Ben Okri has come out with a new book of tales, Tales of Freedom, and Jay Parini doesn't seem to like it. But he has quite some good words for Okri for which I admire him.
As for me, the more I hear of or read about Ben Okri the more I think of him as belonging to some mythical worlds and ages that have little to do with me. I remember reading Dangerous Love and wanting to meet Okri in person and give him a warm handshake and have him autograph my copy. Incidents at the Shrine was also very good; I could relate to the world created there given that it is realistic enough. The Famished Road, I have been told, is good though it was there that Okri began to lose me. All this magical realism thing! Then it appeared that the more Okri wrote the more his world, his characters behave as if on hallucinogen. God help us!
Anyway enjoy Parini's review.
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