Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Sheltering Sky

Bowles explores existentialism in this novel about an estranged couple, Port and Kit, travelling to Africa after the Second World War.

What happens to us when we move outside what is familiar? Do we want to be free, or want to belong?

Though I loved the novel overall, especially since I like character based novels, I was troubled by the reoccurring generalisation (/racism) of the Africans by the characters and by Bowles’ misogynistic view on women. That last became especially to the surface in the last part of the book.

However, I did some research and while above is true, I also understand that Bowles wrote it to norms of his time and that he is shattering the Western ego in a way too (spoiler coming!) … as our MC’s do not end up well. Not being able to find freedom. Or comfort. Or even survival.
This doesn’t justify the remarks and misogyny in any way though.

All in all, this is a complex novel, well written, interesting themes, great ending, but with some troubling elements that unfortunately influenced my reading experience.

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kendalsbookcase's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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valhecka's review

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reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

The blurb that inspired me to check this out of the library called it a "classic work of psychological terror," which I guess is one way to describe racists being racist.

There are a few really brilliant passages in here about (non-racial) alienation, existentialism, ontological breakdown. Unfortunately, those are weighed down by 300 pages of rich hipsters being painfully stylishly detached from any human feeling at all, and the plot only makes sense under the assumption that Protagonist 2 has been riding the edge of a psychotic break for years, which isn't borne out by how she's written. The author acknowledges that she's a terribly written character, and an inordinately passive one; "then why did you write her like that" remains unanswered.

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octopus_farmer's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I have never read a book with a whole cast of characters I hated more and one that also took forever to go off the rails in a truly horrible way. The only satisfaction I had reading was a particular man getting slapped, a simulacrum of which can be easily found on Youtube without putting yourself through this book. I couldn’t content warn for a loss of sanity, which occurs in the third section.

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