Paradise
A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
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Paradise
Narrated by:
Ashley Zhangazha
Buy Now for ₹546.23
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Narrated by:
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Ashley Zhangazha
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Written by:
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Abdulrazak Gurnah
By the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature
A BBC RADIO 4 Book at Bedtime
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
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'A poetic and vividly conjured book about Africa and the brooding power of the unknown' Independent on Sunday
'Gurnah evokes his world in poetic prose which is pure and lucid – a small paradise in itself ... The pleasures, sadnesses and losses in all the shining facets of this book are lingering and exquisite' Guardian
'An obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved' Sunday Times
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Born in East Africa, Yusuf has few qualms about the journey he is to make. It never occurs to him to ask why he is accompanying Uncle Aziz or why the trip has been organised so suddenly, and he does not think to ask when he will be returning. But the truth is that his ‘uncle' is a rich and powerful merchant and Yusuf has been pawned to him to pay his father's debts.
Paradise is a rich tapestry of myth, dreams and Biblical and Koranic tradition, the story of a young boy's coming of age against the backdrop of an Africa increasingly corrupted by colonialism and violence.©1994 Abdulrazak Gurnah (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic Reviews
Many layered, violent, beautiful and strange ... a poetic and vividly conjured book about Africa and the brooding power of the unknown
A jewel-like meditation on exile (Polly Morland)
An aural archive of a lost Africa ... Tangling travel adventures, social documentary, political indictment and a doomed love story ... Paradise is alive with the unexpected. In it, an obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved
Gurnah evokes his world in poetic prose which is pure and lucid - a small paradise in itself ... The pleasures, sadnesses and losses in all the shining facets of this book are lingering and exquisite
Paradise is that rare thing, a novel that is totally convincing in the vivid physical world it presents, yet transcending that world and reaching into the universal. Folk tale, travel story, drama of love and loss, by turns touching and horrifying, it is a novel to be grateful for
A gently meandering coming-of-age tale (Michaela Wong)
anyone looking at understanding the life in parts of Africa, must do this and other Abdul Razak gurnah books.
straight, simple and extremely detailed.
life and culture in African countries in earlier 20th century
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This book is a complicated piece of writing following 12 year old Yusuf who is sold by his parents for the repayment of their debt to “Uncle” Aziz. The story then follows his journeys emotional, metaphorical and geographical across the African continent with traders of various kinds. A commentary on the social and power dynamics of Africa with special emphasis on its poor. Narrator is pretty good.
An interesting view into Africa and the lives of its people
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