In the Country of Men: A Novel

In the Country of Men, the first novel by exiled Libyan Hisham Matar is as much a story of sin, redemption, and reconciliation, as it is a condemnation of the evils that men do in the name of patriarchy and despotic revolutions. The narrator, nine-year old Suleiman, lives in a well-to-do neighborhood of Tripoli, where the ever-present fear of the Revolutionary Committees of the "Guide" (one of the many titles assumed by the dictator Muammar Qaddafi) hangs in the air like the sweltering desert heat that crosses the Sahara to be halted by the cool breezes of the Mediterranean. Suleiman is the child of an arranged marriage, like most in the culture; his mother was hurriedly wed at fourteen to a man nearly ten years her senior. Now, at twenty-three, his mother soothes her anger and resentment with bottles of "medicine" she covertly buys from a nearby baker. Suleiman's father is often gone on "business" trips, during which time his mother retreats to her bedroom and young Suleiman learns to adapt to a constant shift between living in a world where he is the child and a world where he becomes an adult. It would be anticlimactic to reveal the entire plot, or the final outcome, but if this were merely a story of very familiar family dysfunction, it would end there. The underlying thread of treachery and deceit only begins with the family. The much greater story involves the nature of who we are, when who we are depends on who we can trust and what we say we believe. Suleiman is a terribly conflicted boy trying to make sense of his world and find a place in it. His loyalties to each parent are constantly tested, while he struggles to understand the complexities of how those loyalties have become a part of his need for acceptance--by his parents, his friends, and eventually by the very forces that threaten to break his family apart. Suleiman's sheltered upbringing and naiveté come dangerously close to having tragic consequences for his family; he is drawn into the intrigue and suspense of the lives of adults in his life, including his father, who are part of a movement of protest against the dictatorship, and only by a fortunate turn of events is the tragedy averted. Hisham Matar has created, within In the Country of Men, a classic Bildungsroman that is more than just the story of growing up; it is a painful, yet poignant view of life through the eyes of a nine-year old boy who really thinks and acts like a nine-year old--confused, angry, impetuous, impatient, self-centered, even at times mean-spirited. Still, he is also loving, loyal, protective, intelligent, and wonderfully inquisitive. His character is so complex that it's hard to believe the author's insistence that the novel is not autobiographical.

This is the story of Suleiman. In the late 1970s, in Libya, who is quickly caught up in a world that is beyond his nine year old understanding. His father - who is frequently away on business trips - is spotted in town when he was supposed to be away. Soon, things start to change in his household. The phone is constantly ringing, a neighbor disappears, his mother burns all of his father's books. Soon Suleiman's mom realizes it is too dangerous for him to be in Libya, and he is sent to Cairo with a family friend to keep him safe. This was a well written book. It isn't very long, and flowed nicely. Suleiman is a bit infuriating, but what nine year old boy isn't. There were times where I felt the character was a bit too naive. You get an insigth into Qaddafi's Libya from the few of a little boy, and it is an interesting take. All the things a child would not understand about the seriousness that was going on around him. He witnesses the execution of the neighbor and it sticks with him for the rest of his life. A good read. I am glad I found this one for my Read The World challenge.

This is an excellent novel, a work of literature. It is deceptively simple in form, content, and style, the latter a requisite since it is narrated by a 9-year-old boy. The skill of the author must be consummate to have been able to convey at one and the same time an immature and bewildered childish consciousness and sufficiently detailed (not to mention eloquent) observations of what was going on around him, and inside him, for the reader to understand it all at a mature level. Besides simply saying well done, my main reason for writing this "review" (just a comment, really) is to draw a comparison to Martha McPhee's equally wonderful debut novel, Bright Angel Time. Although about a very different "scene" (a 1970 American road trip versus 1979 Libya) and featuring an 8-year-old girl narrator who is far more "with it" than the 9-year-old boy, McPhee's book is identical in brilliantly portraying the quick shifts of feeling and attitude ("I love her." "I hate her.") that characterize a non-fully-formed personality (and, if truth be told, probably characterize most adult consciousnesses as well). I guess I'll add one more comparison, since this is a recent discovery for me of a genre I had no particular reason to think I would dig (having chosen each of these books because of their overt theme - the road trip, Libya, and a World War II what-if -- rather than the nature of their narrator): Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. Mine is probably very much a minority report, but this is my favorite novel of Roth's by far, and again, it is the portrayal of a child's take on the world that I found particularly masterful (although the plot and episodes of the book are also amazing in their richness). Yet another postscript: How can I have forgotten to mention Dickens' David Copperfield? -- not only another extraordinary portrayal of the consciousness of a child (and beyond) but also just possibly my favorite novel of all time.

Brilliant, well-written account of life in Tripoli under Gadaffi written from the point of view of a young boy. I originally chose to read the book as, stuck in with Covid, I fancied travelling the world a bit and, having once visited Libya (right at the end of Gadaffi's rule) I liked the idea of going back to the Tripoli coast and visiting the magnificent ruins of Leptis Magna again. And while Matar's novel did transport me back there, what I hadn't bargained for was the quality of the writing or the gripping story he would tell me. Anyone reading these reviews will no doubt know the outline of the story and have some idea of what to expect - all I can say is that if you are doubting reading it, don't - buy it, dive in and prepare to be transported, for better and for worse.

It is a young boy’s emotional turmoil and the struggle of his mother to safeguard his innocence when their homeland has been torn apart by wretched political war. The metaphors used to describe emotions or the scenic descriptions witnessed through Suleimanks eyes are captivating and will surely keep the reader hooked craving for more.

The engaging conversational prose written from a child's perspective only serves to heighten the horror of a family experiencing Qaddafi's bloodthirsty regime at first hand, made even worse by the protagonist's naive betrayal of his own father and the misplaced loyalty he feels towards the secret policeman who watches his family's every move. I read it in two days, savouring every word as much as Suleiman savours his sacred mulberries and equally keen to devour them as fast as possible. The final, bittersweet, chapter was impossibly moving and had an even greater effect on me than the visceral descriptions of the regime's brutality. An awesome book, to be thoroughly recommended.

Enthralling insightful story, highly recommended reading

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