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Mister, Mister
A blazingly propulsive novel from the prize-winning author of In Our Mad and Furious City, following a captured jihadist and poet-preacher as he recounts his path to international notoriety
Who is Yahya Bas? Revolutionary poet, notorious jihadist, misbegotten son, self-styled idiot-boy . When the enigmatic Yahya finds himself languishing in a detention center after fleeing the conflict in Syria, he has many questions to face.
What was he doing in the desert? Why did he betray his home country? What led him to write the incendiary verses that launched him into international infamy? Mister, his interrogator, wants answers. So Yahya resolves to tell his own story, in his own words, and on his own terms.
Mister, Mister is what a coming-of-age story of radical self-invention, a quest for a long-lost father, and a discovery of another way to live in the shadow of war. Brash, biting, yet ultimately tender and bracingly imaginative, Mister, Mister follows a child of the tumultuous 90s and the ravaged aughts as he becomes the unwitting voice of a generation.
Who is Yahya Bas? An anti-hero for our modern era, in which we've just begun to survey the wreckage of the West's forever-wars.
Who is Yahya Bas? Revolutionary poet, notorious jihadist, misbegotten son, self-styled idiot-boy . When the enigmatic Yahya finds himself languishing in a detention center after fleeing the conflict in Syria, he has many questions to face.
What was he doing in the desert? Why did he betray his home country? What led him to write the incendiary verses that launched him into international infamy? Mister, his interrogator, wants answers. So Yahya resolves to tell his own story, in his own words, and on his own terms.
Mister, Mister is what a coming-of-age story of radical self-invention, a quest for a long-lost father, and a discovery of another way to live in the shadow of war. Brash, biting, yet ultimately tender and bracingly imaginative, Mister, Mister follows a child of the tumultuous 90s and the ravaged aughts as he becomes the unwitting voice of a generation.
Who is Yahya Bas? An anti-hero for our modern era, in which we've just begun to survey the wreckage of the West's forever-wars.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published October 3, 2023
24 people are currently reading
3510 people want to read
About the author
Guy Gunaratne
4 books124 followersGuy Gunaratne's first novel IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY won the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Jhalak Prize and the Authors Club Award. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and longlisted for the Booker Prize, as well as the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.
Their second novel MISTER, MISTER is out now.
Guy was Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge 2019 - 2022. They have also served on literary prize judging panels including the Goldsmiths Prize (2019) and the Rathbones Folio Prize (2023).
Their second novel MISTER, MISTER is out now.
Guy was Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge 2019 - 2022. They have also served on literary prize judging panels including the Goldsmiths Prize (2019) and the Rathbones Folio Prize (2023).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 25, 2023
Set in and around Forty Road, East ham, Mister Mister is, at the outset, a streets telling of life in less fashionable London. Like its predecessor, Gunaratne’s debut novel In Our Mad and Furious City , it concentrates on both belonging within the local community, and also the drive to escape the intensity and struggles of London living. I found this an insightful book, though I’m conscious that the formative influences- 9/11; London 7/7, Shamima Begum, and Jack Letts reflect only a small snapshot of a highly complicated patchwork of influences on jihadi motivations.
A number of the key people who surround narrator, and central figure, Yahya Bas, are London born anglo-saxons, having no immediate family ties to Syria, Pakistan, or Iraq. I thought Gunaratne missed a chance to bring them to life via a deeper character development. His mother, Estella Stevens, and his de facto publicity organiser, (assumed name) Zenab; John Muhammad, husband of one of the ‘mothers’, Miriam.
Despite what is very clearly a book that shines light on long standing, and worldwide problems, I ultimately came away with more positivity than I had expected. The one hundred page section “Zeinab” takes place as the narrator, in search of his father, makes his way to Ayn Issa in Syria. Faced with huge challenges (he thinks he is in the twilight zone between life and death: ‘barzakh), he arrives at The Free City. This is a place that looks to the future and not the past. It is a place where refugees from all parts of the world come together to recharge, regenerate and rebuild. It’s a snapshot (fleetingly before its take-down) where boundaries are blurred. Its acceptable for men to wear girls clothes, and communal life flourishes.
This is a good example of a book to admire rather than to love. The subject matter determines this. Gunaratne has written a story with no simple solutions, no ready made answers, and one that asks the reader to contemplate again the cause and effect of the world’s troubles that surround us.
I heard Guy Gunaratne in conversation with Steven Bueno moderated by poet Dalit Nagra at Southbank, London 20.09.2023
• Story around identity and national myth, especially after Brexit.
• Yahya is a picaresque character. The author found that he was tugged along by his character who slipped any container.
• Embrace the multiplicity. I’ve told my tale but you have no idea who I am.
• Research into ISIS literature. They used poems as part of their recruitment and posted to social media using this form.
• Mothers. The ayahs never talk about their problems. GG wanted a matriarchal feel: influenced by reading American Jewish literature and by his own upbringing.
• Families and queer families borrowed from Dickens (Great Expectations )
• Has recently been writing in longhand (after an IT glitch). Liberating; first time in a while he has escaped an obsession with word count, also the act of crafting a whole sentence before writing it has opened up different creativity
• Free City. Roughly based on Fasili (?); in Spanish Civil War there was a precedent as a war free zone self created.. Also wanted some optimism and didn’t know this was going to emerge.
