Reading Circle 52 : ‚Paradise‘ by Abdulrazak Gurna

Paradise (1994), by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Abdulrazak Gurnah was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021 “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”

Back cover blurb reads…

“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 organized 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 the story of Ysusf’s coming-of-age against the backdrop of an Africa of myth, dreams and Biblical and Koranic tradition, growing corrupt with violence and the influence of colonialism.”

Georg, Sandra and Andrew discuss the themes of the novel, the relationships between the characters, and especially the implicit structure, informed by references to the Bible and the Koran.

Music played: