Fabulous debut effort by Hisham Matar

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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

A child's perceptions of life in a terror state

It is 1979 and nine-year old Suleiman lives in the brutal police state of Gaddafi's Libya. When the novel opens, a neighbour and his father's close friend, Rashid, has been taken away by the police. Suleiman's father Faraj is in hiding; his febrile mother Najwa is distraught at the way Faraj has endangered himself and his family, and is furious with another friend, the Egyptian Moosa, who has egged on Rashid and Faraj into writing and distributing underground material. The sense of danger is palpable; it haunts Suleiman, and he is tossed about by one emotion after another: a child's love for his parents and for their friends alternates with anger and exasperation; friendship with Rashid's son Kareem alternates with betrayal; understanding and not understanding jostle each other; at times he holds himself in and will not speak, at others he acts impulsively, with fateful consequences; he is haunted by guilt, reinforced by the Islamic teaching he has received about the damnation in store for those who stray from the path of virtue. With his father away, Suleiman has been told he is the man of the house, but he is after all only nine years old. He has to see some terrible things. A few pages from the end of the book, his parents send him to safety in Egypt. With great economy, those pages convey the bleak effects of such a separation.

The Libyan setting - political, cultural and physical - is extremely well evoked. A novel of great power and psychological subtlety.

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A boy's life in Libya

Suleiman is a 14-year old boy growing up in Tripoli in 1979. His father is an active member fighting the regime of colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi and fights for the autonomy for the student union. Consequently his family is the target of the Revolutionary Committee who try to intimidate them.
Later in 1994 Suleiman is allowed to emigrate to a friend's family in Egypt and he never sees his parents again.
A touching story of a boy who turns to his mother in his father's worrying absence and who has to live in a world which becomes a frightening place where parents lie and questions remain unanswered.

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A Novel That Will Stay With You

A stunning debut novel with depth of voice and exquisite writing. Matar renders the effects of life under oppression upon children, families and society with nuance, skill and emotion. He is second to none in writing adult memories from a confused child's perspective. I lived in Iran under the Savak .. Matar gets it right. Most highly recommended. He does what fiction does best .. puts you in the middle of the lives of others.

Not Merely "Of the Moment"

A finely executed, textured novel that deserves attention not only for its political-charged insight.

Fabulous debut effort by Hisham Matar - a work to treasure

I learned about Hisham Matar's debut work "In the Country of Men" from an occasional piece that the Financial Times does called "Read Your Way Around the World." In the list the FT published in 2006, a one- to two-line description of Matar's book reeled me in. How often does one get to read a semi-autobiographical piece about growing up Libya? Since it wasn't available yet in the US, I ordered it straight away from Amazon UK.

It's not often I can say that I 'treasured' a reading experience. But that was the case with Matar's book. It was worth every penny of extra shipping to have the book in my hands right away.

I can't do the work justice here. Seen through a young child's eyes, it depicts life under the initial days of Muammar Gaddafi's 'Great Revolution.' Gaddafi himself is an off-stage presence in the book - never named, he is referred to others simply as 'The Guide' (he's known officially as 'Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution'). The majority of the action takes place in a single neighborhood. The reader sees how the revolution affects the fabric of Tripoli society. It's expertly and almost delicately told.

It's hard to believe Matar is a debut novelist. 'In the Country of Men' is a work to treasure.

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

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