A number of the key people who surround narrator, and central figure, Yahya Bas, are London born anglo-saxons, having no immediate family ties to Syria, Pakistan, or Iraq. I thought Gunaratne missed a chance to bring them to life via a deeper character development. His mother, Estella Stevens, and his de facto publicity organiser, (assumed name) Zenab; John Muhammad, husband of one of the ‘mothers’, Miriam.
Despite what is very clearly a book that shines light on long standing, and worldwide problems, I ultimately came away with more positivity than I had expected. The one hundred page section “Zeinab” takes place as the narrator, in search of his father, makes his way to Ayn Issa in Syria. Faced with huge challenges (he thinks he is in the twilight zone between life and death: ‘barzakh), he arrives at The Free City. This is a place that looks to the future and not the past. It is a place where refugees from all parts of the world come together to recharge, regenerate and rebuild. It’s a snapshot (fleetingly before its take-down) where boundaries are blurred. Its acceptable for men to wear girls clothes, and communal life flourishes.
This is a good example of a book to admire rather than to love. The subject matter determines this. Gunaratne has written a story with no simple solutions, no ready made answers, and one that asks the reader to contemplate again the cause and effect of the world’s troubles that surround us.
I heard Guy Gunaratne in conversation with Steven Bueno moderated by poet Dalit Nagra at Southbank, London 20.09.2023
• Story around identity and national myth, especially after Brexit.
• Yahya is a picaresque character. The author found that he was tugged along by his character who slipped any container.
• Embrace the multiplicity. I’ve told my tale but you have no idea who I am.
• Research into ISIS literature. They used poems as part of their recruitment and posted to social media using this form.
• Mothers. The ayahs never talk about their problems. GG wanted a matriarchal feel: influenced by reading American Jewish literature and by his own upbringing.
• Families and queer families borrowed from Dickens (Great Expectations )
• Has recently been writing in longhand (after an IT glitch). Liberating; first time in a while he has escaped an obsession with word count, also the act of crafting a whole sentence before writing it has opened up different creativity
• Free City. Roughly based on Fasili (?); in Spanish Civil War there was a precedent as a war free zone self created.. Also wanted some optimism and didn’t know this was going to emerge.
October 7, 2023
You know that them same black and brown bodies who went to the same schools as you, played in the same parks, and even share some of the same memories, Mister, might not stand with you now, or protect you any longer. And you understand why, of course, because in your heart you wouldn't blame them. I'm in awe of what Gunaratne accomplished with this novel. I sort of expected a standard jihadist narrative to develop with a bit of a search for a missing father as a metaphor for becoming a grown up, and everything was sort of pointing to that direction, but when Yahya finally reached the desert all pretenses of familiar narrative arc fell apart and what was left was... well, something altogether different. It left me on very unstable ground, flailing into all directions, grabbing at whatever pieces of theoretical and literary discourses to begin to comprehend what was going on. And I'm still there out in the open, trying to figure out what happened and why.
November 25, 2023
POR FIN! Se acabaron las novelas de la asignatura de ficción contemporánea!! El libro la verdad es que está muy bien escrito pero ya hacía el final se me hace largo porque cuenta mucha historia, que es el point del libro pero bueno. También es por la edición, que tiene páginas gigantes y se hace más largo por eso. Me parece súper difícil opinar sobre la historia del protagonista tbh pero creo que ese es también el point del libro.
March 27, 2025
أستطيع، بكامل يقيني، أن أتوّج هذه الرواية كأجمل ما قرأته حتى الآن منذ بداية عام ٢٠٢٥. إنها ليست مجرّد نص، بل رحلة شعورية متكاملة، مزيج بين المتعة الذهنية والانبهار الوجداني. رحلة خلّابة، شيّقة، قاطعة للأنفاس، سارقة للفكر، كأنها لا تُقرأ بل تُعاش، صفحةً بعد صفحة، بعينين متّسعتين وذهنٍ مأخوذ.
الرواية من العيار الثقيل بحق، من تلك الكتب النادرة التي تشعر معها أن الكاتب لا يكتب فقط، بل ينحت المعنى نحتًا، ويصبّ وعيه وتاريخه وشغفه بين السطور. يكتب عن الثقافة العربية والإسلامية بكل ما في الكلمة من تعصب شغوف، واطلاع ناضج، وذكاءٍ أدبي يثير الدهشة.
ما يضاعف من شعوري الان أنني صادفت هذه الرواية لأول مرة لا كقارئة، بل كبائعة كتب في ركن دار تشكيل أثناء مشاركتي الأولى في معرض الرياض الدولي للكتاب ٢٠٢٤. لم أكن قد قرأتها بعد، ومع ذلك وجدتني أراهن عليها أمام الزوّار، بكلمات واثقة ونبرة حماس، وكأن شيئًا في داخلي كان يعرف ما تخبئه هذه الصفحات من كنز. كانت من أكثر الكتب التي وُفّقت في بيعها آنذاك، لا لشيء سوى أنها، ببساطة، تستحق أن تُكتشف. واليوم، بعد أن قرأتها، أستطيع القول بثقة: لقد ربحت الرهان، بل وكسبت كتابًا سيبقى في ذاكرتي طويلًا.
الرواية من العيار الثقيل بحق، من تلك الكتب النادرة التي تشعر معها أن الكاتب لا يكتب فقط، بل ينحت المعنى نحتًا، ويصبّ وعيه وتاريخه وشغفه بين السطور. يكتب عن الثقافة العربية والإسلامية بكل ما في الكلمة من تعصب شغوف، واطلاع ناضج، وذكاءٍ أدبي يثير الدهشة.
