Obama's List

On Barack Obama's Top Books of 2018

I have always been interested in the idea of Revolution. About how far people have to be pushed before they are willing to risk their lives in order to take control back from an oppressive leader. This book deals with the horrors of the Qaddafi years in Libya and I was very moved by what these people lived through while also learning a lot from this book.

Memoir of the author’s family and the consequences of being in opposition to Libya’s Qaddafi regime. I knew little of Libya’s history prior to the Qaddafi years. Matar’s memoir is beautifully told.

This is a testament to the perseverance of a son to find the truth about his father's disappearance while coming to accept his death as inevitable. The lies and manipulation of the heir to and hangers-on of a corrupt, cruel regime are related in detail. It is Written in a unique, controlled style. I highly recommend this work of Matar.

In this poignant and deeply moving memoir, Hisham Matar proves that he is a talented writer as he explores how political events and a power hungry regime can hold its people hostage to the cruelties and whims of the regime.

In 'The return', Hisham Matar describes his journey in trying to find out what happened to his father, Jaballa Matar, who was imprisoned by the Qaddafi regime in 1990. Hisham Matar recounts the recent history of Libya along with the history of his own family in relation to Libya.

Though the book helped me understand more about the politics, culture and history of Libya, the writing style seemed to lack focus at times. The author's grief and longing are palpable, but at times the emotion was overshadowed by a structure that seemed to be more stream-of-consciousness than planned.

This is the third book by Matar about the disappearance of his father, a wealthy businessman and member of the Libyan elite who opposed Qaddafi and who was kidnapped, was imprisoned and disappeared. This book is a memoir about Matar's return to Libya after the downfall of Qaddafi to discover when and how his father died. Matar seems somewhat naïve politically and provides no broader context. The book seemed padded in places (irrelevant descriptions). The grief of privilege.

Beautifully written and very compelling, this book reads more like fiction. In my reading, I often make a note of a great turn of phrase or clever use of words that makes a point so well that there's no way it could be misconstrued. It normally happens once or twice to me in a book, but in this book I stopped counting after it got into double digits. After everyone I'd say to myself jealously, "I wish I had I written that sentence!"
This family's strength and dignity in the face of unimaginable circumstances affected me profoundly.