Book of Sands

Karim Alrawi, 2015 

Set in the so-called Arab Spring democratic revolution of Egypt in 2011, this is a rich book, full of allusions, metaphors and varied points of view. It’s also absorbing to read, suspenseful, mysterious, descriptive and peopled with interesting characters. It centres mainly around Tarek, a former political prisoner who is drawn to the social changes, but who, to protect his safety and his family, leaves Cairo for the remote mountain plateau of southwestern Egypt (I think –the geography is deliberately vague). The story also brings in his pregnant wife and her confused religious zealot brother; his somewhat precocious child; a former political partner; and the villagers they met when they lived in a prison camp in the same mountain plateau. With shifting points of view, timeframes and locations, it covers a lot within a very readable narrative, from modern urban Cairo to very traditional village life, with variations on each of these.

  It’s also rich with poetic metaphor that expands the story further. It opens with a plague of birds that infests Cairo, which suggests both a vast range of possibilities and liberties, but includes the raucous noise they make, drowning out theatrical productions, and the bird droppings that get on everything. Tarek is a modern storyteller who, perhaps ironically. makes figures and gives puppet shows for a living. He inspires his daughter with a variety of stories that seem ambiguous but delight her in her interpretation. One central story of the beautiful stone roses formed of salt crystals almost leads to his death when he treks into the desert to find her one. A repeating theme of mathematical certainties becomes a coded love poem when its formulae are given human variables. There is a twisted parallel in this, too, when a rationalizing fundamentalist finds ways to interpret the words of the Koran to justify his personal desires.

  While Karim Alrawi is clearly supportive of the revolutionary direction of the Egyptian crowds against the ruling corrupt dictatorship, he does not suggest that there is an easy transition to a more democratic future. In fact, one of his central metaphors is the babies that refuse to be born until they (or the times) are ready. His Islamic believers all seem to be ignorant or self-serving, but moving forward means fighting against them, too. If there are any Islamic characters who are more sympathetic, they seem to be mystics who don’t actively participate in the movement, although they perhaps give others an element of hope or connectedness to the future.

  This novel provides a complex and intriguing picture of a contemporary culture that is seldom seen beyond headlines. Although the Arab Spring is just a background for the novel, the story illuminates it from several points of view and gives an understanding of many different elements in Egyptian society that are at work. The depth of traditionalism, political conservatism, privilege and religion contrast with the strength of the forces for change. While the novel has a hopeful ending, it’s also possible to see in the forces depicted why the Egyptian revolution has become wrecked.