Paul Bowles
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Paul Bowles (USA, 1910)
"The Sheltering Sky" (1949) ++
tells more than a story of self-destruction,
it tells a nightmare of self-immolation to demons of alienation.
Bowles writes in a baroque and hallucinated manner that is more focused on
depicting the inner motions of the psyche than the outer motions of the plot,
but he is also a realist, in fact a hyper-realist, who can describe the simplest
action in the most frightening detail. Bowles' careful, painstakingly precise
documentary of ordinary life recalls Balzac, although his interiorized and
metaphysical detours belong to the opposite tradition of fiction.
The narration is punctuated by philosophical sentences (reminiscent of Buddhism)
such as "the difference between something and nothing is nothing" and "when
I'm here I can't remember being here... but here I can remember being there".
Kit is often left alone with Tunner, who is obviously trying to seduce her. Kit is terribly annoyed by Tunner's attentions. One day two English people show up at their hotel: the dumb and curious Eric Lyle and his disgusting mother. The couple is obnoxious to the say the least, but they truly enjoy the company of the Americans and invite them to ride in their car rather than take the train. Port decides t! o accept, mostly for Kit's sake since she is axhausted, but Kit rea cts furiously to the idea that they would have to leave Tunner alone and refuses to accept the ride. Port rides with the English couple, while Kit and Tunner take the train. Kit is so bored by Tunner that prefers to wander to the fourth-class with the natives and almost leaves the train, but maybe her disgust with Tunner hides the fact that she's secretely attracted: when she returns to their car, she lets Tunner get her drunk and then make love to her. Kit's shame is made worse by Port's sudden tenderness: Port has decided that he would like to get closer again to his wife and doesn't know that it is too late. They take a bus to another city in the desert, Ain Krorfa. The Lyles reach them there and offer again a ride to the next stop, Messad. Port has decided that Tunner is an obstacle to his plan to get closer to Kit and passes on the offer to him. Then he plans to take the bus to the even more remote town of Bou Noura.Still unable to heal his relationship, Port falls in love with a blind dancer but cannot consume his lust. On the other hand he learns from an Arab that Eric is having sex with his "mother". Eric has begged him for money and Port has refused. Eric seems to be an even lower being that Port and Kit imagined. In Bou Noura Port finds out that his passport has disappeared and thinks the thief is the owner of the hotel. Port would like Lieutenant d'Armagnac to do something about it but the French knows the hotel owner is innocent and suspects somebody stole Port's passport to sell it to the legionnaire, so he invites Port to wait. Port is finally brought to the realization that Eric stole his passport, and Tunner's later: both his passport and Tunner's passport are recovered, and Tunner is on his way to bring Port his passport. Still trying to avoid a meeting with Tunner, Port decides to proceed to El Ga'a.! He buys a seat on a bus that was already full with the excuse that his wife is sick, but he is the one who falls sick during the trip. In El Ga'a, his fever already very high, they are faced with a complication: the town is threatened by an epidemic of meningitis and the local hotel will not even let them in. The hotel owner tells Kits to get out of town as soon as possible. Port's conditions worsening by the hour, Kit finds a truck going to another town, Sba. When they get there, they are met by the local French captain, Broussard, who identifies the disease as typhoid and provides shelter and assistance, but looks suspiciously upon the couple. In the meantime Tunner is trying to find them. As Port's health gets worse, Broussard gets more suspicious of Kit, even if the passport that is missing is Port's, not Kit's. Kit is now a devoted wife, who sleeps on the floor next to her husband and takes loving care of him. She is suddenly strong and determined, even if she is surround! ed by strangers and she fears she got infected with meningitis. Tunner finally finds them and, instead of giving her courage, he seems to throw her in a desperate state. Upon returning to the room, Kit finds Port dead. She makes an appointment with Tunner that she has no intention to keep and then, without telling a soul that Port is dead, she simply leaves the town carrying only her suitcase. Tunner stays put for a while hoping that the French will find Kit, but the days go by without any news whatsover: the American woman seems to have disappeared. Tunner is staying at the same hotel where Port thought his passport was stolen and eventually the Lyles show up again. This time Tunner, who doesn't suspect anything, catches Eric stealing from his room and beats him. Kit wandered in the desert until a caravan appeared. The caravan was led by two men, Belqassim and his older friend. They rescue her and take her ! with them, but they both rape her in what becomes a daily ritual. K it becomes strangely attached to Belqassim and only resents that he lets to other also rape her. When the caravan finally reaches Belqassim's town, he dresses her like a boy and takes her to his mansion pretending she's a (male) guest. Naturally her presence (locked in a room) and the master's attentions for her generate enough curiosity that one day Belqassim's three wives enter the room and find out the truth about her. Even if Belqassim seems to be ready to defend her, Kit decides to run away and buys the complicity of the wives. She finds himself in a negro town by the sea. But she is incapble of dealing with people, even with the kind negro who speaks French and tries to help her when she gets in trouble for offering francs to a vendor who has never seen such money. She is afraid like an animal and can't truly connect. The man is kind and truly helps her recover her belongings and she has sex with him. Finally, her ad! venture ends when she is delivered safe and sound to the French authorities, who simply fly her back to Algeria. But she has completely lost her mind and has to be tied in the plane. She is welcome by a staff of the American consulate, who tells her that Tunner is coming to take care of her. Kit does not react and does not seem to understand. The other woman looks for help to get her out of the cab, but Kit is faster and runs away. "Let It Come Down" (1952) "The Spider's House" (1955) "Up Above The World" (1967)
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