Theft By Abdulrazak Gurnah 2025 368 pages Riverside Books
Theft was written by the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Despite its honorable credentials, it is not a long book, and not a terribly “heavy” reading experience. It takes place partly in Tanzania and partly in surrounding areas. It centers on the relationship between Karim, a university educated and successful young professional; Fauzia, a bright and ambitious college student; and Badar, a shy, inexperienced, and uneducated younger character whom they befriend. Although on the surface the plot seems to be a domestic one, its circumstances and location in place and time carry greater meaning than just a coming-of-age tale.
There are political overtones in the book, but they remain more or less secondary. The real focus is the juxtaposition of the cultural background of a country just coming into its own and adapting to modern customs and stresses, while its inhabitants also struggle to preserve their traditional values and ways of living. The characters, though different in some ways from the people we meet every day, face challenges that will not be unfamiliar to us. They are challenged by classic questions: What is success? What is love? When do young people need to abandon families and determine who they are and where they are going? What do we owe to those who have helped us along the way? How do we build resilience?
The writing itself is exemplary, as one would expect. The characters are clearly drawn, and we watch them grow and develop–sometimes in admirable ways and sometimes not. The book resounds with echoes of a world rapidly vanishing, inhabited by some who are out to get what they can no matter what, some who try valiantly to maintain a foot in each world, and some who are merely bewildered by the diverse range of change, even though it presents opportunities. The fact is, the reader has some sympathy with all of these stances, and special sympathy for two of the characters; which two? Read and find out!