I am glad to have finally read this book. Although I had initially read the blurb, by the time I got round to picking this one up, I had completely forgotten what it was about and that, coupled with not having read anything by this author before, I went in with zero expectations.

We see the story through Khaled's eyes, a dual narrative; we experience the life of Khaled as a Libyan student in London, who is exiled from his motherland, after a pivotal event takes place after he shortly arrives in the country to study, which the author links to the real 1984 shooting that took place at the Libyan embassy. The other aspect, witnesses Khaled's friendship and the trajectory of his relationship with Hossam and Mustafa, two Libyans from different schools of thoughts, personalities and backgrounds, over three decades.

On the face of it, there can be no resonance with this story to my own and yet, Matar is able to pen down the most deep, meaningful, human concepts into simple ideas that the phrases really reach out and extend a hold on your mind and heart. There are so many places that I had to highlight because the writing is just so beautiful; impactful and poignant in its essence. The story is captivating and the build up of characters and development, and emotional draw between them is so well established that it evokes a strong reaction when reading this book. This is not just a basic story about human connections and nostalgia but explores the history and the experiences of Libyans in exile who have not been able to return home; their attachment, their draw to their families and former lives subsists regardless.

Reading this, for me personally, definitely evokes feelings of nostalgia particularly to a time when I remember reading news headlines as a young 20-odd year old and never completely appreciating the political climate of the world around me and the troubles there. As the Arab Spring unfolds, Hossam and Mustafa return to Libya to fight against the dictatorship, whilst Khaled battles with his emotions of deep connections within the UK and reluctance to return to the violence in his homeland, which ultimately stops him from joining the civil war of 2011.

Matar is very truthfully able to present the complex nature of displacement and belonging, trying to settle and make a home away from home. The book contains themes around family, friendships, politics, history, belonging and exile and I enjoyed it alot and felt I took away alot from it. Matar has attempted something quite unique with this piece of literary fiction and I would recommend this book and I would love more recommendations to add to the topi s explored in My Friends.

Thank you @netgalley @PenguinUKBooks and @VikingBooksUK for the ARC in exchange for an honest unedited review.

This book is wise and thoughtful, exploring the various ways that politics- personal, national and global- infiltrate every part of our lives and relationships, and particularly for these two men, how you can never quite escape the idea of home.

I found this book moving and clever, and admired how it probes at difficult questions with a lightness of touch.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

My Friends is beautiful, a nostalgic and eye-opening look at the realities of immigration and the hardship of living separately from the country that you identify as your own.

Fraught with emotion, the novel explores different kinds of friendship, the formation and maintenance of such intimate relationships and the storms that they must weather as life battles on.

I enjoyed the informative side of this too, having never know much about Libya or the events highlighted in the novel, so this ticks one of my major boxes: teach me something new.

Whilst at times I did feel the book could have been slightly more condensed, this may simply be down to my lack of understanding of the subject. But the vast majority of this was excellent, and I can see why it's part of the Booker Dozen. I recommend to fans of literary fiction with a focus on immigrants, friendship and political activism.

'My Friends' is a beautiful, profound and poignant novel about Libya, about exile, about literature and, of course, about friendship, echoing many of the concerns of Hisham Matar's non-fiction, particularly his memoir 'The Return'.

At the beginning of the novel, the narrator Khaled bids farewell to his friend of over three decades, Hosam. Hosam is making a final visit to Khaled in London before heading out to start a new life in California with his wife and children. Both Khaled and Hosam are form Libya, and as Khaled walks home from St Pancras station, he muses on the events that brought the two of them, and a third friend, Mostafa, together, and kept them from their homeland for so long.

We learn how Khaled and Mustafa originally travel come to the UK as students at Edinburgh University. But after they are caught up in the Libyan Embassy shooting of 1984, they are unable to return home because of the danger that both they and their families would face (as Khaled observes, "you are now a danger to those you love the most.") Hosam is older than Khaled but also lives in exile because of a collection of short stories he wrote attacking the Qaddafi regime: Hosam's writing has a big impact on Khaled when he first hears it as a teenager in Libya but he only meets Hosam many years later. The novel follows Khaled, Mustafa and Hosam from the aftermath of the embassy shooting right through to the Arab Spring and the fall of Qaddafi, to which the three friends respond in different ways.

