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"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend."
The Famished Road
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The Famished Road
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This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
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The Famished Road introduces the reader to Azaro, an abiku or "spirit child" who has been dwelling in the in-between world of unborn spirits (the "land of origins", where all spirits reside, both prior to birth and after death) for some time. Azaro has been born -- and died young -- a number of times, each time to the same woman. He therefore decides at the beginning of the novel to remain for a time in the "World of the Living", an act of mercy towards his mother. I generally dislike plots involving magic, fantasy or the supernatural, but Okri's writing and his conception of the spirit world caught my attention from the first paragraphs: "In that land of beginnings spirits mingled with the unborn. We could assume numerous forms. Many of us were birds. We knew no boundaries. There was much feasting, playing, and sorrowing. We feasted much because of the beautiful terrors of eternity. We played much because we were free. And we sorrowed much because there were always those amongst us who had just returned from the world of the Living. They had returned inconsolable for all the love they had left behind, all the suffering they hadn't redeemed, all that they hadn't understood, and for all that they had barely begun to learn before they were drawn back to the land of origins." Nonetheless, this proved to be an exceedingly difficult read (it took me two weeks, during a period in which I've been reading 2 - 3 books a week). Parts of it felt to me like I was reading them in "real time" ... another pot of peppersoup is prepared and served by Azaro's mother ... another glass of palm-wine is poured by Madame Koto ... another wet night's sleep during the rainy season ... another mosquito coil burns down ... another dusty path is traversed by Azaro's aching father. It was difficult to follow Azaro's stream of consciousness, and to discern from it which events really occurred in the external world, and which were premonitions, nightmares, messages from the spirit world or figments of his imagination. Ultimately, I was left with the sense that The Famished Road didn't tell a story, so much as convey an experience or a series of moments in time. The British Council has posted a biography of Ben Okri here. |
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I'm mailing this book to Shylock in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, a trade for Damon Galgut's The Good Doctor. Thanks very much, and greetings from New Westminster, British Columbia! (At left: the Fraser River, as seen from the top of my street.)
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Released 6 yrs ago (5/22/2005 UTC) at WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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