ما يضاعف من شعوري الان أنني صادفت هذه الرواية لأول مرة لا كقارئة، بل كبائعة كتب في ركن دار تشكيل أثناء مشاركتي الأولى في معرض الرياض الدولي للكتاب ٢٠٢٤. لم أكن قد قرأتها بعد، ومع ذلك وجدتني أراهن عليها أمام الزوّار، بكلمات واثقة ونبرة حماس، وكأن شيئًا في داخلي كان يعرف ما تخبئه هذه الصفحات من كنز. كانت من أكثر الكتب التي وُفّقت في بيعها آنذاك، لا لشيء سوى أنها، ببساطة، تستحق أن تُكتشف. واليوم، بعد أن قرأتها، أستطيع القول بثقة: لقد ربحت الرهان، بل وكسبت كتابًا سيبقى في ذاكرتي طويلًا.
July 20, 2023
A super climax ,when we find out who the ‘Mister, Mister’ of the title is referring to and therefore why the book was written. Fascinating and shocking and unfortunately an all too common story of how civilised societies are not so civilised after all.
October 8, 2023
Thank you to Pantheon books for the gifted ARC
Yahya Bas is many things. He is a poet, a notorious jihadist, a half-white, half-Iraqi Londoner searching for his dad. After fleeing the conflict in Syria and ending up in a detention center, Yahya faces many questions from his interrogator, Mister. So Yahya resolves to tell his own story on his own terms.
MISTER is a riveting exploration that not only gives me echoes of THE SYMPATHIZER (Viet Thanh Nguyen) but also delves into a narrative that challenges immigration, colonialism, radicalization, and self-invention.
The novel unfolds through a confession-style narrative that takes a while to get used to. It poses difficult questions, pushing me to reevaluate my preconceived notions. What does it mean to be an "ungrateful" immigrant? Should we empathize with those whose discontent turns into hostility? What if radicalization takes root, or worse, they encourage violence in the very promised land they sought refuge in? How much of these are the doings of the constant "othering" experienced by POC? Gunaratne masterfully prompts readers to confront the implications, forcing us to ponder the state of the West and its promises.
Inspired by the surge in hate post-Brexit, the Syrian civil war, and the rise of Islamophobia & anti-Semitism, MISTER offers a timely reflection on the socio-political landscape. It seamlessly weaves in a coming-of-age story, transitioning from a somewhat slower-paced first half with a touch of YA to a superbly crafted second half that captivates with its depth and intensity.
Surprisingly, this book hasn't garnered more attention, given its Booker-esque qualities—the absence of quotation marks, drawing inspiration from Syria from a non-Syrian writer (iykyk lol), and the ultimate unreliable narrator. MISTER is a thought-provoking gem that demands attention for its bold exploration of societal nuances and the human condition.
Please note that Gunaratne is Sri Lankan British, whereas the MC is half-Iraqi. Parts of MISTER depict refugees likely informed/inspired by their career documenting post-conflict areas around the globe.
I also want to highlight this poignant quote from Gunaratne in an interview with Southbank Centre to give more context on MISTER & their thoughts on writing those outside his community. You can find the whole discussion by googling "Guy Gunaratne on Mister, Mister, slow art, and room to write." The entire interview is brilliant, and I encourage you to read it even if you're not planning to pick this book up!
When asked about whether their writing of individuals often "othered" in the modern news cycle is meant as a platform for the "voiceless," they answered, "It feels very strange to think of novels as platforms in that way. I don't approach writing on those terms. My subject matter might tackle something in the current public discourse, but I struggle, really, to see how novels, and novel writing, when within the kinds of systems we require to make and distribute books, could be used to foster significant shifts in political discourse, especially in a way that requires the immediacy of our current problems. Novels are a slow art. They seem to work on the conscience in a similar way. That's part of the beauty of them, it seems to me. Anyway, when it comes to the kind of thing I'm eager to influence politically, I use other methods – like my body, which means my showing up, away from the desk, among other people."
Yahya Bas is many things. He is a poet, a notorious jihadist, a half-white, half-Iraqi Londoner searching for his dad. After fleeing the conflict in Syria and ending up in a detention center, Yahya faces many questions from his interrogator, Mister. So Yahya resolves to tell his own story on his own terms.
MISTER is a riveting exploration that not only gives me echoes of THE SYMPATHIZER (Viet Thanh Nguyen) but also delves into a narrative that challenges immigration, colonialism, radicalization, and self-invention.
The novel unfolds through a confession-style narrative that takes a while to get used to. It poses difficult questions, pushing me to reevaluate my preconceived notions. What does it mean to be an "ungrateful" immigrant? Should we empathize with those whose discontent turns into hostility? What if radicalization takes root, or worse, they encourage violence in the very promised land they sought refuge in? How much of these are the doings of the constant "othering" experienced by POC? Gunaratne masterfully prompts readers to confront the implications, forcing us to ponder the state of the West and its promises.
Inspired by the surge in hate post-Brexit, the Syrian civil war, and the rise of Islamophobia & anti-Semitism, MISTER offers a timely reflection on the socio-political landscape. It seamlessly weaves in a coming-of-age story, transitioning from a somewhat slower-paced first half with a touch of YA to a superbly crafted second half that captivates with its depth and intensity.
Surprisingly, this book hasn't garnered more attention, given its Booker-esque qualities—the absence of quotation marks, drawing inspiration from Syria from a non-Syrian writer (iykyk lol), and the ultimate unreliable narrator. MISTER is a thought-provoking gem that demands attention for its bold exploration of societal nuances and the human condition.
