Portrait of an Artist. Review on Dangerous Love - Ben Okri

Ben Okri, an alumnus of Urhobo College, an Ughelli native, is rated as one of the world's top writers at the moment. Okri's novels are remarkable in the sense that they travel through a multitude of themes such as realism, post-colonialism, stream of consciousness, modernism, oral forms especially those of the Yoruba culture. His style could be described as a classic example of magic realism with a distinctive African flavour. In his works myths and local beliefs appear along with the urban cosmopolitan life. The mix and journey back and forth is absolutely mind-boggling.

In 1996, the Nigerian novelist published one of his most popular novels ''Dangerous Love''. The novel is in a way a re-written and revised version of a work written fifteen years ago, '' The Landscapes Within''. Okri has stated time and again that he felt that the '' The Landscapes Within'' was an incomplete book and was not up to the mark due to the lack of craft and finesse of a young writer. He expressed his relief for having “at last, managed to free the spirit” of his earlier novel through the publication of ''Dangerous Love''.

The ''Dangerous Love'' is a richly textured book about the artistic crisis of Omovo, a familiar character from ''The Landscapes Within''. The novel is set in the 1970s in Okri’s native Nigeria, a country that is a labyrinth of official corruption, tribal rivalry and traditional rituals. It is a love story with a subtle undertone of politics and artistic freedom. The chief protagonist Omovo is an artist who vividly recollects the horrible consequences of a civil war as a child, remembers the corpses floating in the river and the tragic scene where the soldiers kill a woman in front of his eyes. Omovo is a rebel through his paintings and his social protests on canvas are confiscated by the authorities, and loses his clerk’s job to the chemical factory manager’s nephew. But it also the story of a man who falls in love with his neighbour's wife Ifeyiwa. The problem in the artist's life is compounded by the fact that he and Ifeyiwa can never be together because the charming lady is not only married but owned. Her husband had bought her as a child bride. Her husband is abusive but has been a victim of the past like the other characters. The tragedy lies in the fact that Omovo and Ifeyiwa cannot be together, but cannot live apart -- like the many tribes of Nigeria itself.

''The Greeks have a saying that the skylark buried its father in its head. Bury this girl in your heart, in your art. So live, my son, live with unquenchable fire. Let everything you're suffering now give you every reason in the world to master your life and your art. Live deeply, fully. Be fearless. Be like the tortoise - grow a hard shell to protect your strong heart. Be like the eagle - soar above your pain and carry the banner the the wonder of our lives to the farthest corners of the world. Build your strength. Destiny is difficult. The people without knowing it will always be on your side. They will nourish your soul. Never forget that the people suffer too and struggle, and you will be safe in art.'' (from Dangerous Love)

I won't drag the story any further. It is fascinating and don't really want to rob you from the pleasure of reading it to know the ending.

The book with its drama and the intermingling background is one of Okri's most powerful creations of date and duly won Premio Palmi award in 2000. It appears to be one of those books carrying the theme of the cliched love triangle but in actuality is much more than that.

The book is a feather in the cap of a writer who has become the leading figure of his generation of Nigerian writers, who have come a long way from the social and historical themes of Chinua Achebe. It brings together an enchanting mix of the modernist narrative strategy and the ''African'' oral and literary tradition.