Just beautiful

Hugh Quarshie sounds like the book sounded in my head

This is an absolute joy thank you sooooo much xxxx

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Amazing narrator!

I find it hard to find books with a good narrator, if I don't like them it's a struggle to listen to the book. This narrator is absolutely perfect and has many voices. I just can't get enough of this book on here. Highly recommend!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A joy to listen to

I enjoyed listening to this book as much as I had enjoyed reading it. It''s definitely one I will return to again.
I loved the narrator's voice too.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Ethereal but quite hard to get through!

The atmosphere in this book is other worldly and really different to any book I have read before. I felt very immersed in the world Okri has created - however it is not easy going! It is convoluted and confusing, in a way that mirrors the frame the protagonist is in. I would be interested in reading this in hardcopy.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Loved the characters who really came to life in t

Loved the way the characters came to life, one could actually visualise them. A great listen.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Darkness flowered

The dialogue is descriptive with intent but not boasting of capability
The story is powerful and seamless, foretelling our current situation.
The solution is always a change of heart.
The language resonated with my ancestral blood line
I loved it

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

A vivid explosion of the mytho-poetic in Africa

The narrator deeply etches and emotes every character with loud and subdued personality. A long listen, I needed to pause between parts, but the poetry of this writing kept me continuing. And wow, it transcends the human-spirit experience in voids and layers and evolutions. It takes you into the inner organs and feelings of status, poverty, family and neighbours, completely messy and endearing.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A Great Literary Marvel

Ben Okri's 'The Famished Road is my Favorite book in its genre. When I first came across this book back in 1991 I had never heard of Ben Okri and really only bought the book because he was noted as a Booker Prize Winner. That year it was the best money I ever spent. I was enthralled. I couldn't put the book down. The People became real to me and I wondered if the film studio's would make a movie out of it. This is my mirrored thoughts on the book by The Booker Prize Judge;

Ben Okri's beautifully written and moving novel combines fantasy and the vision of a child, the supernatural and the here-and-now to convey Nigerian peasant life in a changing world. It is the most ambitious as well as one of the most fullly realised of this year's novels. It brings a distictively black African way of writing and seeing things into the mainstream of European fiction.

Jeremy Treglowan
Chairman of the Booker Prize Judges

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

A dream that makes reality clearer

it took a while with nearly 20h but it was well worth it. loved the shallow lines between spirit world and political harshness. Book has a sense of infinity to it and at times humorous moments. it's description of the party of the poor and the party of the rich applies to many a nation. The only datedness (book is from 1991) is the reference to the West in the end as sole external exploited as China has become the new force of exploitation in many regions of Africa. wonderfully read by actor Hugh Quarshi with great care bringing the rich landscape Okri paints alive.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

It's ok. Worth sticking with.

It's basically a book about a retarded child who constantly hallucinates. I'm sure it's probably allegorical, but that was lost on me. There are some moments that are very funny. It's nice to listen to the characters and their daft behaviour. But it does get a bit repetitive and some of the descriptions repeat themselves. It's enjoyable, and ok if you are collecting Booker Prize winners, but it's not that good. 3.5 stars.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!