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Paradise
- Narrated by: Ashley Zhangazha
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
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Paradise
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Summary
Bloomsbury presents Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah, read by Ashley Zhangazha.
By the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature
A BBC RADIO 4 Book at Bedtime
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
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.
Critic reviews
"Many layered, violent, beautiful and strange...a poetic and vividly conjured book about Africa and the brooding power of the unknown." (Independent on Sunday)
"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." (Sunday Times)
"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)
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What listeners say about Paradise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dennis Sommers
- 27-08-22
A top-class production!
It was great to listen again to this beautiful and atmospheric novel, and the reading is as good as the RNIB version that I loved so much when I first found it.
I am surprised to have waited so long for Audible to produce it, they having published ‘Aftermath’ and one of the others once Razak got the Nobel prize, but literature of this quality shouldn’t have had to wait so long.
Anyway, I highly recommend it as being both exquisitely written and a neat historical document.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-10-22
Brilliant Evocations
This book evoked the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of its setting in East Africa so brilliantly. I also enjoyed learning about life in another time and place, especially about trading and the practices of debt repayment.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- thecrazyiris
- 14-09-22
I would not say this work was exceptional..
Adequate but not exceptional..compared to other Nobel Laureates ...I will try another of his books to see why he won the Nobel Prize
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