Welcome to Litsy!

I finally got started on summer with my first #14Books14Weeks and my first visit to the hammock grove on Governors Island!

As others have said this is not the book i expected it to be and it hit me harder because of that. I expected a book about tyranny causing violent revolution but what i got was the way that tyranny with one act unmoors and exiles and causes long term trauma. To me so much of this book is the loneliness of exile, how an 18 year old is supposed to somehow forge a life away from his home and family knowing he is watched, knowing he cannot speak.

Yesterday was a day filled with walking and I spent some time alone visiting Hatchard‘s, Daunt Books and Books on the Water (an absolutely lovely bookstore in a river barge). The tagged book is a signed edition from Daunt. I am fortunate to have an exceedingly understanding husband (plus bonus money that I earn judging trampoline gymnastics) that allowed me to splurge. Best book trip ever!

I love Matar‘s warm, erudite tone & rich subject matter so no surprise that I was engrossed by this novel. Khaled & his friends yare in London, unable to return to Libya. The heartbreak & uncertainty of this exile is beautifully rendered & feels true to life. It‘s poignant but told in a warm, inviting voice. Matar‘s writing flows & there‘s something exact in his prose that feels thoughtful & not showy. He wears his knowledge lightly. Moving.

#bookerprizelonglist (Yes, I'm still making slow progress through the longlist ?)

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this much. Given the subject matter, I imagined it would be rather "tough" in a blokeish way: the book it would have been had Mustafa been the narrator, perhaps. As it was, I found it surprisingly tender. I felt for Khaled, whose life seems permanently provisional despite 30 years of staying put.

I'd have shortlisted it.

What can I say that hasn‘t been said already?It‘s a book of unspeakable pain dealing with exile,life under and after dictatorship, inter generational trauma and torture. It‘s infuriating how little is also known about Italy‘s oppression and Mussolini‘s atrocities committed in Libya. The fact that Tony Blair shook hands with Gaddafi and his as well as Britain‘s ‘relations‘ with the regime went even further is just inconceivable…

'At first I thought, to be a parent you have to be an idealist. Then I learnt that to be a parent is to be continually coming up against everything that is not ideal about you.'

I see now why so many people thought this was a sure bet for the Booker shortlist. This is the story of a man exiled from his homeland of Libya and living in London and his two closest friends who both share his experience but also show how uniquely alone they are all too. It was a slower, more meandering tale and let me so gently immerse myself in Khalid‘s story that I was surprised to look up and realize how deeply entrenched I was. So good.

This is a beautifully written book about Khaled and his two Libyan friends Hosam and Mustafa. Khaled is exiled in London from Libya due to political unrest. The story spans around 40 years and goes all the way to the Arab Spring. Writing, reading and language are a significant part of this story too. Long listed for the 2024 Booker Prize. Highly recommend!

I enjoyed this so much. I actually went back to the beginning to read how Matar introduced us to the story. I haven‘t read a book in a while that covers the experience of being exiled from your homeland with such melancholy and confusion. I definitely haven‘t read a book about Libya and the Arab Spring. I miss Khalid, the main character, already. #bookerlonglist