comment on style

The novel’s prose often adopts a lofty, fable-like quality to parallel the vibrant and often pliable use of mythology as incorporated into the narrative. The story brings together many aspects of African mythology, and the sometimes disparate aesthetics and mechanics of these elements are joined by the intonation of the prose, which sometimes takes on a grand, partially detached aspect. One of the first moments in which this dynamic is evident is during the anecdote—early in the novel—when Tracker travels to the underworld and encounters the Omoluzu. In narration, Tracker states, "I had no problem with finding the dead. I...left for where those dead by droning lived" (9). This tone mixes both the mundane and the mythical in order to both invoke and temper the legend-like presentation of its fantasy narrative.