The Comic Destiny

by Ben Okri

This significant title story 'The Comic Destiny' forms the centrepiece of this collection, complemented by thirteen magical stokus. In his new introduction Ben Okri describes it as a talisman, an alchemic instigator for much of his later work. The stoku is a blend of story and haiku. And thirteen, according to the author, is the number of liberation. All these stories are about freedom. They flow easily, but burn slowly. And they offer the possibility of freedom beyond the confines of our usual perception. 'Moments of genuine insight and poetry' Guardian . 'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity bound' New Statesman .

Genres: Poetry, Magical Realism, Fiction, Short Stories

132 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2019

About the author

Poet 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.

Reviews

[Hiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, well, it seems I have unlocked the bookish land of unusual writing styles. Ben Okri writes in what he coined "stoku" or story+haiku, and to say that it is an unusual writing style would be an understatement.
Recently, I visited a museum of modern and contemporary art, and the feelings I had while going through some of the exhibitions are quite similar to the ones I had while reading this. The pieces were aesthetically pleasing and held potential meaning, I could feel that they encompassed a message that the artist wished to convey, but I was unable to decipher it, either because I didn't have the tools or because the artist did not wish me to "understand" what lay beyond the piece. Now take this example and apply it to this book.

However, the stories subsequent to "The Comic Destiny" were more to my liking and much easier to grasp.

[Zohal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben Okri tends to focus on the aesthetic appeals of writing which means his works are more like paintings; nice to absorb but difficult to decipher meaning from without intense study.

[Jamie March · Rating 4 out of 5]

A confirmation of Okri's talent; I'd like to meet him.

[Madeline Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Okri writes simply and profoundly.

I may have read this book too fast (it was a library rental); I recommend reading it slowly and allowing time for the stories to process and absorb. Each word carries weight.

I love Okri’s damning examination of humanity’s darkness paired with rays of hope.

The stories about the dining table (the haves and the have-nots) and the wartime healer (war is perpetual) struck me with particular note.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

«I gazed into books that took me away to distant kingdoms where I was instantly happy. In the world of these special books there is no stress, only a kind of peace, and a freedom, and a sense of having been redeemed into a weightless condition of pure beauty. The imagination renews the world like dawn does.»

Evocative style, part magic; but with a macabre side that does not suit me.

[Kea-ra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not entirely confident that I understand this book. As a lover of poetry and a lover of short stories, I don't think Stoku should be a thing.

I don't think the language used throughout this book makes you feel anything deep enough, and I feel like poetry should cut deep.

Call me uneducated. Call me naive. Call me ignorant.

But this just didn't feel me with any emotion other than relief when it was over.

[Ralph Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bare-bones and quite radical book with little dialogue attribution or description. I’ve always said less is more but this stretches that belief. Still worth a look, and Okri is a visionary writer, but for once not going us anything actually feels like not giving us anything.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting blend of poetry and narrative that examines birth, death and rebirth within the context of freedom.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first (and longest) story was by far my favourite, 4 stars. All the other stories were 3 stars.