FICTION

SONGS OF ENCHANTMENT by Ben Okri (Nan A. Talese: $21; 304 pp.) Azaro is a spirit-child, an “unwilling adventurer into chaos and sunlight, into the dreams of the living and the dead.” The African village where he resides with his parents is heavily populated by various types of supernatural beings, and though everyone seems to be aware of them, Azaro has a special understanding.

“Songs of Enchantment,” Ben Okri’s second novel featuring Azaro, exists partly in the same spirit world that it chronicles. There is no real beginning or middle and only a vague sort of end. Instead of moving forward in the traditional linear way, Okri’s plot spreads outward in all directions like water. Anything can happen at any time--and it does. As people lose each other, cross into other worlds and experience grave danger on almost every page, it becomes difficult after a while to ascertain which events have true significance, giving the book a slightly arbitrary feeling.

Okri’s style tends to work best when the writing itself is so strong you’ll keep reading indefinitely just to get to another amazing image. Or maybe profound, subversive questions are being addressed, and you’ll follow along in the hopes of finding answers.

“Songs of Enchantment” seems to be a book about the redemptive power of love. It certainly has it’s share of beauty and depth, but for many readers it might be a difficult road to get there.