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Shortlisted for the 1994 Booker and Whitbread Prizes, this book is set in the decade before World War I, in the garden of a merchant's house on the coast of East Africa. Yusuf is 12 when he is sold into the service of the rich, perfumed merchant whom he has always known as "uncle" Aziz.
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Review:
‘Gurnah evokes his world in poetic prose which is pure and lucid — a small paradise in itself.’ -- Guardian
‘Paradise is alive with the unexpected. In it, an obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved.’ -- Sunday Times
‘The pleasures, sadnesses and losses in all the shining facets of this book are lingering and exquisite.’ -- Guardian
From the Back Cover:
‘Paradise is alive with the unexpected. In it, an obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved.’ -- Sunday Times
‘The pleasures, sadnesses and losses in all the shining facets of this book are lingering and exquisite.’ -- Guardian
Paradise is at once the story of an African boy's coming of age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of traditional African patterns by European colonialism. It presents a major African voice to American readers - a voice that prompted Peter Tinniswood to write in the London Times, reviewing Gurnah's previous novel, "Mr. Gurnah is a very fine writer. I am certain he will become a great one". Paradise is Abdulrazak Gurnah's great novel. At twelve, Yusuf, the protagonist of this twentieth-century odyssey, is sold by his father in repayment of a debt. From the simple life of rural Africa, Yusuf is thrown into the complexities of precolonial urban East Africa - a fascinating world in which Muslim black Africans, Christian missionaries, and Indians from the subcontinent coexist in a fragile, subtle social hierarchy. Through the eyes of Yusuf, Gurnah depicts communities at war, trading safaris gone awry, and the universal trials of adolescence. Then, just as Yusuf begins to comprehend the choices required of him, he and everyone around him must adjust to the new reality of European colonialism. The result is a page-turning saga that covers the same territory as the novels of Isak Dinesen and William Boyd, but does so from a perspective never before available on that seldom-chronicled part of the world.
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- PublisherPenguin
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 0140233113
- ISBN 13 9780140233117
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages256
- Rating
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Paradise This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780140233117
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780140233117
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Paradise
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Penguin Books, Limited
(1995)
ISBN 10: 0140233113
ISBN 13: 9780140233117
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Book Description Paperback. 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." This is a used book in fair condition, meaning a worn but fully readable copy; it may be scuffed, have rips or marks, contain highlighted passages and annotations, or be missing its dust jacket.Most of our images are sourced automatically, so the book cover shown might be different to the edition we have in stock. Seller Inventory # 19426904
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