{"product_id":"9781859642023","title":"The Seven Veils of Seth","description":"\u003cp\u003eIsan, the novel’s protagonist, is either Seth himself or a latter-day avatar. A desert-wandering seer and proponent of desert life, he settles for an extended stay in a fertile oasis. If Jack Frost, the personification of the arrival of winter, were to visit a tropical rain forest, the results might be similarly disastrous. Not surprisingly, since this is a novel by Ibrahim al-Koni, infanticide, uxoricide, serial adultery, betrayal, metamorphosis, murder by a proxy animal, ordinary murder, and a life-threatening chase through the desert all figure in the plot, although the novel is also an existential reflection on the purpose of human life. Ibrahim al-Koni typically layers allusions in his works as if he were an artist adding a suggestion of depth to a painting by applying extra washes. Tuareg folklore, Egyptian mythology, Russian literature, and medieval European thought elbow each other for room on the page. One might expect a novel called The Seven Veils of Seth to be a heavy-handed allegory. Instead, the reader is left wondering. The truth is elusive, a mirage pulsing at the horizon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Garnet Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47043484811504,"sku":"9781859642023","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781859642023_p0.jpg?v=1763599783","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781859642023","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}