-The Famished Road, by Ben Okri. Okri is an otherworldly, storytelling talent. His stories captivate and mesmerize, transporting readers to a believable fantasy-land between heaven and earth….but much closer to the sultry earth than far, faraway heaven.
The Famished Road was awarded the Man Booker Prize (1991) and is told to us by the powerfully complex yet innocent narrator, Azaro, a so-called ‘spirit child’…
“There was not one amongst us who looked forward to being born. We disliked the rigors of existence, the unfulfilled longings, the enshrined injustices of the world…There are many reasons why babies cry when they are born, and one of them is the sudden separation from the world of pure dreams.”
-Vernon God Little, by D.B.C. Pierre (aka, Peter Finlay). Finlay, like Okri, is a Man Booker Prize recipient (2003)… this story is for anyone who has ever felt misunderstood and misjudged by deluded people in a world intoxicated by self-confirmation, and a world that can be all kinds of cruel and mean-spirited, sprung from human ignorance that knows no bounds. Animals when violent are instinctively trying to survive. Humans on the other hand can be violent on a whim and for self-satisfaction. The human beast can be menacing, mean-spirited, deceptive…sometimes making the least of its superior mind. Although royalty in the animal kingdom, the naked ape is also the most treacherous beast on Animal Planet.
This novel is aptly described as a “21st-century comedy in the presence of death” and ends with a surprise that provides wise insight into human nature for anyone interested to know what it takes to be a god or goddess…hence the title of the protagonist and the book.
-As Hot as it Was You Ought to Thank Me, by Nanci Kinkaid. Set in bucolic Florida in a bygone era. The story sweep readers up in a poignant, spellbinding plot. It thoroughly details the shortsightedness of the human beast as it tries to please itself with no thought at the expense of others, including trusting loved ones. Completely enchanting page-turner.
-Every one of over 100 novels by Louis L’Amour. L'Amour was a master storyteller specializing in the genre of the Western frontier of the United States. However, my personal favorite is an epic saga set in the Middle Ages, The Walking Drum.
The Famished Road was awarded the Man Booker Prize (1991) and is told to us by the powerfully complex yet innocent narrator, Azaro, a so-called ‘spirit child’…
“There was not one amongst us who looked forward to being born. We disliked the rigors of existence, the unfulfilled longings, the enshrined injustices of the world…There are many reasons why babies cry when they are born, and one of them is the sudden separation from the world of pure dreams.”
-Vernon God Little, by D.B.C. Pierre (aka, Peter Finlay). Finlay, like Okri, is a Man Booker Prize recipient (2003)… this story is for anyone who has ever felt misunderstood and misjudged by deluded people in a world intoxicated by self-confirmation, and a world that can be all kinds of cruel and mean-spirited, sprung from human ignorance that knows no bounds. Animals when violent are instinctively trying to survive. Humans on the other hand can be violent on a whim and for self-satisfaction. The human beast can be menacing, mean-spirited, deceptive…sometimes making the least of its superior mind. Although royalty in the animal kingdom, the naked ape is also the most treacherous beast on Animal Planet.
This novel is aptly described as a “21st-century comedy in the presence of death” and ends with a surprise that provides wise insight into human nature for anyone interested to know what it takes to be a god or goddess…hence the title of the protagonist and the book.
-As Hot as it Was You Ought to Thank Me, by Nanci Kinkaid. Set in bucolic Florida in a bygone era. The story sweep readers up in a poignant, spellbinding plot. It thoroughly details the shortsightedness of the human beast as it tries to please itself with no thought at the expense of others, including trusting loved ones. Completely enchanting page-turner.
-Every one of over 100 novels by Louis L’Amour. L'Amour was a master storyteller specializing in the genre of the Western frontier of the United States. However, my personal favorite is an epic saga set in the Middle Ages, The Walking Drum.
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