Flawed but powerful and moving

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	• In the Country of Men Hisham Matar Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Flawed but powerful and moving

Hisham Matar's "In The Country of Men" is the third (and best) of six Man Booker Prize nominated titles last year which takes a child's perspective of the confusing adult world around it as its starting point. Suleiman, growing up in Gaddafi's terror regime in Libya in the late 70s/early 80s, senses something amiss when he spots his father in the market square one day as if in the guise of another person he doesn't know or recognise. His mother is jumpy, nervous, weepy, and frequently taking solace in a secret brew when she's not telling her young son the history of her own childhood, the tyranny of her own father, uncles and brothers and how she came to be married to her father. Soon after his best friend's father is arrested after being visited upon at night by men in black, problems arise for Suleiman's father and his likeminded counter revolutionary friends. Though Gaddafi is hardly mentioned by name - he is but a shadowy presence throughout, only materializing in a picture hung above the mantelpiece - everybody lives in fear of the unexpected knock on the door in the night that could change one's life forever.

Not surprisingly, blood will be spilt and an innocent man will go to his death in a brutal public hanging that will leave you shaking. There will be compromises made - is capitulation cowardice to be ashamed of, or is it courage to want to live to fight another day ? The grown up Suleiman, now living safely abroad, may look back and think he understands the madness that went on in his country before but as an adult, can he avoid judging his parents a little unfavourably, a little unfairly perhaps, for their decision ? Like the mad neighbourhood beggar the boys likes to taunt, the boy Suleiman may not be able to make sense of the adult world around him but emotionally he was always connected and tapping right into the love of his parents. So, which of the two perspectives is truer ?

Matar's debut novel is powerful and moving but it is less than polished in some essential aspect. For instance, the author started promisingly on the back story of Suleiman's mother which would have been a perfect way of revealing more about Libyan society to us but inexplicably, he lost interest in developing it further and left the thread of it hanging without any follow through. A pity. Such flaws aside, "In The Country Of Men" is an excellent read and highly recommended.

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Beautiful, wrenching

This is a beautiful, wrenching book. Each page is dense with description and events, and the author makes each word count double or triple. This simplicity allows the story to come through with heartbreaking clarity.

My only quibble is that the boy seems a bit too naive to make his age, supposedly nine, seem realistic. I'd think that a nine-year-old might be a little more clued-in to some of what's going on in his country, especially a nine-year-old sensitive enough to be burdened with his mother's reminiscences. The fact that he didn't realize what her "medicine" and "illness" were also seems a bit hard to believe, but perhaps in an Islamic country a child wouldn't know.

Anyway, a beautiful, wonderful book. I look forward to other efforts by this author.

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1984 on the Mediterranean

I heard about this book from an interview of Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air with the author Hisham Mater. In the interview Mater talked of his own life experience as a boy watching interrogations on Libyan TV and the eventual detention of his father and the exile of the family first to Egypt then England. The author came across as a very thoughtful and articulate, his description of his experience as a child coming so close to the horrors of torture clearly left its mark on him.

In the Country of Men, belongs to the semi fiction genre, it is based on real events witnessed first hand by the author but clearly the author let his very creative talents take over and weave a number of other interesting patterns on the same basic setting of Libyan social and political life in the Seventies.

Hot Mediterranean summer days, lots of white sand and the beautiful blue Mediterranean, a nine year only child living with a mother suffering from depression and alcoholism trying to make the most of a bad marriage. A father, who is somewhat remote and a bit caricature like is a businessman turned activist obsessed with making Libya a better place. Libya is very much right out of 1984 with much of the horrors, brain washing and denials and a great "Guide" too.

Mater's developed his own child character and that of his mother's superbly into complete multi dimensional human beings. The cruelty and contradictions in the child were masterfully portrayed. Also his sense of place and time is remarkable, Mater makes you virtually taste the beautiful delicious mulberries or sense the heat burning your feet from walking in the hot afternoons to the Tripoli beach.

The disappointing parts of the book were just two aspects; the limited development of the character of the father who was clearly central to the story. While it may have been Mater's intention to paint a picture from the eyes of a 9 year old and as a result a sketchy picture of the father may have been appropriate, this somehow jarred with me as the narrative was that of a more mature adult reflecting back on childhood days. This maturity came across in many ways but fell short when discussing the father. The second disappointing aspect of the book was the relationship with Karim, the childhood friend. Mater was brilliant in the way he dealt with the Karim relationship throughout the book but somehow appear to have felt compelled to tidy things up for a semi happy ending.

The interview with Terry Gross, revealed the true experience of Mater's life and the real life ending was far worse than the one he offered. Perhaps this would explain Mater's need to retain a distance from his father, even in a work of semi fiction and the relatively rushed ending of the book.

I strongly recommend this book as another beautifully written work in English with a strong Arab Mediterranean sensibility.

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Remarkable!

I occasionally see someone so clumsy that I think to myself how lucky everyone is that they don't do heart surgery. Reading In the Country of Men reminds me that I should be very thankful that I never aspired to becoming an author. The craftsmanship that Mr. Matar displays throughout this book is simply humbling. I can't write well enough to do it justice. I can only suggest that you buy it and see for yourself.

reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5

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