Abdulrazak Gurnah: Paradise
Harriett Gilbert talks with Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah about his hauntingly beautiful novel Paradise.
Harriett Gilbert talks with Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah about his hauntingly beautiful novel Paradise.
It tells the story of Yusuf, a 12 year-old boy living in East Africa at the beginning of the 20th Century. Sold off to settle his father鈥檚 debts, Yusuf embarks on a journey across the African continent. Through his naive and innocent eyes, the journey starts out as an adventure, but every wonderous thing Yusuf sees, every glimpse of paradise, is polluted by violence, the growing influence of colonialism, and the looming spectre of World War One.
Paradise is a stunning novel - a multi-faceted, vivid exploration of the shifting culture of Africa at the turn of the century. It鈥檚 layered with mythology, Biblical and Koranic symbolism, and an unflinching insight into the effects of colonialism.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Next
Broadcasts
- Sat 3 May 2025 11:06GMT成人快手 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 4 May 2025 02:06GMT成人快手 World Service
- Sun 4 May 2025 13:06GMT成人快手 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 4 May 2025 16:06GMT成人快手 World Service News Internet
- Last Wednesday 09:06GMT成人快手 World Service
- Last Wednesday 23:06GMT成人快手 World Service
Ten Amazing Interviews
Favourite episodes of World Book Club, featuring Maya Angelou and Henning Mankell.
Crime Fiction
Henning Mankel, Patrica Cornwell, Jo Nesbo: stars of the genre discuss their craft.
Tales from History
From the tulip fields of 17th Century Amsterdam to the trenches of World War One.
Podcast
-
World Book Club
The world's great authors discuss their best-known novel.