Customer Reviews

Astonishing the Gods

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"Astonishing the Gods" is a spiritual/philosophical journey, one whose goal is to reach "Perfection," a road long pursued by countless humans. Seen from the Christian point of view it is the journey back to the state of grace, for Buddhism it is the state of ultimate meditation, for the apocryphal it is the soul striving back to its origins, for Plato it is reaching the Forms and Ideas, and for the scientist the discovery of the Theory of Everything. In one way or another, Ben Okri touches (purposely or not) on these different roads to reach the "unreachable star," leaving the reader free to judge and give his own interpretation.
Ben Okri makes uses of mythological themes such as the unicorn, religious allegories to the original sin and Christ, a beautiful paralllel between the "archangel of invisibility" (a "she" figure) and Sophie, the god of Wisdom. "Astonishing the Gods" is a tapestry of profound thoughts, touching on issues of depth with respect to love, death, reality, and the ultimate purpose of life. It carries a message of hope, a belief in our innate ability and power to free ourselves from a world of illusions and reach the reality beyond, a state in which goodness and love will be the driving force. Needless to say, this journey is not easy, straightforward, and smooth. Ben Okri does hit some bumps along the way, his reasoning not totally free of paradoxes... inevitably so, it happens to anyone who attempts to journey into a reality in which time and space ceases to exist, and at the same time is chained to temporal perception.

Ben Okri's tells the story in an elegant manner with a love of words filled with abstract and concrete notions. There is peace, love, suffering, longing, and darkness within this beautiful tale. As you read you find yourself filled with the curiosity of a child, the humility of an enlightened being, and a love beyond compare among other things. As you begin to read you may initially feel overwhelmed by the abstract concepts, however do not be deterred because as you continue to read you will receive rewards that are limitless. By the time I had completed the book in 2 days I felt as if I was in a deep meditation that eloquently ended leaving me satisfied and at peace. I loved this book and it will be one I shall read over and over again!

Okri can inspire his readers by totally tranforming their expectations in a very short space of time. In "Astonishing The Gods" however, he can at times fail to live up to his own expectations for the book. Without, discussing the ending, his warmth for humanity seems to undermine many human qualities which are found in the migrant, travelling theme.

Time might improve this novel, as many sections are a little esoteric if not spontenious. Perhaps, that is the charm of the book, as well as its weakness.

This book is Ben Okri's small version of Dante's Divina Commedia (DC), with its three parts introduced by three guides. Okri's version describes only the Heaven part of the DC: ` a universal civilization of justice and love'; `palaces of wisdom, libraries of the infinite, cathedrals of joy, courts of divine laws, streets of bliss, cupolas of nobility.' `It is a civic society in which the highest possibilities of the inhabitants could be realized.'

But, all is not glitter, glance and harmony in his Heaven. Perfection becomes boring: `excessive beauty would make you miserable. It would become like hell: an inferno of perfections, a nightmare composed entirely of beautiful things.' `One can't live in perfection the whole time.' `Purity after a while is boring.'
Moreover, there is sexual frustration: `I have hungered for a man such as you for many long years.'

Ben Okri's book contains also some anti-rational romantic reflexes: `Understanding often leads to ignorance, especially when it comes too soon.' And, Plato is not far away: `What you think is what becomes real,' and `a city is a vast network of thoughts.'

All in all, Ben Okri's tale is too abstract. His inspirator painted not only a brilliant picture of the afterworld, but discussed also such burning actual item as the separation between secular and religious power, between Church and State.

This is a minor book by an otherwise great writer.

