The Thorns of Turing's Garden

Rana Haik

"In 'The Thorns of Turing's Garden', we meet Yara, overwhelmed by her emotions, and Alia, who excels at suppressing hers. Both despise who they are, and both dream of being the other. The two girls get entangled in a dangerous game with 'AI the Great', an artificial intelligence tool that analyzes visible words to understand hidden desires, and probes consciousness to reach the unconscious, and then manipulates it. The two girls appear to be contradictory characters: Yara is dreamy, sensitive, and emotionally drained, while Alia is practical, pragmatic, and outwardly harsh. However, they are fundamentally more similar than they realize, and each has a hidden desire to become the other. This is where the AI they communicate with intervenes, and where the latter finds fertile ground for its mischief. But with every hidden truth it reveals to them, the rift widens instead of healing, leaving the two women struggling between reality and imagination, between who they are and who they aspire to be, between embracing their self or alienation from it, until they reach that terrifying question: What is the self, anyway? Who are we, really?

This happens today, in this noisy world where all meanings and values are being redefined, and where humans are grappling with the ultimate meaning of their humanity after a terrible technological boom, all under the watchful eye of Big Brother, ensuring the discipline of individuals within a system whose legitimacy is unquestioned.

This novel has a simple exterior but a deeply philosophical interior, delving into the human psyche and its anxieties, through a sweet and enjoyable language, addressing a current and new topic in the world of literature centered around the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence, and its impact on us and its being affected by us.

A former Lebanese journalist and translator who moved into publishing in 2011, where she oversaw Nawfal Arabic publications. Since 2020, she has held the position of editorial director for the publishing house. She has three translated works: 'Les inconnues' by Patrick Modiano, 'La Carte et le Territoire' by Michel Houellebecq, and 'The Princess and the Foal' by Stacy Gregg. This is her first novel."