Hisham MatarThe Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

An account of the grief for a beloved father, imprisoned in Libya. His death was never confirmed. He was disappeared. The love and suffering of the family left behind, and the struggle for the truth, is narrated with such sensitivity and intelligence that the unique becomes universal.

When Muammar Gaddafi took over as a dictator in Libya, he ordered that his opponents be rounded up and imprisoned. Hisham Matar was nineteen when most of the male members of his family were disappeared, uncles, cousins and his father. They were imprisoned in the most notorious prison, Abu Salim where torture and interrogations were the norm along with deprivation of food and any comforts. Most lived there for over twenty years and were only released with the overthrow of Gaddaffi and his government. Matar's father, Jaballah, was never heard from again although it is suspected that he was one of the over one thousand men who were killed one day by firing squad at the prison.This book tells the story of Matar's return to Libya after living his life in Egypt and England. He reunites with his male relatives and uses whatever connections he has to try to get a definite answer about his father. Was he killed that day? Is he still imprisoned?Although one hears about cases like this, only the concrete recollections of someone who has lost a relative and gone through years of agony trying to find the answers brings it home in such a definite way. This memoir won the Pulitzer Prize and Matar has been listed for the Booker several times, including this year. His love and his search is inspiring while the understanding of what those men went through for twenty years, losing the best years of their lives and their dreams of how their lives would turn out is heartbreaking. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.

Beautifully written and tells a fascinating story about a missing father, son and family. It provides information about a little known country and a reign of terror.

This is an excellent writer, who has a beautiful way of expressing and capturing life. Unfortunately, this book is about too little. He thinks about, misses and eventually looks for his father. Even though the writing is superb I didn't finish the book because it didn't captivate me. I knew the ending, I knew he suspected the ending, and I didn't need to read anymore.

A personal account of how one family was affected by its patriarch's involvement in the opposition of the Qaddafi regime. My interest was maintained throughout. However, I was more interested in Libya's journey from colonialism under fascist Italy to the present and how it affected Matar's extended family than his visits to European museums and the like even though the latter was written with a literary flair. It gave me better context for my experiences during my visits to Libya before the Arab spring, an understanding of why people were too guarded to discuss politics, and the heavy security presence by the regime. But more than anything it is a testimony of love written by a son seeking closure who was robbed from a chance to say goodbye.

I found the prose of this book to be mesmerizing though by midway…the exhaustive lengthiness of each though process became burdensom….and frankly I was hoping for some answer at the ending.

This story is autobiographical in the Qaddafi era in Libya but the family live in Egypt. The father is a dissident and spends long periods away from home. On one of these occasions he is kidnapped by the regime. His son, the author of this story grows up through the years of his disappearance, suffers the loss of his father and his mother takes to alcohol to console herself. Many members of the extended family are also kidnapped. They, however are eventually released. Not so for the father and the story ends with the conclusion that he must have been shot in the 1996 massacre in Abu Salim jail which was liberated by the rebels. Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 after 40 years rule. This is a heart felt story, very well written and holds the tension of the search until the last page.

An excellent pro, capturing deep emotions as well as conscious logic in tragic conditions imposed by power hungry politicians. People continue to endure these atrocities and anyone who knows this should read this book for the sense of solidarity. Others must read it to grow up and to know what to avoid, if humanly possible!!