Description
The sea is your mirror
Book Summary
In this work of narrative journalism, journalist Catalina Gayà Morlà reconstructs a true story of abandonment and resistance in the Mediterranean. After meeting Faisal, a Pakistani sailor stranded on a cargo ship in the port of Barcelona, the author begins an investigation that takes her to six Mediterranean ports where entire crews were forgotten by their companies during the economic crisis. The reader will find a moving account that denounces a silenced reality, combining human sensitivity with rigorous fieldwork.
What is it about?
In 2009, journalist Catalina Gayà Morlà meets Faisal, a Pakistani sailor who has been living for over a year aboard an abandoned cargo ship in the port of Barcelona. Starting from this chance encounter, the author undertakes a journey that leads her to visit six Mediterranean ports to document the situation of crews who, in the midst of the economic crisis, were abandoned by their shipping companies. With no resources to return to their home countries or to feed themselves, these men live trapped on their own ships, in conditions of isolation and despair. The book is a testament to some of the most ambitious investigative journalism in the contemporary Spanish landscape, giving a voice to those forgotten by the sea and exposing the cracks in a global system that allows for the abandonment of human beings in no-man's-land.
Main themes
- Labor abandonment and exploitation of maritime crews during the economic crisis.
- Investigative journalism and social commitment as a tool to make injustices visible.
- The fragility of human rights in contexts of global deregulation.
- The experience of forced migration and the loss of identity in a strange land.
- The Mediterranean as a setting for stories of resistance and survival.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in narrative and investigative journalism, as well as those seeking true stories that combine social denunciation with literary sensitivity. It will also be of great interest to people concerned about labor rights, migration, and silenced humanitarian crises, as well as those who enjoy narratives that explore the human condition from a committed and documented perspective.
What this book offers
- A unique and exhaustive testimony on an almost invisible reality: the abandonment of sailors in Mediterranean ports.
- A human and deep look at the consequences of the economic crisis on the most vulnerable workers.
- An example of long-form journalism, with rigorous research that covers six ports in different countries.
- A reflection on dignity, solidarity, and the capacity for resistance in the face of adversity.
Technical specifications
- Author: Gayà Morlà, Catalina
- Publisher: LIBROS DEL KO, SLL
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Literary essays, reportage and collections of journalistic articles, modern and contemporary fiction
- Collection: NARRATIVE
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: January 2017
- Number of pages: 160
- Weight: 245 g
Editorial assessment
The sea is your mirror is a work that stands out for its ability to combine journalistic rigor with a deeply human narrative. The author manages to transform an investigation into the abandonment of sailors into a story that challenges the reader regarding the fragility of rights in a globalized world. It is a necessary book for those who value committed journalism and stories that deserve to be told, with polished prose that maintains interest from beginning to end.