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" I hope and pray that I'll be one of those fortunate people who have many, many books to write. I don't begrudge writing. I love the whole thing! "
Hisham Matar
Hope
Books
Love
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" Audacity, hope, courage - the Libyans have these in abundance. But all those boring little things - like organization, building a committee - is hard; making decisions and moving ahead is hard. "
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" I've very aware of my rootlessness. "
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" When I'm writing, my mood is very good - and I love life. "
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" My best hope is that Libya turns into a peaceful, sensible country that has all the things my father and lots of others have been calling for: independence of the courts and press, a protected and democratic constitution, with different parties involved in a healthy and open debate. "
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" The space where writing happens is a unique space that's hard to define, and when you're kicked out of it because you're travelling or distracted, it seems so elusive and hard to defend because you yourself doubt whether it existed. "
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" The Arab Spring is a powerful and compelling response not only to an age of tyranny but also to the remnant chains of imperial influence. "
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" Growing up in the Libya of the 1970s, I remember the prevalence of local bands who were as much influenced by Arabic musical traditions as by the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. But the project of 'Arabisation' soon got to them, too, and western musical instruments were declared forbidden as 'instruments of imperialism.' "
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" Switching languages is a form of conversion. And like all conversions, whether it's judged a failure or a success, it excites the desire to leave, go elsewhere, adopt a new language and start all over again. It also means that a conscious effort is demanded to remain still. "
Hisham Matar
Effort
Desire
Success
" I used to be a keen rider. Sometimes I could sense what a horse liked or preferred to do. "
Hisham Matar
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Sometimes
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" All great art allows us this: a glimpse across the limits of our self. "
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" Civil war is a national crisis and also a private trauma: We suffer it collectively and in isolation. "
Hisham Matar
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War
Suffer
" We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words. "
Hisham Matar
Never
Thought
Write
" My family settled in Cairo in 1980. I was nine. I missed Libya terribly, but I also took to Cairo. I perfected the accent. People assumed I was Egyptian. "
Hisham Matar
Family
Accent
Missed
" I've never thought of myself in terms of an identity. I'm always baffled when I encounter someone who gives the impression about being confident about a particular defined identity. "
Hisham Matar
Confident
Thought
Myself
" My work is my shelter, particularly in these moments when things are happening fast. "
Hisham Matar
Fast
Happening
Work
" From before I was born, we Arabs have been caught between two forces that, seemingly, cannot be defeated: our ruthless dictators, who oppress and humiliate us, and the cynical western powers, who would rather see us ruled by criminals loyal to them than have democratically elected leaders accountable to us. "
Hisham Matar
Loyal
Cynical
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" I've never been particularly interested in genre distinctions. They seem to me more useful to a librarian than to a writer. "
Hisham Matar
Me
Been
Never
" From my family alone, Qaddafi had imprisoned five men. "
Hisham Matar
Qaddafi
Alone
Family
" Nothing makes you feel more stupid than learning a new language. You lose your confidence. You want to disappear. Not be noticed. Say as little as possible. "
Hisham Matar
Language
Stupid
Learning
" Whenever I was encouraged by my elders to pick up a book, I was often told, 'Read so as to know the world.' And it is true; books have invited me into different countries, states of mind, social conditions and historical epochs; they have offered me a place at the most unusual gatherings. "
Hisham Matar
Book
Mind
Me
" When I was 12 years old, living in Cairo, my parents enrolled me in the American school. Most of the Americans there appeared oddly stifled, determined to remain, if not physically then sentimentally, back in the United States. "
Hisham Matar
Me
Living
American
" I am, by instinct, wary of revolutions. The gathering of the masses fills me with trepidation. "
Hisham Matar
Gathering
I Am
Instinct
" My father believed in armed struggle. "
Hisham Matar
Believed
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" Architecture remains a passion and a subject I'm very interested in. I learned a great deal from studying it and working in it. "
Hisham Matar
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" There's always a problem when you write, something you're trying to resolve, and sometimes a view can be inspiring. "
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" Grenfell, the building set on fire with the help of its own face, is a scene of a complex injustice: one that is moral, economic, political, and aesthetic. Not only was the cladding unsafe, it was ugly; not only was it ugly, it was untrue both to the architecture of the building it covered and untrue to its responsibility to human safety. "
Hisham Matar
Architecture
Responsibility
Fire
" The Qaddafis, father and sons, speak the grammar of dictatorship: threats and bribery. "
Hisham Matar
Speak
Father
Dictatorship
" A revolution is not a painless march to the gates of freedom and justice. It is a struggle between rage and hope, between the temptation to destroy and the desire to build. "
Hisham Matar
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Struggle
" The cost of Colonel Gaddafi's rule on Libyan society is incalculable. "
Hisham Matar
Gaddafi
Cost
Colonel
" Language is not just a code; you are writing into its history, into its tides. "
Hisham Matar
Just
History
You