This is such a moving novel, full of powerful and eloquent reflections about what it means to live in exile for so long, and the impossibility of ever returning. Although Khaled's friendships are at the heart of this novel, it is perhaps his relationship with his family back in Libya that will stay with me for longest: the way that he cannot even tell them what has happened to him because he fears their lines of communication are monitored, and does not know whether they know the truth; and, later, the way that he cannot bear to return to them even when it is safe to do so.

This is a major novel which fully deserves its longlisting for the 2024 Booker Prize. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

This is a really moving and thought provoking novel. I loved it!! A life affirming tale of friendship, so well written, everything I hoped it would be!

Absolutely wonderful book, I loved every moment spent in the world of the characters. Dilemmas and joys all expertly crafted thank you!

My only regret is that I didn't pick this book up earlier. I'm delighted to have discovered Hisham Matar and look forward to reading his other works. I enjoyed his imagination, the style of his prose, the depth of human study that were shared by his characters words, expressions and interactions. Absolutely superb.
The historical setting of the Libyan Embassy shootings is now 40 years ago. I have friends who remember this incident only too well and are still saddened by it. Matar's characters and the friendship theme is a strong one. I enjoyed how it explores cultural and landscape belonging. As well as family ties, hopes, fear and a life span. There's a strange peace and acceptance that shines through, despite the fear, insecurity and courage combined with a lack of courage. Brilliant stuff.

Libyans Khaled and Mustafa are studying in Edinburgh when they decide to take part in a demonstration in London in front of the Libyan Embassy. The fall-out from that demonstration shapes the rest of their lives, and with their writer friend Hosam they have to decide whether or not to return to their homeland when the Libyan Revolution breaks out there. Many readers will remember the Libyan Embassy siege, which resulted in the tragic killing of PC Yvonne Fletcher, and the book captures the events of that day very well. It’s an insightful and perceptive exploration of exile and patriotism, the bonds of family and friendship, and the courage and commitment that exiles are sometimes required to demonstrate, but somehow the book just didn’t resonate with me. One problem for me was Khaled himself, who is very much a blank slate, always more acted upon than acting and seemingly incapable off commitment and decisiveness. The pace is slow, which contributes to a lack of urgency and jeopardy, and in fact very little actually happens, although events in Libya itself are of course tumultuous, and the return of two of the friends and what happens to them does add some action to the novel. However, overall the novel, in spite of its relevant themes, just didn’t pack enough of a punch to really engage me, and although it’s well-written and well-crafted, it’s too long, which again detracts from the sense of jeopardy. I enjoyed the insight into Libyan history and politics, but remained at a distance from the characters and their plight.

This is a moving novel following Khaled and Mustafa who meet at University in Edinburgh. After attending a protest in London and being wounded things will never be the same for them. This book is emotional and really focuses on human connection. It is amazingly written and will definitely be one of my top reads this year.

Thought provoking, emotionally challenged, well written. The author is a master storyteller and I loved this story that made me meet people living a moment when you have to choose and you don't know what to do.
The author is a master storyteller and I read this novel turning pages as fast as I could.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed the insularity of this - that the novel spans years and continents but is really about two friends who have seen each other through everything. It reminded me of Khaled Hosseini in the best ways.

Reading the book I constantly was feeling like it is like an autobiography. The events of life were enriched with the opinion of main character but not very deep emotional charge.

I read literary fiction predominantly to learn about periods of history and/or cultures that I really don’t know very much about. I know very little about Libya or its history, so I was really looking forward to seeing what I could learn from this story.

During his childhood, Khaled hears a strange short story on the radio. Powered by the resonance of those words, he finds himself on his way to university in Edinburgh. The UK brings Khaled a new life of political activism against the Qaddafi regime, exile from his home country and fear of telling his parents the truth about his situation. Then he meets Hosam Zowa, the author of the story he heard all those years ago, and so begins a special friendship that opens Khaled’s mind to who he really is and what’s important.

In short, this book is mostly about Khaled and his friends, hence the simple yet apt title. It’s about how his friendships have shaped who he is and the course of his life. It’s also about how those friendships evolve and change over time.

Khaled clearly admires his father and I could see his influence in the man that Khaled wanted to become. Khaled’s father looks at the dictatorship through an academic lens and I think that definitely colours his son’s views. It is a really sensible way to think about politics, so it was easy to be on Khaled’s side as such.

One thing that Matar did really well was describe the tension, the emotion and the uniqueness of being right in the midst of a public political protest. It’s the turning point in Khaled’s life and this scene was so vivid. It was also horrific and frightening to read but it felt so real.

As I said before, I knew very little about Libyan history and although I knew that the capital of Libya is Tripoli, which looks and sounds like a very Italian word, I never knew about Italian Fascism in Libya. This is definitely an area of political history I’d be interested in finding out more about.

I’ve never considered the presence of many books in a house to be a sign of permanence and stability but I guess it is. Moving stacks of books around regularly is extremely tiring and time-consuming, so it makes perfect sense that you’d only accumulate books once you’re settled somewhere. This is why despite being a writer, Hosam has so few of them.

Naturally, the book speaks to migrants and those displaced by war and politics. Khaled’s friend Rana was one of my favourite characters and I was really invested in her story. She’s wise, kind and quiet and I’d have loved to have spent more time with her.

My Friends is an interesting, sprawling read about how vital friendships are to one’s coming of age. However, there were times where I lost track of what was going on and who was who. So perhaps the characters could have had more distinct voices and the plot could have had more going on because it’s definitely a character-driven novel. I have a feeling that this is going to be a big book this year though, so I’m interested to see the reception it gets.

Hisham Matar is a very great writer. He is worth reading for the quality of writing alone. His stories are compelling and feel very true. This one is no exception. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story well told. It has everything a good novel needs. It is a story of friendship, growing up and life. It is elegant and masterful. I loved it.

My Friends is a poignant portrayal of friendship, politics, and exile. Following the lives of three Libyan men who become linked across continents and decades.
These friends navigate the complexities of foreign land and their pasts. Especially when a tragic protest in London highlights their lives through the uncertainty of exile and the cost of revolution.

The prose is lyrical and captivating. Matar creates lifelike characters with perfect depth - flaws and contradiction on full display. There are struggles with identity, discontentment with life and self, and artistic insecurity. Matar writes with humanity and honesty.
While it is very politics heavy, it also focuses greatly on human connection, as well as the support and conflicts of long-term friendships. The bonds between the men are stretched and strained through differences in views, life and politics, and the novels end in a way that feels incredible real and human and the resonance of it lingers for sure.

It's a lovely piece of storytelling, it personally took me a little while to get into but is well worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the ARC

Hisham Matar's "My Friends" is a poignant tapestry woven from threads of friendship, political turmoil, and the bittersweet ache of exile. It transports us into the lives of three Libyan men – Khaled, Mustafa, and Hosam – whose destinies become entwined across continents and decades.

The narrative begins with Khaled, a young man escaping the stifling confines of Benghazi to pursue literary dreams in Edinburgh. A chance encounter with Hosam, the enigmatic author who shaped Khaled's childhood imagination, sparks a profound kinship. They are joined by Mustafa, a fellow Libyan exile whose playful irreverence masks a deep-seated yearning for home.

These friends become each other's anchors, navigating the complexities of a foreign land and grappling with the shadows of their past. A pivotal protest in London, tinged with tragedy, casts a long shadow over their lives, highlighting the precariousness of exile and the allure of revolution.

Matar's prose is as captivating as it is lyrical. He imbues characters with lifelike depth, their flaws and contradictions rendered with unflinching honesty. We witness Khaled's struggles with identity, Mustafa's simmering discontent, and Hosam's artistic torment - each resonating with a profound sense of humanity.

The book transcends personal narratives, painting a vivid picture of Libya's tumultuous political landscape. The echoes of Gaddafi's regime and the Arab Spring reverberate through the characters' choices, forcing them to confront the cost of revolution and the weight of loyalty.

However, "My Friends" is not merely a political treatise. It delves into the heart of human connection, exploring the unwavering support and the inevitable friction that defines long-term friendships. Witnessing the bonds of these men shift and strain under the pressure of distance, conflicting aspirations, and political upheaval, becomes a deeply relatable and moving experience.

