Songs of Enchantment - Hardcover

Okri, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385471548 ISBN 13: 9780385471541

Publisher: Doubleday, 1993

Synopsis

Myth and naturalism are combined in the story of Azaro, the spirit-child who lives in an impoverished African village, and the upheavals that he and his family face

About this title

From the Publisher:

In this sequel to his Booker Prize-winning novel The Famished Road, Ben Okri has crafted a wonderfully original novel that still retains all the elements of his earlier success. Songs Of Enchantment continues the story of the spirit-child Azaro, the impoverished young narrator of The Famished Road. Azaro is a reluctant but keen observer of the harsh reality that encompasses his village and his world. His mother leaves his family, caught up in the grip of the mysterious and demonic tavern owner Madame Koto. Black Tyger, Azaro's father, is also drawn away, but his temptation comes as forbidden visions of a beautiful beggar girl. And underlying such personal turmoil are the political convulsions that continually wrack the countryside, as mass upheavals and dreamlike battles embody the struggle of a new African nation. As in The Famished Road, Songs Of Enchantment is strongly grounded in Azaro's shimmering consciousness, gentle narration, and hallucinatory visions. It is here, in his own thoughts, that Azaro finds the strength to survive his difficult world. It is here, too, that Ben Okri demonstrates the extraordinary powers of his craft. With mesmerizing prose reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and a remarkable sensitivity to the inner lives of his characters, Songs Of Enchantment testifies to Ben Okri's well-deserved place at the forefront of contemporary novelists.

"Shares the earlier book's spirit of stoic joy and playful invention...A harrowing extension of a remarkable terrain."--Atlanta Constitution.

"The wonder of Songs Of Enchantment (evident, above all, in Okri's extraordinary imagery and language) is that it carries on so richly the saga of nation building...."--Chicago Tribune.

From the Inside Flap:

The adventures of Azaro, the spirit child, continue in this radiant sequel to The Famished Road.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0385471548
• ISBN 13: 9780385471541
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 297