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Teaser Tuesday: In Arcadia by Ben Okri

This Tuesday, it is time for the teaser again, and this time the book is something I picked up at a book sale long ago, for 2 USD, In Arcadia by Ben Okri.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are two teaser sentences from  In Arcadia :

In Arcadia

“Ah, yes,” to an unfinished question.

And then, flowing now in freedom and lightness, regaining his state of grace, dancing on the sunlight of a romantic nation, followed by the tender gaze of the camera and the crowds, Lao wandered towards the train driver’s compartment, to interview a man who loved speed but cultivated stillness.”

Blurb: “A group of angry and ill-assorted people accept an invitation to make a journey. Inspired by a painting and financed by a mysterious benefactor, they set off to discover the real Arcadia. Or what remains of it. Their journey begins in ignorance and chaos at Waterloo station and takes them through superstition and myth to harmony. In the Louvre, in front of Poussin’s masterpiece, they begin to understand. ‘In Arcadia takes that staple Shakespearean theme of appearance versus reality and uses it to explore the notion of paradise’

I’m going ahead with this book, but it is clear that the author is not interested in entertaining, merely in edifying the reader, in recompense for which he iwould give them some good writing.

How about you? Would you read a book like In Arcadia by Ben Okri ?

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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