Matar concludes his masterful narrative with a bittersweet acceptance of life's uncertainties. The friends remain connected, forever marked by their shared past, yet ultimately left to navigate their own paths. This melancholic resonance lingers long after the final page is turned, leaving the reader with a powerful sense of reflection and empathy.

"My Friends" is a triumph of storytelling, a beautifully crafted exploration of friendship, exile, and the enduring human spirit. It is a must-read for anyone seeking a profound and deeply impactful literary experience.

My Friends intertwines a story of friendship with large-scale political events and trauma. Its narrator is Khaled, a Libyan exile who has lived all his adult life in London. Khaled is seeing his close friend, Hosam off at the station after a visit. Hosam is heading towards a new life in the United States. The visit has stirred up strong emotions and as Khaled walks back home through London, he detours to several key locations in his story, and recalls the key events of his past.

Khaled grows up the son of a respected headmaster in Benghazi, who skirts the narrow line between thinking critically and never publicly criticising the regime. He instils in Khaled a love of literature and ideas. In 1983 Khaled gets a scholarship to study literature at the University of Edinburgh.

Even here, he knows he will be under surveillance from his fellow Libyan students but quickly forms a friendship with one of them, Mustafa. They decide to travel to London to a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy. For them, it is an adventure. They sleep in a hostel and plan to visit a Chinese restaurant – a new experience for both of them – after the demonstration.

At the demonstration, Khaled and his friend are among several people shot from inside the embassy and injured. Later, he sees the photos in the papers of Yvonne Fletcher, the police officer killed in the attack, and recalls seeing her in the crowd.

While they are in hospital, under armed guard and given pseudonyms for their own protection, Khaled realises that his life as he knows it is over. He cannot return to Edinburgh or to his family in Libya. So begins his life in London. Over the years, he builds a life for himself, but somehow it always feels provisional, as if he is waiting for the life he had before he was shot to begin.

Khaled’s friendship with Mustafa continues and deepens. Mustafa is quite different from Khaled, more gregarious, restless, attracted by wealth and status, but their shared experience outweighs their differences.

Hosam’s is a name Khaled knew only as a Libyan writer of stories which provide solace while he is in the hospital. Later Khaled and Hosam meet and their experience of exile and shared love of literature leads to a different kind of friendship.

At first Khaled keeps the two friends, like the two sides of his character, separate. Later they come together, but there is tension in the triangle. Mustafa becomes possessive of Khaled, as if he wants the friendship to be monogamous. As the Qaddafi regime becomes increasingly unstable in the years after the Arab Spring, and they weigh up whether to return and fight, it is Khaled who comes to feel excluded.

Khaled’s reminiscences don’t follow a strict geographical or chronological order. His mind roves around the central narrative, back to his childhood in Benghazi, forward to the present. This frame is interesting because the mature Khaled can look back and offer insights, make connections. But it also means we can’t be sure what he remembers is what actually happened. Small details of the hours before the demonstration are freighted with significance. He has a sense of foreboding. Was that really how he felt or are these impressions coloured by hindsight?

At times the mature reflection of the narrative voice can be too understated. Perhaps it was my inattention but I had forgotten that Khaled only 18 at the time of the shooting, until it’s mentioned in passing. While the trauma of the shooting, and the profound dislocation of having to leave his life behind, in a city and country he doesn’t know, are powerfully rendered, his youth and inexperience add an extra layer to the cruelty.

However the disparate memories and observations weave together into a compelling and moving account of how a cruel regime exacts power beyond pure physical violence. It infects all close relationships. Khaled is constantly withholding himself from those he loves. It isn’t only about trust, it is also about protecting them.

On one occasion, as he is on a call to his parents, he hears a cough on the line from a listener. He is sure this isn’t an accident. They want him to know they are listening, to ensure that he is constantly surveilling himself. He is doing their work for them.

There are many other wonderful elements to this book. Khaled’s thoughts on his reading (I kept pausing to look up the books and authors he mentions), the delicate portrayal of his family, whose lives are also on hold, waiting for him to come home, not understanding why he won’t. It is also notable how smoothly and quickly he receives his refugee status compared with asylum seekers today (although there are suggestions that Thatcher’s guilt at allowing the shooters to leave the UK under cover of diplomatic immunity may have been a factor).

