The Famished Road

Okri reconfirms for me (someone who has not yet been to Sub-Saharan Africa) what Amos Tutuola had already established in my mind: There is another layer to the African collective unconscious that is more profound than non-Africans can fathom. Not only can we all be genetically linked back to Africa, but memetically the original well of all our dreams lies in Africa. Our growing detachment from...more

Okri reconfirms for me (someone who has not yet been to Sub-Saharan Africa) what Amos Tutuola had already established in my mind: There is another layer to the African collective unconscious that is more profound than non-Africans can fathom. Not only can we all be genetically linked back to Africa, but memetically the original well of all our dreams lies in Africa. Our growing detachment from this source is our own severance. If their wells run dry, the whole world starves.   hide

one of beautifully return book ben okri is a artist with the pen must read it

a tour de force of creative imagination. i was swept up into its magical world of real and imaginary tribal/spiritual from beginning to end. you dont need to make sense of the story, just surrender to it.

One of my fave books at the moment. I loved the otherworldliness of his writing combining reality and fantastical happenings side by side. It is about a spirit child or abikus, they are children who refuse to remain in the real world and chose to die to remain in the spiritworld. Azuro however chooses to remain living breaking his abuki vow, to face up to the harshness of the poverty his family...more

One of my fave books at the moment. I loved the otherworldliness of his writing combining reality and fantastical happenings side by side. It is about a spirit child or abikus, they are children who refuse to remain in the real world and chose to die to remain in the spiritworld. Azuro however chooses to remain living breaking his abuki vow, to face up to the harshness of the poverty his family endures in a ghetto in Africa (where abouts exactly is not named). Really adictive read, uplifting and magical, 5 stars!   hide

A strange and wonderful book, seen through the eyes of a child in an African ghetto. It slips constantly between the 'real' world and a 'world of the spirits', and even the ghetto scenes take on a weird, hallucinatory quality, full of thieving landlords, corrupt politicians, prostitutes, party thugs, and bizarre, half-mythical characters such as the blind old man, Madame Koto, and...more

A strange and wonderful book, seen through the eyes of a child in an African ghetto. It slips constantly between the 'real' world and a 'world of the spirits', and even the ghetto scenes take on a weird, hallucinatory quality, full of thieving landlords, corrupt politicians, prostitutes, party thugs, and bizarre, half-mythical characters such as the blind old man, Madame Koto, and a group of deformed beggars led by the beautiful girl Helen. Azaro's parents are memorable, forever trying to escape their relentless poverty, and despite their frequent abusiveness, Azaro is determined not to return to the spirit world - he wants to make his mother smile. Much of the writing is poetic, and I'm sure I'd appreciate it even more on a second reading. (It's 500 pages long, so maybe one day..!)   hide

Although I could appreciate the unique idea of the book, I did not enjoy it. Some of the writing was beautiful but the story was too violent and repetitive.

This is an amazing book - like nothing I've ever read before. It's poetry and novel, it's spiritual and down and dirty, it's social justice and spirituality. It's several universes in one. Amazing.

to be true.. I just finished reading the book... and I have to say it was not really one of my favourite.. I did not really like it.. the write did a great job.. morethan 500 pages.. but I did not see any beginning nor end in the book... as I said .. I did not like it.. I am still reading this book.. I am really finding it difficult going through it.. just wanna finish it..

Read the first 200 pages then realised life's too short