In the Beginning Was the Sea
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4.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The first-ever English translation of the classic Latin American novel—dubbed ‘Sisyphus in the Caribbean’—for fans of Paul Theroux’s Mosquito Coast and Alex Garland’s The Beach.
A couple experiences a downward spiral on the Caribbean coast in this “taut, uncompromising study of the fault lines in all of us,” hailed as “‘the best-kept secret of Colombian literature’” (The Guardian).
The young intellectuals J. and Elena abandon the parties, the drinking, and the money of the city to start a new life on a remote tropical coast. Among mango trees, hot sands, and everlasting sunshine, they plan to live the Good Life—self-sufficient and close to nature.
But with each day comes small defeats and imperceptible dramas. Gradually, paradise turns into hell, as brutal weather, mounting debts, the couple’s brittle relationship, and the sea itself threaten to destroy them.
Based on a true story, In the Beginning Was the Sea is a dramatic and searingly ironic account of the disastrous encounter of the imagined life with reality—a satire of hippyism, ecological fantasies, and of the very idea that man can control fate.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gonzalez's first novel to be translated into English introduces Elena and J., lovers who no longer enchanted by their wild and bohemian lifestyle in the city. J.'s solution is for them to buy property on an obscure island and live self-sufficiently in a paradise of their own. They're convinced their intellectual and artistic pursuits will be enough to keep them satisfied, and thus they set out to sea with a stack of books, a prized sewing machine, and naively high hopes. Shortly after arrival, their Eden becomes a disaster of relentless torrential rain, arguments, and desperate sex most occurring from or resulting in drunken stupors. Eventually, the couple realizes they must leave or be swallowed up by the shining, insidious sea. Gonzalez poetically and comically captures the inevitable destruction of those who live in a world of fantasy and hubris, depicting beauty and despair by turns.
