the "Indian Ocean trade routes" to see how the scents and goods mentioned in the book literally mapped the ancient world.