BANDARSHAH

by Tayeb Salih ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 1996

A strange Sudanese novel, part folk-tale and part explication of the wisdom of The Koran, which describes the effect on an Arab village of a mysterious stranger's appearance on the bank of a nearby river and his fruitful absorption into his savior's culture. The ""risen"" visitor becomes the village's revered elder and leading spiritual force, as does his son (the eponymous Bandarshah) and the latter's descendants as well. The episodic narrative of their several exploits amounts to a thinly dramatized ""allegory about man,"" and--as seductive as its insistent cadences can be--the whole may be a bit too stately and mystical to fully engage Western readers.

Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 126

Publisher: Kegan Paul--dist. by Columbia Univ.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1996

Categories: FICTION