Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

Raj Chandarlapaty (Independent Scholar - North America)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Paul Bowles’s longtime friend, playwright Tennessee Williams, had this to say about Bowles’s first novel:

There is a curiously double level to this novel. The surface is enthralling as narrative. It is impressive as writing. But above that surface is the aura that I spoke of, intangible and powerful, bringing to mind one of those clouds that you have seen in summer, close to the horizon and dark in color and now and then silently pulsing with interior flashes of fire. And that is the surface of the novel that has filled me with such excitement. (11)

There is a curiously double level to this novel. The surface is enthralling as narrative. It is impressive as writing. But above that surface is the aura that I spoke of, intangible and powerful, bringing to mind one of those clouds that you…

2301 words

Citation: Chandarlapaty, Raj. "The Sheltering Sky". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33189, accessed 28 March 2024.]

33189 The Sheltering Sky 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.