Astonishing the Gods
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Selected as one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'.
From Booker Prize winner Ben Okri, a deceptively simple modern fable with an ancient origin.
A young man finds himself living among invisible beings who have built a utopia based on one principle: that we must repeat or suffer every experience until we experience it properly and fully for the first time.
'A modern day classic' Evening Standard
'Beautiful. A new creation myth' Daily Telegraph
'Amazing. I think this is as close as you can get to reliving the experience of a bedtime story' Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Booker winner Okri (The Famished Road) combines allegory and Yoruba folklore in this illuminating outing, first published in the U.K. in 1995. The unnamed protagonist was born invisible and feels out of place in his hometown. He travels for seven years, hoping to understand "the secret of invisibility," and finds a city of "beautiful solitude." Understanding nothing of his purpose in life, he encounters many obstacles, all of which become "a dream and a sign" of his spiritual and intellectual mission. He crosses a perilous bridge to enter a city where riddles abound, confronts voices he must learn to interpret, and wrestles with dangerous figures such as an equestrian wielding an axe. Along the way, he is instructed by guides who lead him to his true nature ("Your bewilderment will serve you well," one says). Only by conquering these stages will he learn that by letting go of preconceived notions can he reach the truth. The episodic structure and beautiful poetic language perfectly complement the hero's journey. The narrative's kaleidoscopic nature has a transformative effect on the reader, making it deserving of a cult classic status.
