Paradise, Abdulrazak Gurnah
Paradise, Abdulrazak Gurnah
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Paradise

Author: Abdulrazak Gurnah

Narrator: Chukwudi Iwuji

Unabridged: 9 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/07/2023


Synopsis

From the Nobel Prize winner, a coming-of-age story that illuminates the harshness and beauty of an Africa on the brink of colonization

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award, Paradise was characterized by the Nobel Prize committee as Abdulrazak Gurnah’s “breakthrough” work. It is at once the chronicle of an African boy’s coming-of-age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of African tradition by European colonialism.

Sold by his father in repayment of a debt, twelve-year-old Yusuf is thrown from his simple rural life into complexities of pre-colonial urban East Africa. Through Yusuf’s eyes, Gurnah depicts communities at war, trading safaris gone awry, and the universal trials of adolescence. The result is what Publishers Weekly calls a “vibrant” and “powerful” work that “evokes the Edenic natural beauty of a continent on the verge of full-scale imperialist takeover.”

About The Author

Abdulrazak Gurnah is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the author of ten novels, including Paradise (The New Press), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award. He lives in Canterbury, England.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on October 18, 2021

A Historical Novel of German East Africa by the 2021 Nobel Prize winner. [I read this is 2015 but I’m adding pictures and revising the review.] I enjoyed the writing style and it stuck with me because I remember a lot about it even though I read it some time ago. This is probably one of the author’s......more

Goodreads review by Valeriu on October 03, 2023

Un roman mai bun decît m-am așteptat. Criticii anglo-saxoni l-au privit cu reticență, n-am priceput prea bine de ce. Paradisul din titlu pare a fi o fantasmă a tînărului Yusuf și a călătorilor care se opresc din cînd în cînd la prăvălia „unchiului” Aziz, unde Yusuf este servitor. Călătorii povestesc......more

Goodreads review by Justo on November 06, 2022

3.5/5 Estrellas No es sencillo enfrentarse a una cultura tan alejada de los estándares occidentales que conocemos. No es sencillo habituarse a una forma de escribir, no dificultosa ni mucho menos, pero si peculiar a la hora de expresar los sentimientos y de describir los acontecimientos y el entorno.......more

Goodreads review by Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer on November 10, 2021

The seyyid could travel deep into strange lands in a cloud of perfume, armed only with a bag of trinkets and a sure knowledge of his superiority. The white man in the forest feared nothing as he sat under his flag, ringed by armed soldiers. But Yusuf had neither a flag or righteous knowledge with......more

Goodreads review by Lark on April 27, 2022

I have yet to settle down into what I think of this novel, why I love it. The storytelling style required a lot of patience. It's a tell-not-show style. I needed to acclimate myself to it. As a style it's very rich but it required me to activate some reading muscles that I haven't used since reading......more