My Friends - Hisham Matar
When a young scholar from Libya, attending University in Scotland, reluctantly takes part in a demonstration protesting the autocratic government of Qaddafi, violence turns his world upside down, forcing him to seek asylum in England where he will live out his life, far from home and family. In beautiful prose, the author explores the importance and impact of ties with friends, family and culture as the protagonist/narrator deals with sense of self and life choices regarding politics, loyalties, love, war and the Arab Spring. This is a thoughtful, and thought provoking, novel.

My Friends by Hisham Matar is a deep and troubling book written about life in Libya under the reign of Muammar Gaddafi. Young Khaled spends his boyhood in Benghazi in a family of intellectuals. His father is a well-read professor who shares his love of books in conversations around the daily dinner table.

Khaled and his family listen to a BBC broadcast of a powerful allegory story of a man being eat, piece by piece, by a cat. The story “The Given and The Taken” was written, at the time, by an unnamed author. I could not but compare this story to the powerful anti-war tale “Johnny Got His Gun” written in 1938 by American author, Dalton Trumbo, about a mutilated soldier who awakens in a hospital bed with only his trunk and head left.

Khaled’s father eventually discovers the mystery author, Hosam Zowa, who eventually kindles a deep and lasting friendship with Khaled. This book follows Khaled as he leaves Libya for university in Edinburgh and onto London where there are choices to make and faces to wear. Khaled’s reading leads him to philosophers. He ponders Seneca who wrote “No one can wear a mask for very long; for true nature will soon reassert itself”. What is Khaled’s true nature?

This is a deep and profound work of literature that deals with the glory of family and friends and the devastation of tyranny.
Thank you to #NetGalley # Hisham Matar #ArabSpring #Friendship

This is a sweet but sometimes dark look at a young man's life as he grapples with his own identity in Libya and then later at the University of Edinburgh. Initially, listening to a podcast about a man eaten by his own cat, Khaled is intrigued and then very curious as he meets the author and they develop a firm and often fascinating relationship. The novel focuses on many themes including the regime and history, but of course family and relationships are center stage as Khaled matures and recognizes the importance of friends and we see him grow into a unique young man!
Thanks too NetGalley for this ARC!

when khaled sits with his family one night in benghazi, libya, his favorite radio reporter reads a short story about a man being slowly eaten by a cat. this inspires him deeply and he decides to study abroad in edinburgh. the story comforts him, but not as much as meeting the man who wrote it in the first place. a deep friendship blossoms between them, and it changes the course of their lives forever. after a shooting breaks out against protestors, khaled finds himself struggling to stay live, immediately receiving political asylum, and being unable to return to libya.

matar writes excellent prose, poetic in nature. i was captivated by his descriptions. while i felt khaled was a mostly silent character, the other characters definitely made up for it. this is a truly incredible novel about history, family, revolution, the regime, and, most of all, friendship.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.