Please note that Gunaratne is Sri Lankan British, whereas the MC is half-Iraqi. Parts of MISTER depict refugees likely informed/inspired by their career documenting post-conflict areas around the globe.
I also want to highlight this poignant quote from Gunaratne in an interview with Southbank Centre to give more context on MISTER & their thoughts on writing those outside his community. You can find the whole discussion by googling "Guy Gunaratne on Mister, Mister, slow art, and room to write." The entire interview is brilliant, and I encourage you to read it even if you're not planning to pick this book up!
When asked about whether their writing of individuals often "othered" in the modern news cycle is meant as a platform for the "voiceless," they answered, "It feels very strange to think of novels as platforms in that way. I don't approach writing on those terms. My subject matter might tackle something in the current public discourse, but I struggle, really, to see how novels, and novel writing, when within the kinds of systems we require to make and distribute books, could be used to foster significant shifts in political discourse, especially in a way that requires the immediacy of our current problems. Novels are a slow art. They seem to work on the conscience in a similar way. That's part of the beauty of them, it seems to me. Anyway, when it comes to the kind of thing I'm eager to influence politically, I use other methods – like my body, which means my showing up, away from the desk, among other people."
February 7, 2024
This book is a complete waste of time. I do not know how it got published or why I finished it.
January 19, 2025
4.5 rounded up
July 16, 2024
I’ve read a review that sums up what I felt at the end of reading this book: this is a book a to admire, not to love. Made me question my own perspective of history.
November 2, 2023
Mister, Mister by Guy Gunaratne
This is an unusual book. Presented as a written’confession’ or autobiographical account of a ‘homegrown’ British Muslim ‘terror ist’.
The language is unusual .. almost hostile addressing absent interrogator as Mister Mister, sir (sneer), sir..
Patois language usage. ‘Them’ as demonstrative pronoun….
The concluding chapter explains a great deal and raises the evaluations as i now better understand the author’s intentions…
This Guardian Review is on target!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&r...
According to the author’s thesis ‘words on the page proved the Angel’s presence’
Exposition on converts like Zenab who
volunteered to proselytize and make videos with music of Al-Bayn’s Islamic poetry….parallels the autobiography….
Protagonist: Yahya Bas or Al-Bayn; born breech and
has always had unusual gait. White English mother Estella Stevens. She has unspecified mental illness…
Born 1991,
jaundiced; birth mother on anti psychotic meds
Absent father Marwan Bas, of Erbil, N Iraq
Other ‘mothers’….Sadaf and Miriam… and many more living in the shelter ‘hekdesh’
Uncle Sisi Gamal, also of Erbil, N. Iraq, greatly influenced narrator to be writer proselytizer and more
Marwan went back to Iraq to play oud for fedayeen, 1992-6…. Metaphors
for?
‘Lascar’ was a name given by the Europeans to describe the non-European sailors. It came from the Persian word Lashkar and the Arabic word Al-Askar meaning guard or soldier. They were a multi-racial crew recruited for work aboard British steamships dating back to the 17th century. The majority of these sailors were from East India and were Muslim and many had no choice but to settle in England due to the harsh conditions on board ship. Lascars were probably the largest group of South Asian workers in Victorian Britain.
Narrator lives in a communal London home for women pf few resources (hekdesh’)
Narrator: Idiot boy - Marwan’s son - Estella’s Yahya
British education;
Had the Prophet appeared in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria would he have worn a top hat?
Uncle Sissi Gamal does Daʿwah on the streets of Lindon:
the act of inviting people to Islam.
“Mothers” are leaving the collapsing ayah house in 1999…Motheri Sadaf, Estella (in silence), and Sisi Gamal are left; Miriam has married a convert
Lice treated
Imitates bullies to survive
Finds rotting boxes of father’s English language books Blake’s Albion:
Studies father’s English books in a frenzy
Learning nothing of Boudica…
Is sent to Iman Ghulam’s new Islamic school
Ibn Rabah
The day of Amuriyya: 9/11/01…uncle Sisi cries Allahu Akbar and records
Yahya is still proselytizing, now being heckled; writing poetry
Sensual awareness
First computer
At school Ibrahim a Somali, Hass Pakistani born in Manchester, and Moazzam an Egyptian, a brotherhood three from wealthy families
This event inspires Yahya to post as Al-beyn celebratiry poems….
On July 7th 2005, four suicide bombers detonated improvised high explosive devices in a coordinated attack on underground trains and a double decker bus in Central London. There was a total of 56 fatalities, including the 4 suicide bombers, and 775 people injured, 24 of them critically
.
Part II
By 2010 Ap-Bayn is (mis)perceived as a preacher of hate….because if his on line poems and the publicity they received
The Muʻallaqāt (Arabic: المعلقات, [ʔalmuʕallaqaːt]) is a group of seven long Arabic poems.[1] The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, they were named so because these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca,[2] Some scholars have also suggested that the hanging is figurative, as if the poems "hang" in the reader's mind.[3]
Murāqabah (Arabic: مراقبة, lit. : "to observe") is an Islamic methodology, whose aim is a transcendental union with God.
First Marwan, and 20 years later Zeineb leave England for an Islamic paradise….
Symbolic burning of all possessions on entering Syria….
