The Sheltering Sky
By Paul Bowles
Penguin, 2004
The writer and composer Paul Bowles first hit upon the idea for The Sheltering Sky in 1947 whilst riding a bus down Fifth Avenue in New York. That inspiration for this, his powerful first and arguably most celebrated novel, should have struck in such an apparently unlikely place actually comes as no surprise, for the protagonists of The Sheltering Sky are constantly travelling, journeying further
and further into the depths of the Sahara. When the manuscript was first presented to an agent it was rejected outright, its narrative deemed too existentialist to hold any real promise as a novel. Yet months later it was snapped up by another agent, became an immediate bestseller and continues to hold its place in the realm of definitive post-war literature.
Depressed by the aftermath of the Second World War, Kit and Port Moresby embark on a trip to North Africa where they hope not only to put the turmoil of the preceding years behind them, but also to re-energise their lacklustre marriage. Throughout the novel they grapple with the vestiges of what their loveless partnership has become, and their inability to reconcile their fundamental differences. In one particularly charged passage, Bowles writes that ‘just as she was unable to shake off the dread that was always with her, he was unable to break out of the cage into which he had shut himself, the cage he had built long ago to save himself from love.’
This strained relationship is not helped by the presence of the couple’s frivolous friend Tunner. As dynamics between the three take a sinister turn and tensions surface, the hostility of the desert also begins to affect them in different ways. Yet it is not until Tunner is separated from them and Port becomes dangerously ill that Kit is sent into a spiralling nightmare of uncertainty. Her confused emotions lead her to face her fear of the desert alone as the novel’s dramatic denouement unfolds.
Brimming with suspense and foreboding desert imagery, Bowles has succeeded in creating a world that is as compelling as it is unsettling. I found it difficult to actually warm to his characters, yet it was impossible not to relate to them in a certain way. The actions they take are savage yet human; savage for the cold precision with which they are perpetrated and human in the way we can see
something of our own weaknesses in them, whether or not we like to admit it. For Kit and Port Moresby, their downfall lies in their failure to admit their flaws as they blindly stumble on through an increasingly intimidating environment, played out both in the desert and in their minds. Their actions suggest universal insecurities, leaving the reader feeling distinctly uncomfortable; questions of fidelity, of death, of madness and most importantly of human boundaries and the allure of what if…?
I felt that part of Bowles’s success with the novel was his ability to cast an objective eye on his characters, to comment on them without judging them; this dubious, discomfiting pleasure he leaves to the reader. Furthermore, his descriptions of the desert and the customs of the North African Tuareg are wonderfully atmospheric. When Bowles first visited Morocco, he intended to stay for a short while but he ended up living there for more than thirty years. His unique insight into the country and its peoples comes across in his intimate portrayals of the host of indigenous people that colour the pages of his novel. As armchair travel, this is a superb read. As a darkly absorbing page turner, it’s
even better.
The Sheltering Sky is a tale of human frailty, disenchanted love and abandonment, set against the beautiful yet menacing backdrop of the vast Sahara which the characters seek to understand yet which, ultimately, can only consume them.
