What Strange Paradise
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Dion Graham
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By:
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Omar El Akkad
About this listen
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the widely acclaimed, bestselling author of American War—a beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving novel that looks at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child.
"Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic." —The New York Times Book Review
More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another overfilled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously, someone has survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a teenage girl, who, despite being native to the island, experiences her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though Vänna and Amir are complete strangers, though they don’t speak a common language, Vänna is determined to do whatever it takes to save the boy.
In alternating chapters, we learn about Amir’s life and how he came to be on the boat, and we follow him and the girl as they make their way toward safety. What Strange Paradise is the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world. But it is also a story of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair—and about the way each of those things can blind us to reality.
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Critic reviews
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, NPR, BuzzFeed • Winner of the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize • Finalist for the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize • Finalist for the 2022 Oregon Book Award
“Extraordinary . . . Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic. I haven’t loved a book this much in a long time.” —Wendell Steavenson, The New York Times Book Review
“Riveting . . . Nothing I’ve read before has given me such a visceral sense of the grisly predicament confronted by millions of people expelled from their homes by conflict and climate change. Though What Strange Paradise celebrates a few radical acts of compassion, it does so only by placing those moments of moral courage against a vast ocean of cruelty.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Hope and kindness light the story in unexpected ways . . . El Akkad's precise prose allows him to inject heartfelt observations throughout the novel . . . Perhaps El Akkad's biggest accomplishment with What Strange Paradise is that it manages to push past political talking points and shocking statistics to rehumanize the discussion about migration on a global scale, and it does so with enough heart to be memorable.” —Gabino Iglesias, NPR
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Continental Drift
- By: Russell Banks
- Narrated by: Zach Villa
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Now available for the first time in audiobook format, a powerful literary classic from one of contemporary fiction's most acclaimed and important writers. Russell Banks' Continental Drift is a masterful novel of hope lost and gained and a gripping, indelible story of fragile lives uprooted and transformed by injustice, disappointment, and the seductions and realities of the American dream.
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Give up and die
- By AI on 12-09-21
By: Russell Banks
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Beautiful Animals
- A Novel
- By: Lawrence Osborne
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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On a hike during a white-hot summer break on the Greek island of Hydra, Naomi and Samantha make a startling discovery: a man named Faoud, sleeping heavily, exposed to the elements, but still alive. As the two women learn more about the man, a migrant from Syria and a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean Sea, their own burgeoning friendship intensifies. But when their seemingly simple plan to help Faoud unravels, all must face the horrific consequences they have set in motion.
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please offer more of this author's books
- By S. Liskey on 07-20-17
By: Lawrence Osborne
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Mira's Return: The Complete Series: A Mermaid Fantasy Adventure & Prequel to the Elemental Origins Series
- By: A.L. Knorr
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Mira is a mermaid on a mission. It’s time to leave the ocean. Mira Belshaw has been at sea for...well, she doesn’t know how many years. It’s hard to keep track of time when you live in the ocean. But after enough time, the salt water triggers the desire to procreate, and her time is up. Finding a mate is the most important thing to her right now, and to do that, she has to return to the place where she was last human - the coastal city of Saltford.
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Mermaid Mira
- By Shoe Monger on 04-10-20
By: A.L. Knorr
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The Desert and the Sea
- 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast
- By: Michael Scott Moore
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In January 2012, having covered a Somali pirate trial in Hamburg for Spiegel Online International, Michael Scott Moore traveled to the Horn of Africa to write about piracy and ways to end it. In a terrible twist of fate, Moore himself was kidnapped and subsequently held captive by Somali pirates for 977 days. Yet Moore’s own struggle is only part of the story: The Desert and the Sea falls at the intersection of reportage, memoir, and history.
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Wow!
- By Jonathan on 08-04-18
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Fletch: Booktrack Edition
- The Fletch Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Gregory Mcdonald
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Fletch, investigative reporter extraordinaire, can’t be bothered with deadlines or expense-account budgets when it comes to getting his story. Working undercover at the beach to dig up a drug-trafficking scheme for his next blockbuster piece, Fletch is invited into a much deeper narrative. Alan Stanwyk, CEO of Collins Aviation and all-around family man, mistakes the reporter for a strung-out vagabond and asks him for a favor: kill him and escape to Brazil with $50,000.
