About this title: In the slums of an African city, a child named Azaro has cheated on his pact with the spirit world. Meanwhile, his impoverished family must struggle to survive in the real world under British colonial rule.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780385425131ISBN:0385425139
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. 0385424760 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780385425131ISBN:0385425139
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has only slight wear at corners, spine uncreased; pages appear to be unmarked, only lightly tanned. Winner of the Booker Prize for fiction read more
Description: Very Good. 0385425139 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please e us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books, New York
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780385425131ISBN:0385425139
Description: Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Won the Booker Prize in 1991. Fold in front cover, No writing in a tight book. A mesmerizing vision of modern Nigeria-seen throgh the eyes of a peculiarly sentient child. A quintessential African novell. 500 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1993-05-01
ISBN-13:9780385425131ISBN:0385425139
Description: Used-Like New. LIKE NEW-Looks almost new, some light shelfwear. an owners name on inside page, otherwise very clean. Tight and solid. Trade paperback. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780099929307ISBN:0099929309
Description: Good + Cover has bumping, light chipping, marks-Marks on edge-Bumped pgs-Few marks-Lightly cracked binding at first few pgs (minor) read more
"This book was really big! Little words and about 500 pages. The writer has a really unique style. I am sure there is a term for it, but basically he mixes the magical with the practical. One sentence a boy is walking to the store, and the next he is encountering three yellow glowing witches, an old herbalist, a wizard's apprentice and a centaur in a magical forrest. Yeah, it's kind of like that. My description might repel or attract you to the story, but there is a lot more going on in this book than a fun mixture of fantasy and reality. Ultimately this book seems to be about Africa as a nation and how it has evolved throughout history. What it is now and what it should be and how it got to its present state. It is about the ebbs and flows of history. The efforts one generation makes and passes to the next, and the choice to further on previous generations efforts or to turn and try to 'build your own road' so to speak. Okri would say, I think, that the road of history is impoverished and hungry, but the hungrier the road, the more powerful and influential its choices are. While reading this book I often thought about Jesus' statement in his sermon on the mount that 'the meek will inherit the earth.' This book is about upside-down power, and what it means to truly assert yourself in a meaningful way within the context of history."
"A young Nigerian boy named Azaro is caught between two worlds: the real world, and the spirit world he came from when he was born. He's in a constant struggle to keep his soul here in the real world, with the spirits trying to get him to join them again in their world. Azaro's real world family lives a hand-to-mouth existence, with his father doing manual labor jobs for very little money, and his mother peddling what cheap goods she can get ahold of. They live in a compound in the ghetto, and are often in conflicts with the neighbors and landlord because of the father's sometimes eratic behavior. Add to this political thugs, herbalists, boxers, beggars, witches, and other strange beings and you've got a rich and powerful story.
This book is possibly one of the wierdest books I've ever read. I can't say I always understood it, but the journey through it and into Azaro's bizarro world made for some of the best reading I've had this year. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys imaginative storytelling.
Steeped in magical realism, it has everything from talking animals to dream adventures to witches and curses. The setting however is very grounded in reality, and it makes in interesting contrast to read about the fantastical creatures and then the ghetto finally getting electricity in the same chapter. The writing is wonderful; Okri has such a perfect way of expressing himself that it really makes the story come to life. Not a book I'll forget any time soon, I hope to read more by this talented author."
By Michelle,
Newcastle upon Tyne, The United Kingdom
"Okri's writing is beautiful, magical almost but this book deserves to be read in long sittings and I just couldn't give it that time. In the end, I struggled to continue reading (and read a few other books alongside this) and although it started to come together in the final third or so, I'd long given up caring all that much about it. Maybe in years to come, when I have more time, I'll come back to this."
"Omigod, this came completely out of left field. I read Okri´s debut, Flowers and Shadows, a heartbreaking family chronicle, but nothing prepared me for this. This book is not like anything else I have ever read. I never had the slightest notion where things were going, I had to keep asking myself what was going on, but I was nevertheless transfixed. Imagine reading a David Lynch movie taking place in Africa with a script by Karl Marx and you´ve got some idea of what you´re in for. It starts right away and doesn´t relent. Okri manages to meld the personal, the fantastic, the political, the social, the emotional, the imagination all into one unfolding story that feels amazingly real. The only reason it doesn´t get five stars is that while it was amazing, it went on a little too long and sometimes lacked a narrative thrust, but sticking with it definitely paid off for me. I´d give it four and a half stars if Goodreads would let me."
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