Many years ago, in the middle of some ocean, a frigate of the French navy was shipwrecked. One hundred and forty-seven men tried to save themselves by getting on a huge raft and trusting themselves to the sea. A horror that lasted days and days. A formidable stage in which the worst of cruelty and the sweetest of mercy were shown.

Many years ago, on the shores of some ocean, a man arrived. He had brought him there with a promise. The inn where he stopped was called Almayer. Seven rooms. Strange children, a painter, a beautiful woman, a teacher with a strange name, a mysterious man, a girl who did not want to die, a comical priest. They were all there looking for something, balanced on the ocean.

Many years ago, these and other destinations found the sea and came back marked. This book explains why, and listening to them you can hear the voice of the sea. It can be read as a suspense story, as a prose poem, a conte philosophique, an adventure novel. In any case, he masters the furious joy of telling stories through writing and a narrative technique without models or antecedents or teachers.

«A second novel that fearlessly surpasses the already fortunate debut of Tierras de cristal... A wise amalgamation of tones, a singular disposition to existential and stylistic understatement» (Lorenzo Mondo, Tuttolibri).

«First of all, a judgment: Océano mar is a beautiful book, full of inventions and discoveries, in which Baricco evokes the wound of man... A novel about perfection» (Arnaldo Colasanti, Avanti).

«It must be said from the outset, Baricco's writing leaves us stunned. Behind the narrator hides a magician, a tightrope walker» (Jean-Baptiste Harang, Libération).

«An exceptional, lucid and fresh novel» (Pedro de Miguel, El Mundo).