Culture | Swords and sandals

Cinema meets radicalism in “Picture in the Sand”

Peter Blauner’s insightful novel is set in Egypt in the tumultuous 1950s

P2HTB8 Original Film Title: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.  English Title: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.  Film Director: CECIL B DEMILLE.  Year: 1956.  Stars: CECIL B DEMILLE; CHARLTON HESTON. Credit: PARAMOUNT PICTURES / Album
Ready for their close-upImage: Alamy

In its gruesome propaganda videos, Islamic State reviled the West. Yet the cinematic horror seemed influenced by Hollywood—not surprisingly, given many of the jihadists would have grown up on American action films and video games. Peter Blauner’s new novel, “Picture in the Sand”, depicts a fictional case of this split-personality syndrome.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Swords and sandals”

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