Songs of Enchantment [Paperback]

Ben Okri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

In this remarkable sequel to his Booker Prize-winning novel The Famished Road, Okri continues the story of the spirit-child who is a reluctant but keen observer of his family's turmoil and the political convulsions of a struggling new Africa. Through his shimmering consciousness and hallucinatory visions, the boy finds the strength to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sequel to the Booker Prize-winning The Famished Road recounts upheaval in post-colonial Nigeria.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Nigerian novelist Okri's last book, The Famished Road, won the 1991 Booker Prize; his newest picks up where it left off. Once again we're bedazzled and bedeviled by Okri's phantasmagoric prose and the strange and wondrous sensibility of Azaro, a spirit-child living in a poor African village. The only child of a street hawker and a laborer, Azaro is possessed of, or by, an immense and unwieldy intelligence and is routinely overwhelmed by bewildering visions and revelations. His parents also dwell in this enigmatic extra dimension. When they have a falling out, both are sucked into realms full of supernatural menace and cosmic information. Azaro's father is enthralled by a crazy-eyed but graceful beggar girl, while his mother joins the followers of a witchy tavern owner named Madame Koto. As each family member wages his or her own mysterious hallucinatory battles, we recognize that all this strife and upheaval is connected to the stratifications of class warfare and the machinations of political power struggles. This is a feverish and confounding work, a great boil of prophecies and aphorisms, dreams and myths. Donna Seaman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 297 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1st Anchor Books ed edition (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385471572
• ISBN-13: 978-0385471572
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #847,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest literary works, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Songs of Enchantment (Paperback)

Ben Okri's writing is magical, enthralling and captivating. He takes English writing to new heights. He is one of the greatest writers ever, and one sees it throughout the book. I was enchanted by the English which is delivered with an African flavor. Almost like a new language. This book is spiritual and out of this world on one level and yet down to earth in its portrayal of Nigerian village life. It's a must read for those who enjoy reading foreign authors. I read it over and over again.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ho-hum, December 10, 2001

By 

mar-vic cagurangan "Mar-Vic Cagurangan" (Guam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs of Enchantment (Hardcover)

Songs of Enchantment is a sequel to Booker Prize winning The Famished Road--one of the best novels I've ever read. But Ben Okri's attempt to outdo his first novel with this sequel had a disastrous result. He gives the readers an overdose of magic and supernatural. He describes one strange event after another (and almost in every succeeding sentence), distracting the readers and leaving them no time to savor one magical event at a time. (The Famished Road just has an amount of magic just enough for the readers to enjoy.) Ben Okri's prose has always been beautiful to read, but this time it didn't work. I couldn't find patience to finish the entire book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Action can be the most noble act of dreams, March 18, 2011

By 

Jan Faerk (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs of Enchantment (Paperback)

"Songs of Enchantment" is the second novel in the series about the spirit child Azaro.

The election campaigns in Nigeria are under way and a stupendous fight between the Party of the Rich and the Party of the Poor is taking place in the neighbourhood around Madame Koto's public house. Azaro has the gift of being able to see through the facades of the partyfollowers and reveal their intentions by showing us the spirits that are connected with the political parties. His father "Black Tyger" continues his fight for better living conditions in the slum area, and he is also gradually drawn into the world of spirits which feeds him with knowledge. At one time everyone turn blind and Black Tyger is the first to regain his sight after acknowledging that you have to pass a painful process just to be able to interpret what you have already seen.

This is not a linear story as we are used to from European litterature. Ben Okri circles about his themes and hence follows a more traditional African circular and enriching way of thinking. The first novel in the series ended with: A dream can be the highligt of life. This second part of the series ends with: Action can be the most noble act of dreams.