Why Zeinab needs a new beginning: to go to cold Syrian mountains and desert, under a cloudless sky is not clear to me…..ill thought out convictions
Oudmaker’s hospitality
Sleeping with tongue in the dirt in Syrian forest and abandoned
Falls into barzakh: middle world between life and resurrection
Saved by deaf Ester and Rustum; taken to ‘free’ city between Syria, Iraq, and Turkey convalescing for a few months
A settlement for the left behind
Rustum as mayor
A barter market and close signs of war
Some daeshi deserters
A desecrated church
People reinventing themselves
Journalists searching for sorry stories
A year of recovery and closer and closer with deaf Ester
Woodworking and salvage as cottage industries in this ‘free’ city
Zeinab makes little figures from wood, which he talks to .. and they talk to him…and he has impregnated Ester and is doing his Poetry thing again….
An ecumenical Lenten festival is described in this ‘free’ city
And then.. evacuation and Ester’s stillborn boy buried at sea…
And Zeinab = Yahya Bas declares he is English and wants to go home
Yahya Bas the octopus has a contested return to Great Britain and is brought to Bleeker House Immigration Removal Centre
Asylum Centre as a prison…and eventually released to another cell with a prayer mat .. and the expectation of an interrogator for a months long interrogation
The interrogator already has the details of Yahya’s past….
Can this interrogator ever understand his interogee?
And Yahyais blamed for all kinds of actions of terror while he was gone…
Like a Soviet forced confession… tell us what we want to hear…..
And that is why he cuts out his tongue!!
The figurine Yahya wants back… unclear its meaning….
Meaning of the interrogator’s flinch…
“There are nowhere places all over your Great Britain!”
Shadows on the figurine.. as final metaphor….and the secret compartment allowed for the act of self mutilation!
A hero of his life or the villain of the interrogator!
This is an unusual book. Presented as a written’confession’ or autobiographical account of a ‘homegrown’ British Muslim ‘terror ist’.
The language is unusual .. almost hostile addressing absent interrogator as Mister Mister, sir (sneer), sir..
Patois language usage. ‘Them’ as demonstrative pronoun….
The concluding chapter explains a great deal and raises the evaluations as i now better understand the author’s intentions…
This Guardian Review is on target!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&r...
According to the author’s thesis ‘words on the page proved the Angel’s presence’
Exposition on converts like Zenab who
volunteered to proselytize and make videos with music of Al-Bayn’s Islamic poetry….parallels the autobiography….
Protagonist: Yahya Bas or Al-Bayn; born breech and
has always had unusual gait. White English mother Estella Stevens. She has unspecified mental illness…
Born 1991,
jaundiced; birth mother on anti psychotic meds
Absent father Marwan Bas, of Erbil, N Iraq
Other ‘mothers’….Sadaf and Miriam… and many more living in the shelter ‘hekdesh’
Uncle Sisi Gamal, also of Erbil, N. Iraq, greatly influenced narrator to be writer proselytizer and more
Marwan went back to Iraq to play oud for fedayeen, 1992-6…. Metaphors
for?
‘Lascar’ was a name given by the Europeans to describe the non-European sailors. It came from the Persian word Lashkar and the Arabic word Al-Askar meaning guard or soldier. They were a multi-racial crew recruited for work aboard British steamships dating back to the 17th century. The majority of these sailors were from East India and were Muslim and many had no choice but to settle in England due to the harsh conditions on board ship. Lascars were probably the largest group of South Asian workers in Victorian Britain.
Narrator lives in a communal London home for women pf few resources (hekdesh’)
Narrator: Idiot boy - Marwan’s son - Estella’s Yahya
British education;
Had the Prophet appeared in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria would he have worn a top hat?
Uncle Sissi Gamal does Daʿwah on the streets of Lindon:
the act of inviting people to Islam.
“Mothers” are leaving the collapsing ayah house in 1999…Motheri Sadaf, Estella (in silence), and Sisi Gamal are left; Miriam has married a convert
Lice treated
Imitates bullies to survive
Finds rotting boxes of father’s English language books Blake’s Albion:
Studies father’s English books in a frenzy
Learning nothing of Boudica…
Is sent to Iman Ghulam’s new Islamic school
Ibn Rabah
The day of Amuriyya: 9/11/01…uncle Sisi cries Allahu Akbar and records
Yahya is still proselytizing, now being heckled; writing poetry
Sensual awareness
First computer
At school Ibrahim a Somali, Hass Pakistani born in Manchester, and Moazzam an Egyptian, a brotherhood three from wealthy families
This event inspires Yahya to post as Al-beyn celebratiry poems….
On July 7th 2005, four suicide bombers detonated improvised high explosive devices in a coordinated attack on underground trains and a double decker bus in Central London. There was a total of 56 fatalities, including the 4 suicide bombers, and 775 people injured, 24 of them critically
.
Part II
By 2010 Ap-Bayn is (mis)perceived as a preacher of hate….because if his on line poems and the publicity they received
The Muʻallaqāt (Arabic: المعلقات, [ʔalmuʕallaqaːt]) is a group of seven long Arabic poems.[1] The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, they were named so because these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca,[2] Some scholars have also suggested that the hanging is figurative, as if the poems "hang" in the reader's mind.[3]
Murāqabah (Arabic: مراقبة, lit. : "to observe") is an Islamic methodology, whose aim is a transcendental union with God.
First Marwan, and 20 years later Zeineb leave England for an Islamic paradise….
Symbolic burning of all possessions on entering Syria….
