In the country of men

• Book: In the Country of Men
• Location: Tripoli
• Author: Hisham Matar

I am in two minds about this book. On one hand I found it fascinating to read an account of life in Libya under the rule of Gaddafi and on the other the book left me curiously unsatisfied as if it hinted at a lot but never came through with all the detail. I would however recommend reading it, for me it was a little like an appetiser and I found myself searching for Libya on the website to see which other books I could read about the country. Books such as this remind me that I live in a country where freedom is pretty much taken for granted and where as a woman I have the same freedom as a man to make decisions about my life. I started to think about the mother in this book, who is described as someone forced to marry very much against her will and who takes to alcohol as a result. Again the subject is touched upon but not explored in detail. All of this is probably as a result of the style of the book, it is told from the perspective of a 9 year old boy who is obviously confused about his mother and the events which unfold around him. Some of the events describe are huge and traumatic such as the hanging at the basketball stadium and some are observations of smaller more homely events such as the boy getting sunstroke one day. All  in all it is a good book but one which did not satisfy completely. 

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