I am in the minority here. I found this book hard going though I did finish it.

The reviews were so good that I think maybe I did not appreciate it the correct way.

The story of Azara who is a spirit child who despite a lot of sadness lives with much joy on his face. Called back to the land of the dead, his parents succeed in keeping him alive but in the process are made very poor. 

There is a lot of problems between living in the land of the living with its existing issues and the carefree life of the dead. The book with its elements of magic did not draw me in the way it should have.

In spite of its iconic status I found this almost unreadable. Overwritten and overwrought, a rambling convoluted narrative, repetitive, with wild imagery and equally wild metaphors. It’s the tale of Azaro, a spirit child, and the incursions of the modern world into the old, a new world which has no place for spirits. I found the characters unrelatable, the violence sickening and the whole premise banal. If this is what life is like in a typical African village, then I don’t want any part of it – not even in fictional form.

I enjoyed the story but after a while I found it to be extremely repetitive. The young protagonist gets into the same kind of weird scrapes over and over again until it gets tiresome. I think the book could have been about half its length and would probably have held my interest more.

Not what I expected it to be.  I tried to read it, but I just didn't like it.

This is a novel that has been on my reading list from this blog's earliest days. It is generally regarded as a classic of modern magic realism. So when Open Road Media offered The Famished Road on Netgalley I jumped at the opportunity to read and review Okri's Booker Prize-winning work. Open Road Media is dedicated to releasing paper-based books as ebooks and I have been lucky enough to review several in the past.

Is The Famished Road magic realism? Many, including the author, have said no. And I don't blame them - it is hard book to categorize.

Okri comes from two traditions - that of the classical English-language fiction writers (he studied English literature in England) and the oral African tradition. Although Okri writes in English, his sensibility is very much an African one. For Azaro, his parents and indeed the other characters in the book, magic or the spirit world is part of their world view. Azaro , as a spirit child, is constantly moving between the two worlds. He sees the beckoning and sometimes threatening presence of spirits everywhere, especially during his forays into the forest, but also in the bars and of course on the road. In an interview he said:

I grew up in a tradition where there are simply more dimensions to reality: legends and myths and ancestors and spirits and death. You can't use Jane Austen to speak about African reality... Which brings the question: what is reality? Everyone's reality is different. For different perceptions of reality we need a different language... We like to think that the world is rational and precise and exactly how we see it, but something erupts in our reality which makes us sense that there's more to the fabric of life. I'm fascinated by the mysterious element that runs through our lives. Everyone is looking out of the world through their emotion and history. Nobody has an absolute reality.

If I am honest, there was rather too much spirit world in the book for me. Azaro is regularly kidnapped by spirits, and then runs away from them. He doesn't learn to stop wandering off in the forest, where many of these abductions take place. But then maybe my frustration stems from my need for a conventional (European?) story arc. The book took off for me when the reality of African politics starts to intrude into Azaro's life and his father finds a calling as a boxer. The magic is still there - for example his father's boxing bout with a man who is already dead - but it seems to have more of a purpose and the reality it operates in is more pointed. 

The characterisation throughout the book is firmly grounded in reality. The relationship of Azaro's parents is drawn with all its faults and all its love and you understand why this spirit child might choose to stay in the flawed world of humanity. The other character who stands out in the book is the bar and brothel owner Madame Koto. She is a complex, ambiguous and multilayered woman. At times kind, and others cruel, she dominates every scene she appears in. 
There is so much to write about this book and this brief review can only touch on a few issues. I can only say that this is an important book in the canon of magic realism and that Open Road Media are to be thanked for bringing it out as an ebook. I suggest if you interested in finding out more that you listen to the BBC interview with the author here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r7grw 

 I received this novel free from the publisher in return for a fair review.

I surrender! Thanks go to Net Galley and Open Road Media, from whom I received a DRC in exchange for an honest review; however, try though I have, I cannot push past the molasses-like allegory and other figurative language to locate a plot. After painfully forcing my way through the first 20% of the book, I went to Goodreads to see what other reviewers had to say about it. Some felt as I did, but others swore that if the reader could endure the first two-thirds of the story, the last third would not only be so amazing, it would also enlighten us as to why the earlier part was necessary. Seeing this, I vowed to persevere. By the 25% mark, I found I was avoiding this DRC, because just about every other galley in my possession was either more enjoyable to read, or more rewarding, or both.

Tonight I decided it was time to put up or shut up. Maybe this is one of those rare occasions when one should read a book out of sequence. I skipped to the 70% mark and found it was pretty much more of the same. The allegory pointed toward the horrific debt load that cripples African nations, but I already knew that, and if that is actually where this story is supposed to lead me--because really, I am still not sure--then it's a disappointment. I already knew about the impact of colonial overlords on African nations, and this did nothing to improve either my knowledge or my appreciation for literature.

I will add, however, that I have never liked magical realism. Either write fiction or nonfiction, don't try to do both at once. Even the work of Isabel Allende makes me crazy this way: we are in the midst of what feels like a genuine memoir, and then someone turns bottle-green and levitates. No, no, and no.

Those that have a great love of magical realism and thirst for African fiction may find joy here. This book has won prestigious awards, and I had anticipated that reading it would be rewarding. Just because it didn't happen for me doesn't mean it won't happen for you; but if you come to feast at Okri's table, bring a high literacy level with you, or you'll find yourself leaving it still hungry. 

This title is available for purchase now.

A classic work of African literature with a clever narrative style and a compelling collection of characters. Really beautifully written, this novel won the Booker Prize ten years ago and it's great to see it regaining popularity. 

I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first magic realism book I could get through...

Hypnotic and haunting is right. Could not put it down. Wonderful sense of place.,

While this book started out slowly, I came to enjoy the beautiful stories and appreciate the complex characters.  The author paints a picture of the story in ones mind, filled with color and culture.  This book is an important one to read.