The Return

Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

De: Hisham Matar

Narrado por: Hisham Matar

Pulitzer Prize, Biography/Autobiography, 2017

From the author of In the Country of Men, a Man Booker Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, comes a beautifully written, uplifting memoir of his journey home to his native Libya in search of the truth behind his father's disappearance.

When Hisham Matar was a 19-year-old university student in England, his father was kidnapped. One of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents in exile, he was held in a secret prison in Libya. Hisham would never see him again. But he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. "Hope," as he writes, "is cunning and persistent." Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Qaddafi, the prison cells were empty, and there was no sign of Jaballa Matar. Hisham returned with his mother and wife to the homeland he never thought he'd go back to again.

The Return is the story of what he found there. It is at once an exquisite meditation on history, politics, and art; a brilliant portrait of a nation and a people on the cusp of change; and a disquieting depiction of the brutal legacy of absolute power. Above all, it is a universal tale of loss and love and of one family's life. Hisham Matar asks the harrowing question: How does one go on living in the face of a loved one's uncertain fate?

©2016 Hisham Matar (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

• Pulitzer Prize, Biography, 2017

“ The Return is a riveting book about love and hope, but it is also a moving meditation on grief and loss. It draws a memorable portrait of a family in exile and manages also to explore the politics of Libya with subtlety and steely intelligence. It is a quest for the truth in a dark time, constructed with a novelist's skill, written in tones that are both precise and passionate. It is likely to become a classic.” (Colm Tóibín)

“A triumph of art over tyranny, structurally thrilling, intensely moving, The Return is a treasure for the ages.” (Peter Carey)

“What a brilliant book. Hisham Matar has the quality all historians - of the world and the self - most need: He knows how to stand back and let the past speak. In chronicling his quest for his father, his manner is fastidious, even detached, but his anger is raw and unreconciled; through his narrative art he bodies out the shape of loss and gives a universality to his very particular experience of desolation.” (Hilary Mantel)

Touching memoir. Consider hard copy

Sometimes I wondered whether this book would not deserve to be read rather than being listened to. Though the voice of the author carries the story well, its low tone can at first appear monotonous, and later accentuates the story's heaviness to a degree that is hardly bearable at times. I also have the hard copy of the book and turning the pages from times to times felt good; the poetry seemed even more multi-faceted and the depths were easier to deal with. Anyway, whatever format one prefers, I highly recommend it.

slow at the beginning, but so worth it.

Slow at the beginning, but so worth it. No one was better to read it than the writer.

a unique story of a son and his father

the book is a beautiful work of prose that often reads like poetry. I was captivated by the writing.
the plot revolves around the sun's attempts to discover what happened to his father after he was in prison by the Gaddafi regime in Libya. the story did get a little bit monotonous but I persevered and was rewarded by a beautifully written story

Well told story

Heartfelt and heartbreaking tale, the naked truth about an oppressive regime told by a privileged son who ostensibly escaped but in truth was not spared the horror of the Libyan regime of khadafy (sp?).

a beautiful book, and a perfect reading by the aut

Matar is a master storyteller, beautifully and lyrically intertwining social and personal loss. and he narrated the story incredibly well.

Thank you

This is the first book that has really grabbed me on many planes for a very long time. I’m also thinking audiobooks are just better when narrated by the author.

Moving and informative

A little slow at the start, but develops into a beautiful mixture of history, witness, and poetry.

Behind the headlines of Quadafi's dictatorship

A son campaigns most of his adult life to discover the fate of dissapeared father. He presents us with the sadistic machinations of a twisted regiem and the nobility of the survivors who fought for liberation.

Worthy of the Pulitzer and more!

I could not stop listening to the account this sincere and brilliant storyteller put together.
I will buy this book and comment on the margins.
I feel now closer to the experience of political martyrs and those who love them.
Grateful for the experience of reading this book.

A meditation on love and loss

Where does The Return rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very much at the top!

What other book might you compare The Return to and why?

I don't read very many memoirs because I find they hold my attention less so than great fiction. But this one gripped me from the very first page and kept me riveted to the page till the very end.

Have you listened to any of Hisham Matar’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time I have listened to Matar and I found his reading truly remarkable. His distinctive accent, I suppose a mix of English and Arabic, coupled with the slow, measured pace of the delivery made the listening experience a rapturous one. Matar recounts how his father used to recite poetry at social gatherings, and later when he was captive in prison. The author has clearly inherited his father's gift.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were so many. Here is one from the beginning. When Matar went to boarding school in England, he went under a false name and a false background, as a Christian Egyptian. There he befriends a Libyan Muslim: it is only at the end of their schooling that he confesses his true identity to his friend.

Any additional comments?

The language here is so lovely, akin to reading poetry. And Matar gave me insights on how to observe art.