Hisham Matar

 The presentation that was most interesting for me was Ta'Niya's presentation on Hisham Matar because the plot of the book caught my attention. The interplay between innocence and corruption is interesting because like the presentation mentions,  children are often unaware of the problems that occur in life but the 9 years old boy in this book had to be exposed to the ugliness of the world early.
  There are also quite a lot of political and historical elements mentioned in the book such as exile and oppression, however; we can look at it different perspectives and viewpoints, and I think that kind of flexibility is intriguing. As mentioned, the book goes into themes such as adolescence, betrayal, family, and loyalty. The character seems to experience many hardships and hurdles throughout his life. Looking at Hisham's background, it can be seen that he shares some similarities with the character in his book. His father was kidnapped and sent to a facility where torture and poor treatment is prominent, and incorporating his life experiences in his book sets a realistic factor. This book explores various relationships, between friends, neighbors, and mostly, parent to children, and how each relationship can have an impact on an individual.
   Suleiman, who is the protagonist, catches my attention because he is a young boy who is trying to make sense of the world around him, and what it means to be in the adult world. In a way, it also reflects into my own childhood of trying to understand the world at such a young age, being exposed to hardships. His mother, when drunk, often reveals to him things that she would never mention if she was sober, like getting married at 14 and losing her childhood. Suleiman's mother also experiences the struggle with losing her innocence and being thrown into the adult world at an early age, trying to make sense of being a wife. This part was interesting to me because of the realization that there are people who do get married at a young age, and that it is a reality that they live, not just a story from a book.
  This book also interests me the most because there are a lot of discussion topics that could be drawn.  For example, one could discuss the idea of freedom and punishment, and the affect that exile and imprisonment can have by observing the characters. Suleiman grew up lacking a mother or father figure, and there could be various discussions on how this impacts his life. Gender and identity issues are also mentioned, and how fear due to political issues shapes the character into who they are.
  Although it is fictional, you can tie real-life accounts of many of the issues that are mentioned in the book. Hisham's father was exiled, and it is also one of the themes in the book, and it leads to further thinking of real-life accounts of exile.