I loved reading "In The Country of Men" by Hisham Matar; a moving semi-autobiographical story of a boy growing up in post-revolution Libya.I must admit, when I took up this book, I knew nothing about Libya or Tripoli; or Gaddafi or his Revolution & I had to wiki it up in order to understand the context of this book.
It was a window into Libya (which until now was generalised in my mind simply as 'Arab' or 'African'). One boy's story certainly doesn't describe a country; but it gives you a flavour of its cultural & political scenario.
The book, by the way, is recommended. Reminded me of "The Kite Runner" in some ways.
A good synopsis of the book here.
7 comments:
and why is it 'In the country of Men'?
the cover pic is excellant. Lack of interest in reading is one of the biggest regrets in my life. I just cant do it grrrrr
666,
Umm, I guess its called 'In the country of Men' because the story is projected from the eyes of a child; a boy who is trying to make sense of this world of grown-ups (men) & what happens around these men.
I'm glad you liked it! :) Thanks for the link.
HappY Reader,
I did enjoy reading it; my personal rating would be 4/5. In some parts the characters were middle-eastern-cliches; but in most parts they seemed very real.
i love the cover pic..........i will pick it up some day, Radha....
Darn, Amazon had this book in its "bargain" section last week, but when I went to look for it just now I see they've upped the price again...just my luck!
BTW, thank you for the write-up Radha. This book has been on my wish list ever since I first read about it on Happy Reader's blog and I see you've linked to it too! :)
Moi,
Welcome back! Where have you been??
Lotus,
Hmm, its one of those books you want to borrow & read; not *classic* enough to be bought (you probably wouldn't read it over & over again). As I was telling Happy Reader, I thought in some parts the characters were very cliched & the plot very stereotyped. I loved the book mostly because it brought me face-to-face with a new country & a new culture; that of Libya. Worth a one-time read for sure.
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