In the Country of Men

Ik heb dit boek niet ontvangen.

For some books, I can barely be bothered to write a review, neither bad nor indifferent. I want only to draw attention to those works that go onto my bookshelf to be re-read rather than into a charity shop carousel. Hisham Matar's Country of Men is a powerful work of devastating clarity and confusion. Children are not angels, responding instinctively to the society that surrounds them with an child's intuitive need to survive the normality of instability and horror. Desensitized to abnormality and cruelties, they make heroes of those most likely to harm them, equally learning themselves, to intimidate weaker individuals in the societal chain. In this story the persistent beggar is a figure of revulsion to the boy, yet by his upbringing he is reluctantly obliged to demonstrate a modicum of charity. He understands his mother's need for 'medication' whenever she falls prey to her ' illness' and is mystified by the long absences of his father and his coldness when he briefly returns home. Hisham Matar has written further about his relationship with his dissident father in The Return. If I were setting an A level recommended reading list, Country of Men would be on that list. Sadly we live in politically sensitive times and I fear it may not pass the censor, but as mirror for modern times I can think of no better work of literature.

lecture agréable mais je suis restée un peu sur ma fin car il ne s'y passe pas grand chose !

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.

Spannende Erzählung des Schicksals eines Jungen, dessen Vater wegen angeblichen Hochverrats in die Terror-Mühlen von Gaddafis Libyen gerät. Unabhängig von dem Vorteil der (offenbar wenigstens teilweisen) Authenzität ist die Geschichte intelligent und zugleich tief poetisch angeordnet als Parabel um den Sheherazade Mythos, geschrieben in wunderschön knapper und klarer Sprache, die sich der Bedeutung jedes einzelnen Wortes jederzeit bewusst ist. Matar erzählt mit großem Einfühlungsvermögen und völlig unprätentiös aus der Perspektive des heranwachsenden Kindes und erreicht eine wunderbare Balance zwischen den Erlebnissen eines Kindes, die so auch in jedem anderen Land möglich wären (und uns die Indentifikation ermöglichen), und der fast beiläufig-naiven Schilderung der katastrophalen politischen Situation in der Welt der Erwachsenen. So verstärken sich beide Ebenen des Buches und hinterlassen einen bleibenden, teilweise erschreckend tiefen Eindruck, etwa in der Schilderung der im Fernsehen übertragenen stalinistischen Schau-Befragungen aus den Augen eben des erzählenden Kindes oder den kindlich naiven Gesprächen des Kindes mit den Peinigern seines Vaters. Mir hat das Buch nach langer Zeit der Anti-Araber-Indoktrination der vereinten westlichen Nationen endlich wieder die Augen dafür geöffnet, dass dort Menschen wie wir leben, Väter, Mütter, Freunde und Verräter und vor allem Kinder.