Les Cendres De Carthage (Abdelaziz Belkhodja)

June 29, 2007 – 1:11 pm |

Last weekend I finished reading “Les Cendres De Carthage” (The Ashes Of Carthage) by Tunisian writer Abdelaziz Belkhodja.
This is the second book I’ve read by him, the first being ”Le Retour De L’Eléphant” (The Return Of The Elephant) that I read a few years ago.

This work of fiction revolves around an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Carthage, close to the capital of Tunisia, where the great ancient library of Carthage is discovered, then taking an unexpected twist into a thriller putting politicians and intelligence services from Tunisia and the United States face to face.

It’s style is a bit reminiscant of “The Da Vinci Code” in how the main character keeps digging up historic facts in his investigation to find the truth, but well this book was written well before “The Da Vinci Code” was ever released.

It’s also pretty obvious the writer has a fascination with Carthage and the history of Tunisia as both books I’ve read by him up to now build upon that in their storylines.

I liked this book, it’s an interesting and light read, plus the fact that it’s by a Tunisian and has Tunisia as a character gives it a little extra taste for me.

  • http://hatemben.com Hatem

    That’s my two favorite books !! I remember I have even send email to the publishers asking them if there is other books by Abdelaziz Belkhodja, but seems it was the only ones.

    did you noticed ? “Les Cendres De Carthage” is so exciting to read until the last word, while in “Le Retour De L’El

  • http://www.subzeroblue.com MMM

    Well, good news for you, there’s a new book by him called “Amours Mosa

Subzero Blue is the personal weblog of Mohamed Marwen Meddah: a web enthusiast, founder of StartUpArabia, amateur photographer & blogger.
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