My Friends contains so many layers. It is a political novel, a coming-of-age story, and a beautiful study of friendship. Khaled and his friends share a trust and intimacy which even their romantic partners and family cannot. Their experience of exile both unites and fractures them.
*
I received a copy of My Friends from the publisher via NetGalley.

Published this week, My Friends by Hisham Matar, an acclaimed, prize-winning British-Libyan author, is an engrossing and moving tale of friendship between three Libyan men, bound together by shared trauma, political exile and their love of literature.

Set in the present day with reflections on the past, Khaled is a Libyan man who moved to Edinburgh as a teenager, having obtained a scholarship to study English literature.

With Qaddafi’s eyes and ears everywhere, Khaled befriends fellow countryman and student Mustafa, and in a fit of courage, both boys set off to London to take part in a demonstration at the Libyan embassy on 17 April 1984, a decision with lifelong ramifications for both and for another man (Hosam) who they subsequently befriend. (Interestingly the scene at the Libyan embassy is based on a real life event that involved the death of PC Yvonne Fletcher).

Out of the wreckage of that fateful day, Khaled builds a life for himself in London, a city he grows to love and know intimately over the course of many years. When the Arab Spring takes place in 2011, life changes for Khaled and his friends, as they contemplate whether to return to Libya to fight for the opposition or stay in exile in London.

This isn’t a fast-paced read - it very much mirrors the pace of Khaled’s leisurely walk across London as he meditates on the course his life has taken. It is slow and meandering at times but always interesting.

The book does a wonderful joy of portraying the life of an exile - never quite belonging in either their home country or their adopted home and always with a sense of melancholy and longing for what has been left behind.

It shines a light on what it was like to live under a dictatorial regime (Qaddafi ruled for 27 years), where one’s every word comes under scrutiny. Libya has been plagued with civil wars, conflict and instability since Qaddafi was overthrown.

An excellent read for anyone with an interest in literary fiction, friendship and politics. A sure thing for prize lists in 2024. 4/5⭐️

.*Many thanks to the author, publisher and @netgalley for the arc. My Friends will be published on 11 January 2023. As always, this is an honest review.

Narrator Khaled’s close friend and writer Hosam is leaving for the USA. On his slow walk from Kings Cross station to his home in London, he reflects on his past with his two closest friends and the instances that have left him unable to return to his home country of Libya.

While at university in Edinburgh, Khaled and his friend Mohammed attended the 1985 protest outside of the Libyan embassy - and were shot as a result. Years later, Khaled finds now friend Hosam was also at the protest, though he was uninjured. A decades-long friendship between the three men ensues as their lives take very different routes.

Khaled recounts these years of friendship, and of his life exiled from Libya and his family. Much is made in the novel of translation and displacement. Khaled is influenced by an academic (and later friend) who argues a translated text can never be as powerful as the original. Later Khaled discusses words that cannot be properly translated into English, losing their nuance along the way.

It’s this idea of a loss of depth or texture that follows Khaled through his life in the UK. Reluctant to return home when finally able, Khaled spends his time in London at arms length from life. He stays in the same small flat, he never really engages in relationships, even his family in Libya is kept in the dark (sometimes necessarily so) about key elements of his life. The greatest colour in Khaled’s narrative is when his family visits, when engaging in his friendships, when he talks of his home country.

This is an affecting and wonderfully executed novel about a life exiled, about found family, about the meaning of home.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley and Penguin.

This felt like quite a deep book to start 2024 with and I was worried I'd find it too "intellectual", but it is written on a way that is generally easy to follow. Although I wasn't born in 1984, I have watched various documentaries and read articles on the events at the Libyan embassy and WPC Yvonne Fletcher so that felt familiar to me.

Told mainly in the past but with some sections in the present, Khaled takes us through his childhood and how his life changes forever after he attends the protest outside the embassy. I have grown up always thinking of Libya as a no-go country due to Qaddafi (how it is spelt in the book) much like Iraq, Afghanistan etc, but of course life does go on for people who live in those countries.

This was a really thought provoking read and I'm glad I read it.

There are many beautiful sentences in this novel and it took quite some time for my to choose.

My favourite quote:
"When we are old and everything is down we ought to speak only about ideas, food and dreams."