Last month, I read a book in less than a week. This hadn’t happened in, probably, years. The iPad and it’s convenience, the fact that I took a few days off and had to kill a 6-hour trip each way are probably to “blame”… but I have to say, the book itself was a great incentive. Impossible to put down.
We’re not talking about a suspense novel here. Reading the reviews, I was expecting a lot more “action”, readers seem to have concentrated on the hero’s father disappearance; and the title might be a little misleading as well. It’s not. Not in my eyes. I would describe it more as the painful but charming transition from childhood to adulthood, with its share of hopes and questions, and fears and losses. Ok, I’ll give you that, probably more losses than the average Joe. But what if the disappearance referred to in the title was not the father’s but the hero’s childhood.
Hisham Matar, in his very light and catchy prose, caught me and didn’t let me go until I closed the book for the last time. And even after that, some questions remain unanswered and I’m left wanting more. Mr. Matar, what are you doing with us?
[...] I read two in the last quarter. I even found the time to write something up about that second one, Anatomy of a disappearance. The fact is: I love words. After reading those last two books and starting a third one, I think I [...]