The Pitch of Tied Strings

Description

The book “The Pitch of Tied Strings” by Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni has been translated into dozens of languages ​​and shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. This is not surprising, as the book, despite its small size, pulsates with life and music. It is divided into two parts: the first, which lends the book its title, and the second, titled “The Swiss Paradise.” What unites the two is a shared atmosphere, rich with cultural, philosophical, and linguistic references, where the derivation of ideas becomes a means of attempting to understand the world we are destined to inhabit. The first part of the book presents a collection of carefully selected and organized reflections within four sections that rarely allow for digressions. These reflections oscillate between references to covenants, wisdom, and knowledge, highlighting the subtle distinctions between them and pointing to the interplay between creativity and ethics in the Arabic language. The second section takes the form of prose texts in which al-Koni tames the Libyan desert, the Rhine River, and Lake Tunis, all side by side! “A Symphony of Tied Strings” is a meticulous listening to nature and to humanity, and how each becomes a mirror reflecting the other… It is a book on the anthropology of nature.