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Great plot, fun characters
- By Anonymous User on 10-26-24
By: Gregory Mcdonald
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Where They Wait
- A Novel
- By: Scott Carson
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Recently laid-off from his newspaper and desperate for work, war correspondent Nick Bishop takes a humbling job: writing a profile of a new mindfulness app called Clarity. It’s easy money, and a chance to return to his hometown for the first time in years. The app itself seems like a retread of old ideas — relaxing white noise and guided meditations. But then there are the “Sleep Songs.” A woman’s hauntingly beautiful voice sings a ballad that is anything but soothing — it’s disturbing, and more of a warning than a relaxation — but it works.
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A Mixed Bag
- By Psychoprofessor101 on 12-27-21
By: Scott Carson
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Island
- By: Thomas Perry
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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This riveting and entertaining thriller by Thomas Perry follows a husband-and-wife con team on the run from the Mob, a soldier of fortune between jobs, a two-bit operator with grandiose dreams of tribal dynasty, a sultry CIA operative with divided loyalties, the most dazzling defector ever to hurl a split-fingered fastball, and 20th-century buccaneers who wash up on a tiny island in the Caribbean and turn it into a multinational cash machine. But then the shooting starts.
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Not good Thomas Perry
- By Sean Cunningham on 08-26-18
By: Thomas Perry
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What listeners say about What Strange Paradise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ann L
- 09-22-21
Excellent read except...
The ending detracted from the book. Not sure what the author's purpose was with this choice. I know some stories can end too neat & tidy, living happily ever after and so on. I felt confused & annoyed by it.
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- storymum
- 01-08-23
Some of the most beautiful writing I’ve ever encountered
Enlightening, thought provoking, finely drawn characters, and a few symphonies of words that will absolutely take your breath away.
The narrator does a great job with dialogue and accents, but goes way over the top with simple narratives. You have to work hard to ignore his melodramatics. Such a shame. If he would have knocked that off, it would be a near perfect piece of work.
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- Catherine Kennedy
- 08-14-21
Absolutely terrific.
I bought this on a whim. Seems like a topical story. A boatload of desperate refugees shipwrecks off a Greek Island and only one 9 year old boy survives. It is really a story about the connection we all have, even with those who come from a different land and don't speak our language. It was inspiring. You will feel better for listening to this story.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bobby Hollywood
- 05-12-23
Excellent!
Couldn’t stop listening! Gripping story! Been a long time since I listened to such a good story!
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- Digit Head
- 06-11-23
Beautiful
From the written word to the wonderful narration this is an important and beautiful story. The only time I wished I had the book was at the ending. Sometimes I need to read the endings again.
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- Barbara Koefod
- 08-24-21
Depressing!
Beautiful descriptive prose but so depressing! Swoops into a rushed- feeling ending. Glimpses of the braver, better aspects of humanity. Overall, just sad.
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- Alyssa Tuininga
- 07-26-24
Absolutely amazing book
Omar El Akkad is a gem of an author. I read his book American War by chance last year and absolutely loved it. This one is a little less complex, a little less dark. it is beautifully written, with deep complex characters and a powerful message. What a book!
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- Claudia Balderston
- 12-23-21
excellent read
A commentary on the modern immigrant experience revealed in a plot driven clever way. not a polemic.
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- Martha Ressler
- 10-15-21
Upside down fairy tale
El Akkad wanted to make an impact on his readers minds and hearts beyond what the daily headlines could accomplish, so easily read and then forgotten.
His story mesmerizes us fills us with hope about the fate of this one young immigrant boy.
In his quiet Way El Akkad screams the truth and tragedy of immigrants.
You won't forget Amir.
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- Frederic
- 03-16-23
Essential reading
El Akkad is proving to be one of the most interesting writers of his generation.
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