Ibrahim Al-Koni: أنوبيس (Anubis)

The latest addition to my website is Ibrahim Al-Koni‘s أنوبيس (Anubis). This is the first Libyan novel on my website but it is not your typical Libyan novel, as al-Koni is a Tuareg and this is very much a Tuareg novel. It tells the story of Anubi, a legendary Tuareg character, who catches a glimpse of his father at birth but, since then, has not seen him and sets out into the desert to find him. Al-Koni adds other myths, particularly the myth of Targa (which gives its name to Tuareg), the legendary oasis, where Anubi arrives and is joined by others, for whom he becomes, eventually, both priest and leader. But he is beset by jinns, spirits and the ghost (or shadow) of his father. It is not easy reading, as the characters speak in aphorisms and riddles and it is not always clear what is going but it is, nevertheless, an interesting look at another culture and its myths.