Why Zeinab needs a new beginning: to go to cold Syrian mountains and desert, under a cloudless sky is not clear to me…..ill thought out convictions
Oudmaker’s hospitality
Sleeping with tongue in the dirt in Syrian forest and abandoned
Falls into barzakh: middle world between life and resurrection
Saved by deaf Ester and Rustum; taken to ‘free’ city between Syria, Iraq, and Turkey convalescing for a few months
A settlement for the left behind
Rustum as mayor
A barter market and close signs of war
Some daeshi deserters
A desecrated church
People reinventing themselves
Journalists searching for sorry stories
A year of recovery and closer and closer with deaf Ester
Woodworking and salvage as cottage industries in this ‘free’ city
Zeinab makes little figures from wood, which he talks to .. and they talk to him…and he has impregnated Ester and is doing his Poetry thing again….
An ecumenical Lenten festival is described in this ‘free’ city
And then.. evacuation and Ester’s stillborn boy buried at sea…
And Zeinab = Yahya Bas declares he is English and wants to go home
Yahya Bas the octopus has a contested return to Great Britain and is brought to Bleeker House Immigration Removal Centre
Asylum Centre as a prison…and eventually released to another cell with a prayer mat .. and the expectation of an interrogator for a months long interrogation
The interrogator already has the details of Yahya’s past….
Can this interrogator ever understand his interogee?
And Yahyais blamed for all kinds of actions of terror while he was gone…
Like a Soviet forced confession… tell us what we want to hear…..
And that is why he cuts out his tongue!!
The figurine Yahya wants back… unclear its meaning….
Meaning of the interrogator’s flinch…
“There are nowhere places all over your Great Britain!”
Shadows on the figurine.. as final metaphor….and the secret compartment allowed for the act of self mutilation!
A hero of his life or the villain of the interrogator!
May 25, 2023
The Tin Drum for radicalised British youth
October 18, 2024
Mister, Mister will make you squirm. Relentless in style and purpose, Guy Gunaratne delivers a harsh and enlightening story.
As a reader, you stand accused. Though he’s supposed to be confessing to aiding Islamic terrorists, Yahya Bas shapes the story of his life into an accusatory finger, pointing it directly at his interrogator, and at his readers.
“Because deep down, I think, you understand, Mister, that there have been things done in your name that have been unforgivable.”
English mother and Iraqi father, Yahya Bas was, “Born on a white-tiled floor, in a bathroom stall in our communal home in East London.”
With a silent and emotionally absent single mother who lives in an attic room, her fingers in a constant motion of sewing during her waking hours, Yahya is raised instead by multiple women he calls mother and an unreliable uncle. Uncle Sisi Gamal wanders London with a wheelbarrow full of Islamic books preaching about his “ad hoc Allah.”
Yahya insists that Sisi Gamal, “disguised his Allah, Mister, so that no Western bully, nor exacting imam, could recognize his faith as proper faith.” His uncle pushed Yahya, testing his memory of Quran passages and insisting that he spend his evening hours reciting the lines of famous Islamic poets. He does it all out of a sense of duty, without conviction . . . until 9/11 happens.
A teenager at the time, the aftermath of 9/11 radicalizes Yahya. Wherever he goes in London, he is spit on and cursed. Half-Iraqi by birth, he feels personally attacked eighteen months later when, “Your Blair and your Junior Bush had just decided to lead half the world into war.”
After seeing the widely distributed and deeply disturbing photos of Abu Ghraib, he begins to lash out on the internet with his angry poem:
"Eng-ger-land! Eng-ger-land! Eng-ger-land!
I’ll paint your white bodies black again
With the blood flooding up from your flag."
After his poems go viral, he starts drawing big crowds to recitals. As his poems become angrier, he becomes even more popular with radical Islamists and anti-war protestors. But after a couple years, Yahya becomes disillusioned.
He finds a way to disappear into the Arabian desert in search of his father. It does not go well. Instead of finding his father, he gets lost. Injured and near death he’s saved by a group of war refugees who’ve founded ‘Free City’, a place built out of the bombed ruins of a desert town. The overriding principle governing Free City is tolerance.
One of the leaders explains, “This is Free City, sir. It does not matter what you say. I can tell you nobody cares what you say here – what you do here is what matters to us, sir.”
Working among Muslims, Christians, Jews and non-believers, Yahya becomes de-radicalized. Over a two-year period of time, he gradually loses his hate, learning to be a productive, tolerant member of the community. But when he finally returns to Great Britain, he’s held in a detention camp, his past hate poetry held against him.
He declares his ultimate defiance in the first line of the book, “Mister, I have lost my tongue. A quick cut with a cinch, little jerk of the wrists. Easy, clean, deed done. I supposed you’d say it was madness, psychosis, insanity – but no, not likely. An act of liberation, that’s what.”
Mister, Mister is enlightening because Guy Gunaratne holds back nothing. #PantheonPartner
As a reader, you stand accused. Though he’s supposed to be confessing to aiding Islamic terrorists, Yahya Bas shapes the story of his life into an accusatory finger, pointing it directly at his interrogator, and at his readers.
“Because deep down, I think, you understand, Mister, that there have been things done in your name that have been unforgivable.”
English mother and Iraqi father, Yahya Bas was, “Born on a white-tiled floor, in a bathroom stall in our communal home in East London.”
With a silent and emotionally absent single mother who lives in an attic room, her fingers in a constant motion of sewing during her waking hours, Yahya is raised instead by multiple women he calls mother and an unreliable uncle. Uncle Sisi Gamal wanders London with a wheelbarrow full of Islamic books preaching about his “ad hoc Allah.”
