What readers think of Theft, plus links to write your own review.

Gurnah tells of lives of Karim, an aspiring, university-educated young man, Fauzia, a young woman dedicated to teaching but fearful of recurring "falling sickness" and Badar, a sensitive soul confined to the servant class, with the steady pace and compassionate tone of a wise storyteller. He describes contemporary Zanzibar (and Dar Es Salam, all part of Tanzania) in a way that makes it come to life. At first he jumps evenly among the lives of the three, who of course, ultimately come to be connected, but ultimately our hearts come to sympathize with some more than others.

I was struck how most of the pain in this novel is caused by angry, entitled men (although there is an entitled young British woman as well!), and systems of hierarchy and patriarchy, from Raya's husband, to Badar's father and Uncle, to finally Karim. We feel the effects of colonialism and tourism as well on the characters, but to me the angry men, even though most of them remain side characters, feel most destructive here. A truly compelling story, rooted the description of every day lives