In the Beginning Was the Sea
Feb 2015 · Pushkin Press
Ebook
224
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
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.
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.
About the author
Tomás González (b. 1950 in Medellin, Colombia) studied philosophy, then became barman in a Bogotá nightclub, whose owner published González's In the Beginning Was the Sea (translated into German, French and now for the first time into English) in 1983. He also lived in Miami and New York, where he wrote much of his work, while making a living as a translator. After twenty years in the US, he returned to Colombia where he now lives. His many novels include La Storia de Horacio (translated into French) and La Luz Difficil (translated into German, French and Dutch).
Frank Wynne is an Irish translator and writer. His translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World won the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He has also won the 2008 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for translation from the French and the 2012 Premio Valle Inclán for Spanish Translation.
Frank Wynne is an Irish translator and writer. His translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World won the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He has also won the 2008 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for translation from the French and the 2012 Premio Valle Inclán for Spanish Translation.
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