Yahya insists that Sisi Gamal, “disguised his Allah, Mister, so that no Western bully, nor exacting imam, could recognize his faith as proper faith.” His uncle pushed Yahya, testing his memory of Quran passages and insisting that he spend his evening hours reciting the lines of famous Islamic poets. He does it all out of a sense of duty, without conviction . . . until 9/11 happens.
A teenager at the time, the aftermath of 9/11 radicalizes Yahya. Wherever he goes in London, he is spit on and cursed. Half-Iraqi by birth, he feels personally attacked eighteen months later when, “Your Blair and your Junior Bush had just decided to lead half the world into war.”
After seeing the widely distributed and deeply disturbing photos of Abu Ghraib, he begins to lash out on the internet with his angry poem:
"Eng-ger-land! Eng-ger-land! Eng-ger-land!
I’ll paint your white bodies black again
With the blood flooding up from your flag."
After his poems go viral, he starts drawing big crowds to recitals. As his poems become angrier, he becomes even more popular with radical Islamists and anti-war protestors. But after a couple years, Yahya becomes disillusioned.
He finds a way to disappear into the Arabian desert in search of his father. It does not go well. Instead of finding his father, he gets lost. Injured and near death he’s saved by a group of war refugees who’ve founded ‘Free City’, a place built out of the bombed ruins of a desert town. The overriding principle governing Free City is tolerance.
One of the leaders explains, “This is Free City, sir. It does not matter what you say. I can tell you nobody cares what you say here – what you do here is what matters to us, sir.”
Working among Muslims, Christians, Jews and non-believers, Yahya becomes de-radicalized. Over a two-year period of time, he gradually loses his hate, learning to be a productive, tolerant member of the community. But when he finally returns to Great Britain, he’s held in a detention camp, his past hate poetry held against him.
He declares his ultimate defiance in the first line of the book, “Mister, I have lost my tongue. A quick cut with a cinch, little jerk of the wrists. Easy, clean, deed done. I supposed you’d say it was madness, psychosis, insanity – but no, not likely. An act of liberation, that’s what.”
Mister, Mister is enlightening because Guy Gunaratne holds back nothing. #PantheonPartner
October 8, 2023
2. GREAT BRITAIN To return to your question, well – likely is, you’ve already made up your mind, Mister. I can tell from the sorts of questions you’ve already asked me, like why I hate your country. I don’t doubt it seems a little strange coming from me, but believe me when I say that I do not, not really.
Truly, I have missed your Great Britain. I’ve missed your old British mores, Mister. Your pasties and that. Your cuppa-teas. Your John Cleese. And your poets.
This country has always been a home for me. Only place that’s ever really claimed me, or that I could ever claim. I think about my childhood, my rambling half-cocked education, and then, my rise into fame and fortune.
It all happened here – right here for me, in this city, in this United Kingdom of the Great British Isles. Nostalgia, call it. Remembrance maybe. I’m pining for the parts I was raised in. East Ham, that is, East London. Among local muftis, many mothers, wide boys, punters and clerics. Wouldn’t call the feeling patriotic – nothing as waxy as a word like that – but it does beg a better question. One that I’d quite like to put to you now, Mister, and that is this:
If the greatness of your Britain remains so assured, then why is it so difficult to hear someone hate it?
Guy Gunaratne’s debut novel “Mad and Furious City” received widespread literary prize acclamation: winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and Jhalak Prize; shortlisted for the Goldsmith’s Prize and Gordon Burn Prize; longlisted for the Booker Prize (where it should have made the shortlist) and the Orwell Prize.
It was set in a North London (Neasden) housing estate (The Stones) some-time in the late 2000s and took place over 48 hours, in the tinderbox atmosphere immediately after the murder of an off-duty/back-from-service soldier by a black man which has further inflamed the racial and religious tensions in the area which include a radicalised Muslim group based around the local mosque and a group of White racists/nationalists planning a provocative march through the area. It was written in a third party point-of-view style with short chapters progressing largely chronologically between three young men and was noticeable for its embrace of Grime culture and its vibrant London-slang language.
This the author’s second novel also examines racial and religious tensions but over a longer period and in a Bookseller interview last year, they said “This is the story of a single life, but also the last 25 years – from Britain in the 1990s, 9/11, to the Iraq war, 7/7 and its aftermath. Yahya Bas is a chimera of shorts – rootless, villainous, othered by almost everyone he meets, yet undeniably familiar and entirely British.”
The conceit of the novel is that Yahya Bas, a radical Islamist terrorist-sympathising, Western-hating poet is in a UK detention centre (Bleaker House in a deliberate Dickensian pun) having surrendered to British troops in Syria (where it is important to note he went not to fight but to trace the fate of his father who he never knew and who went out to the area as a fighter many years previously).
Now subject to questioning by an interrogator Yahya refers to simply as “Mister”, Yahya has cut out his own tongue to stop the questioning and instead sets out his life story in his own words in writing. The novel we read is that story set out in 185 short sections from his birth (Sections 4 and 5) to his time in the detention centre (Sections 167 onwards).
As he says himself
My story, for the purposes of what you wanted could have easily fitted on a list:.
Born Bas, Yahya, British-Iraqi, Iraqi-British.
Disabled. Delinquent – raised in poverty.
Radicalised against Western intervention in Iraq.
Gains notoriety promoting works of anti-Western hate.
Absconds from the UK – abandons known family.
