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ظلال وأزهار
كان بن أوكري في التاسعة عشرة من العمر عندما كتب أولى رواياته – أزهار وظلال - التي تدور أحداثها في لاجوس. إنها تصور لنا التأثيرات المهلكة التي يخلفها الجيل الباحث عن نفسه على الجيل التالي له. إن جونان اوكوي، رجل الأعمال القاسي قد أفسده الطموح ووجد أن آثامه القديمة تلقي بظلالها الطويلة عليه. لكن في الذروة التراجيدية لهذه الرواية المهمة يأتي التأثير كله لتلك الآثام على شكل آمال وأحلام تثقل كاهل ابنه الوحيد – جيفاي – المثالي. على كل حال تتسع دائرة الاحتمالات الصعبة للتفاؤل والحب. "أزهار وظلال" هي طقس إفريقي حديث للرواية الانتقالية المبهجة. رواية مميزة تعلن بشكل واضح عن اعتياش الثروة على الفقر. إنها ثروة لا تربي في النهاية سوى البؤس والفساد. العلامة الفارقة لهذه الرواية هي ثقة الراوي بلمسته التي يعالج بها الأحداث والشخوص، كما أن لغته تعكس لنا رهافية سمعه لإيقاع الكلام وهو يجر الإلهام من ثقافته الخاصة ليمنحه الآخر. إنه يتحدث بأناقة وانسيابية إلى جيل بأكمله.
248 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
7 people are currently reading
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About the author
Ben Okri
86 books991 followersPoet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He grew up in London before returning to Nigeria with his family in 1968. Much of his early fiction explores the political violence that he witnessed at first hand during the civil war in Nigeria. He left the country when a grant from the Nigerian government enabled him to read Comparative Literature at Essex University in England.
He was poetry editor for West Africa magazine between 1983 and 1986 and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. He was appointed Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College Cambridge in 1991, a post he held until 1993. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1987, and was awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Westminster (1997) and Essex (2002).
His first two novels, Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981), are both set in Nigeria and feature as central characters two young men struggling to make sense of the disintegration and chaos happening in both their family and country. The two collections of stories that followed, Incidents at the Shrine (1986) and Stars of the New Curfew (1988), are set in Lagos and London.
In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued in Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998). Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007).
A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. A collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, was published in 1997. Ben Okri is also the author of a play, In Exilus.
In his latest book, Tales of Freedom (2009), Okri brings together poetry and story.
Ben Okri is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. He lives in London.
He was poetry editor for West Africa magazine between 1983 and 1986 and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. He was appointed Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College Cambridge in 1991, a post he held until 1993. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1987, and was awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Westminster (1997) and Essex (2002).
His first two novels, Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981), are both set in Nigeria and feature as central characters two young men struggling to make sense of the disintegration and chaos happening in both their family and country. The two collections of stories that followed, Incidents at the Shrine (1986) and Stars of the New Curfew (1988), are set in Lagos and London.
In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued in Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998). Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007).
A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. A collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, was published in 1997. Ben Okri is also the author of a play, In Exilus.
In his latest book, Tales of Freedom (2009), Okri brings together poetry and story.
Ben Okri is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 24, 2018
I've put together a review for it. I'll type it out soon, but overall I enjoyed it. I wish there was a sequel to it. There was so much hope to what lay ahead for Jeffia and his mother, Cynthia too. Also, I'm very impressed with Ben Okri, this was his first book. He was just nineteen. His writing is of great quality.
April 7, 2018
يستفزني أن يرمى بالمفاجآت والصدف هنا وهناك دون حبكة تسهل استساغتها معها! واضح جداً كونه باكورة أعماله وأنه كتب بحس مراهق.!
April 3, 2015
My favorite book and author. I have too much to say.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews