A Lebanese archeologist with deep knowledge and connections on the black market of stolen artifacts is requested to coordinate a possible sale of objects of art in Iraq. It happens in 2014, when the country, altogether with Syria, was on the forefront of the Daesh - Islamic State - conquest. When people were trying to survive, who really cares about archeology anymore, but this was not the case in reality. A network of black market for looted artifacts was used to channel money out and from the terrorists, but also benefited the various global interlopers of the art market.
The character of Lebanese author whose works I had the chance to previously review on the blog Charif Majdalani´s Last oasis - Dernière Oasis - that I´ve read in the original French language - is first and foremost a meditation about history and its agents. The characters and events explained in the book are set to demonstrate the randomness of historical occurences. The events that are taking place in pure randomly do change the course of history, but there is no general pattern or laws the historical events do eventually follow.
The archeologist´s mission is aborted after the general who requested his presence was killed. Five years after, he is trying to find out who betrayed them and why, and what happened with the treasure of artifacts he was promised. His reluctant meeting with the general´s daughter, with whom he had a random flirt under the pressure of the exceptional conditions he was under, will partly clarify the unknown rest of the story.
What I really liked about the book besides the slow paced story, was the permanent meditation about history and its agents, by creating events aimed to demonstrate and illustrate a philosophical premise. It reunites historical thinking with literary imaginations using journalistic and recent history realities and contexts. The final result is a thoughtful meditation on human life and its limited free choices.
Rating: 4 stars
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