Frank Foley
Frank Foley
A WAY OF BEING FREE
Okri, Ben
Published: 1997
Category: Essays
Themes: the ubiquity and power of stories; the importance of storytelling; creativity, freedom, and imprisonment
Overview
A wonderful collection of essays on stories, storytelling and creativity. A book I often have with me, these essays remind us of the power of stories, to liberate and imprison. We should try to tell good ones, and not take them as Truth.
Frank's highlight!
"We are part human, part stories."
Life-affirming / uplifting message
This entire collection of essays is an uplifting celebration of creativity, stories and storytelling! If I have to pick out one essay it has to be, The Joys of Storytelling III, subtitled, Aphorisms and Fragments. It's full of wonderful lines, a few of which I'll copy here ~ "Great eras are eras in which great stories are lived and told." ~ "Without fighting, stories have won over more people than all the great wars put together." ~ "There is a natural justice to the incontrovertible logic of the way stories reveal their hidden selves." ~ "The infinite life of a beautiful story." ~ "Creativity is secular infinity." ~ "All great stories are enigmas."
Life wisdom
Stories are crucial to human society. We are storytelling beings to our core, from the way we describe our day to day lives, to the way a nation defines itself. Discernment is crucial to understanding how stories work, and we should not underestimate the power they have to influence and sway popular opinion, positively and negatively.
A Personal Note
I came across my copy of this book in a charity shop, and flicked randomly to the quote below. It was just after the the UK's vote on Brexit, and the toxicity of the public narrative raw and tangible. There on page 46, fragment 9, those eight words hit me like a smack in the face. I was hooked!
Quoted passages
QUOTE 1. "Stories are as ubiquitous as water or air, and as essential. There is not a single person who is not touched by the silent presence of stories."