Khaled el-Khamisi’s first book "Taxi" achieved immense popularity and was printed in many editions. With its lucid style and in-depth message, the book, which tackles the worries of the ordinary man, remained on the bestseller lists for some two years.
The writer has since published his first novel titled "Safinet Noah"—of which a second edition is already on the market. The novel is about the escape of a group of people from Noah’s ark, which the writer clearly uses to symbolize Egypt before it sinks. The novel has twelve heroes and heroines, each telling their story in a separate chapter, and the final chapter, titled "Min awel el-Satr," adds thefinal touches showing the full picture.
El-Khamisi’s novel belongs to a new genre of novels which started to enter the artistic scene roughly around the time of publication of "Emaret Yacoubian" by Alaa el-Aswany, and includes other works that followed it such as "Taghreedet el-Bagaa" by Mekkawy Saeed, and "Azzazeel" by Youssef Zaidan. Although diverse on all levels, these novels have attracted a wide readership because they touch upon terrible political, social and religious conditions. It is little surprise they all hit the bestseller list.
Book: Safinet Noah, novel
Author: Khaled el-Khamisi
Publisher: el-Shorouk, Cairo
411 medium-size pages