Astonishing the Gods is in my opinion all about human nature and self Knowledge. It reminded me of a Greek poem by Kavafis, called Ithaki. Both Kavafis and Okri see life as a journey. A journey through which individuavls get the chance learn, see the beuty of the world, that we usually take for granted because of our every day routines. Reading though Astonishing the Gods I often caught my self looking out of my rooms window and thinking that I miss a lot from what is aroud me everyday. The unicorn, may have passed next to me so many times but I failed seeing him. The beuty around me is there but I can not see it. I can not feel the sun on my face, or the rain, the afternoon breeze or the odours of the spirng flowers in the park next to my house. Indeed, It is amazing what we can do and learn if we take notice of what is there for us. Is is beyond our perception the beuty of the world and Ben Okri stimulates our spirit and our desire to see this beuty, to experience it, feel it as it overwhealms our souls and minds. And if we manage to cross the spiritual boardes and the everyday routin we can free our minds and see this beuty. And in the end not only will we be amazed and deeply charmed with the beuty that God created for us, but also the Gods will be astonished with what us humans can do, when letting the goodness come out of us.

Who has experienced the vision of the soul? Who has dared to explain the soul? Who has dared to put the journey of soul, which is beyond words, into words?

Only Ben Okri, Nigerian literary giant and prophet, could do this.

In Astonishing the Gods, Ben Okri takes the reader on the most fabulous of journeys - the journey within, to the soul, and the journey outside, to the soul's home, somewhere and everywhere in the vastness of infinite space. From the initial misunderstanding of invisibility to the ultimate acceptance of "higher invisibility", Okri's soul journeys through the universe to realms of varying levels of light. With its guide, the soul comes to understand a city, a realm, a dimension, as a "vast network of thoughts". On one branch of the journey, the soul understands "in a flash" that banks are places where people deposit or withdraw "thoughts of well-being" and that hospitals are place of "laughter, amusement, and recreation." The masters of this land believe that "sickness should be cured before it becomes sickness. Healing was always needed, and was considered a necessary part of daily life."

Okri, fabulist and seer, drops clues of exquisite subtlety throughout this tale, clues that require the perception of a pilgrim. Through the soul's guide, we learn that "When you stop inventing reality then you see things as they really are". And - voila! - we've stumbled upon the connecting message of the world's great religions. Okri explains that familiar, evanescent homesickness of the soul that has led various philosophies into Emptiness and Satiation and often into empty-handedness: "When we yearn, our yearning comes through from deep below. It comes from a deep remembering, from the forgotten dreams of our mingled ancestry." And, all the aware souls of this world vibrate in cellular acknowledgement.

Remember, as you read, that "a fragrance of eternity linger(s) over everything". And perhaps, you'll end up like me - with two marked up copies of your own and copies flung far and wide to family and friends, many of whom will wonder how you could ever glow from reading such an extraneous book.

Ellyn Peirson, Editor, thepassionatesoul.com

Okri's tale is to do with finding inner peace, self discovery and urges the reader to grasp and live life. It places the soul above all else in terms of importance. It is ironic that the journey's initial aim was to take away the main character's feelings of insignificance and 'invisibility'. The reader soon becomes aware that things that are invisible are the most beautiful. That love, faith and sacrifice are much more meaningful than aything we can see or touch. This is just one of the themes - for me, there is much to read into this beautiful book, its biggest achievement is that it really is open for interpretation and can be read on many levels.

This is a truly Wonderful book, one of my personal favourites. It is rich in spirituality and teachings. Okri's thoughts on creativity, knowledge, understanding and searching were so powerful and insightful, I felt my myself enriched by simply reading his words.

I have recently read Dangerous Love by Ben Okri, which was a stunning novel-the writing and imagery was superb. I thought Astonishing the Gods was just the opposite. The writing was abysmal, contrived, silly--I had to force myself to get through it, kept waiting for it to turn around. It brought to mind the worst of B novels. I couldn't believe the same author had written both of these books. In fact I still can't believe it.

I say skip it and go directly to his other works.

An incredibly beautiful novel rich in mythapoetics and the journey toward remembering... maybe you could call it a journey toward enlightment but in a way it is different than that. Seeing the unicorn and knowing how to be visible and invisible. It's magic, and one of my favorites.