The Sheltering Sky


The Sheltering Sky is a 1949 novel of alienation and existential despair by American writer and composer Paul Bowles.

Plot

The story centers on Port Moresby and his wife Kit, a married couple originally from New York who travel to the North African desert accompanied by their friend Tunner. The journey, initially an attempt by Port and Kit to resolve their marital difficulties, is quickly fraught by the travelers' ignorance of the dangers that surround them.

Reception

magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. The Modern Library also included it on their 100 best of the century, ranked at number 97.

Dramatic adaptations

The novel was adapted by Bernardo Bertolucci into a 1990 film with the same title starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich, and with a screenplay by Mark Peploe. The movie was filmed in Morocco, Algeria, and Niger and features powerful landscapes.

Cultural impact

Music

In a 1993 interview just prior to his accidental on set death, actor Brandon Lee quoted a passage from The Sheltering Sky. Lee had chosen this quote to be included in his upcoming wedding invitations; it is now inscribed on his tombstone: