Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah is simplistic in its storytelling of several characters whose lives are borne of great pain and yet they maneuver through with subtlety. The story begins with a young woman who is being pursued by a young man that she grew up with in Zanzibar and ends with a sudden conclusion for a man that same young woman takes on as a servant (a boi) later in the novel.  

What I love about this novel is the uncomplicated nature of it in story and structure. Each individual’s story is told in a way that weaves in greater understanding of the present-day culture in Tanzania (or how the culture may have shifted from the past) while also giving insight into who the characters are through personality and thought. Even when each chapter takes an unexpected turn or switches to a new character, it doesn’t do so in a way that one would be lost.  

Although there is plenty of drama in the book, it is not written dramatically, but as if it were something that has happened in everyday life and that the characters will get through. The abuse, thievery, abandonment and false accusations in the story were told in the same manner as the weddings, the sex, the births, and the blossoming young love.  

The book is written without any quotation marks or much punctuation outside of periods, even when the tone or diction might suggest it should be. Yet it’s still extremely easy to follow. If anything, this way of writing made it easier to follow.  

At many points, because we are able to know the characters so well, there are times when I felt myself caught up in the mystery of what was happening in the story, not knowing bits and pieces of the backstory just as the characters don’t always know their own, and finding out at the same time as them made me feel as if I was in the room with them, experiencing receiving the truth at the same moment that they do.  

This novel is a collage that weaves in and out of time, present day and past with tinges of the future. It holds space for multiple generations and at one point, a grand history that informs present-day life. We experience Islam in how it is practiced realistically while also dealing with the nuances of the decisions people make that may not adhere to the religion or culture in general, and with no judgement, just basic human understanding.  

In between certain takes we get a glimpse of Gurnah’s own personal feelings or admirations about certain topics with just a line or two from characters about condescension in questions or a quiet philosophy about life, or a reference to Tolstoy. But the magic is in the characters’ thoughts, in how they socialize, in how they respond to certain situations. It’s in our cheering them on and our disappointments in how they didn’t do better than the ones that came before. The magic is in rustic back rooms that provide space for a new and uncluttered life and walk down the street with friends. The magic is in the unexpected turns which show up in the same way that life does. The magic of this novel is life.