Novel
The Opposing Shore
Le Rivage des Syrtes
Julien Gracq · 1951
Synopsis
Orsenna has officially been at war with Farghestan, on the other shore of the sea, for three centuries, but no fighting has taken place for generations. After a broken heart, Aldo, a young man from a noble family, asks for a distant posting and becomes an observer at the Admiralty of the Syrtes, an isolated fortress facing Farghestan. In this country numbed by waiting, he becomes close to Vanessa, a woman of his own rank, and the temptation grows in him to cross the forbidden line.
Context
The novel appeared from José Corti in January 1951. It was awarded the Prix Goncourt the same year, and its author refused it, faithful to the critique of literary prizes he had published shortly before in a pamphlet, La Littérature à l'estomac. The countries of the book are imaginary. Its author described it as a waking dream: atmosphere, waiting and the magic of places count for more in it than events.
Who it is for
A novel of atmosphere rather than action, in a long and highly wrought prose; it calls for slow reading.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English by Richard Howard, it was published in 1986 by Columbia University Press under the title The Opposing Shore.
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