SILENCE ON THE SHORES

French-Algerian writer Sebbar’s limpid 1983 novella weaves backward and forward in time and space to depict the discordant thoughts and painful memories that flood through the consciousness of an Algerian (Mahgrebian) immigrant who’s dying—far from the “shores” of his homeland, in France—on the first day of summer. Skillful deployment of images of separation and death and a vivid piecemeal picture of traditional Moorish culture give this otherwise slight tale an impressive density. Unfortunately, translator Mortimer’s labored introduction gilds the lily annoyingly, and the tiny volume’s inexplicably high price will probably keep it out of most of the libraries that really ought to have this accomplished writer’s graceful and absorbing fiction.