Spends several years in exile. Stateless. Displaced.
Returns a pariah. Tail between legs
But in practice there is a much longer story and much more nuanced story to tell – and told it is across the 185 sections. As an aside I was not entirely convinced around the device – it largely read like a standard fictional past tense narrative (however false that is – we have become used to it so a justifying device can always seem a little unnecessary) other than for the frequent titular insertion of “Mister” in the narrative – and I was unable to follow why that would appear in a written account. Also with Yahya a language-loving poet this did not particularly read to me like a distinctive enough voice.
The story begins with his unusual upbringing in East Ham – with his mother (Estella - another Dickensian nod) living in a Islamic association-run womens’ refuge centre, where the part crippled boy (with a twisted hip) is raised communally by a group of other mother’s and by a caretaker Uncle Sisi Gamal who invites him to his library and starts an early life love of Islamic-poetry and obsession with current affairs (at age 6 in 1991 telling him about the Iraq war).
He then joins his local multi-cultural primary school where he faces increasing racial and religious hostility, while at the same time Sisi Gamal teaches him about the Quran and takes him on his Islamic street preaching outings, and Yahya himself builds his knowledge of both Islamic poetry and classical English literature.
Shortly before 9-11 he joins as an Islamic school – and I have to say one of my initial struggles with the novel is when his Uncle loudly celebrates the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
The resulting anti-Islamic backlash in London seems to turn the teenage boy into more of a radical and after he meets a group of other poetry loving children at his school he starts to perfect his aural performance of poetry. He is also further radicalised by the second Gulf War and the appalling abuses of Abu Ghraib; where the horrified anti-West BTL comments on message boards help him to shape and then post his first public poem which begins
Western wind
When wilt thou cease
That the red and blue may burn
Before the poem takes a far more violent and incendiary turn.
Over time his poems go viral and he starts to perform them in public (the first time at Speakers Corner) and he eventually adopts the name Al-Bayn after a poem to the “martyrs” of 7-7.
I have to be honest it was at this point that I, even knowing this was a fictional novel, was waiting for Yahya to be arrested and the key thrown away.
And when he chose to go to Syria and then panicking announced himself as a British citizen was rather baffled as to why he would be flown back.
So, for me the novel backfired as if its idea was to help us understand what motivated Yahya and his non-fictional equivalents it had the opposite impact on me; although to be fair Yahya himself realises I think how he has been poisoned by the world.
103. METAMORPHOSIS What exactly made me vomit out half my insides, Mister, I can’t say. I do think, though, that language, like rivers and seas, get polluted with what’s expelled into them. And that sort of pollution goes both ways, Mister. It sickens you. And when it’s used to carp and cuss, and degrade, the sickness can snag at the senses.
Words change the perception of things and other people. At its worst, in a kind of crazy regurgitation, whatever you say ends up defining the world. Making actual and true what once you’d only imagined. I’d been reciting, I think, for so long and for so many years, that it’d made me sick.
After washing off Ibrahim’s window, I realised I didn’t like what language was making of me. Didn’t like what I was becoming, Mister. I’d become a kind of gobbler, a consumer of the world’s bad news, and I was sick of the feed. I wanted it over.
The book concludes, in a David Copperfield opening style:
Whether I turn out to be the hero of my own life, or the villain of yours these pages must show
And I have to say for me the verdict was unambiguous villain.
But I think overall this is a book which causes us to question our ideas of national identity, of right and wrong – even if in my case I felt is more reinforced by pre-existing prejudices.
So recommended if not really one that worked for me.
My thanks to Headline for an ARC via NetGalley
January 22, 2024
The dawn of disdain.
When does one start to hate their own? One's own country, own people, almost feeling like a pariah.
Mister, Mister by Guy Gunaratne, set in London, is written in a confessional format where the narrator is confessing, rather depicting his life story right from this birth to his childhood to why he has never seen his father to the books he read to his teenage all upto today, today when he is confessing it all to this certain Mister.
Heads-up : This book will test a lot of your morals. And your definitions of what is right and what is not right and what is wrong & pure hate. Yahya Bas, the narrator, is a terror suspect who has written poems that reek of venom and hate against the westerners, and have allegedly played a major role in inspiring violent attacks. So is he really guilty?
"If the greatness of your Britain remains so assured, then why is it difficult to hear someone hate it?"
Contrary to the popular opinion I have always believed there is a very thick line and a very clear, or an almost clear distinction between hate speech and what could be termed as one's freedom of speech & expression. But I have also been great at looking the other way when it comes to the evils of society, so I read this as a work of fiction that touches upon the 9/11, 7/7 attacks. I believe one would read it and react to it based on how one's morals are. People do not like the gray these days, they want things black and white. Including me, on many occasions. But this one I was able to read and enjoy without being riled up. But but but...
The confessional format is both - the strength and the weakness of this book. The plot will seem lost in between but the characters are very much alive throughout the book. Not to forget - the premise itself is a brave attempt to point out the systematic othering of people in Western societies. In this case - of Muslims. I would be somewhere at 3 while rating this book out of 5.
When does one start to hate their own? One's own country, own people, almost feeling like a pariah.
Mister, Mister by Guy Gunaratne, set in London, is written in a confessional format where the narrator is confessing, rather depicting his life story right from this birth to his childhood to why he has never seen his father to the books he read to his teenage all upto today, today when he is confessing it all to this certain Mister.
Heads-up : This book will test a lot of your morals. And your definitions of what is right and what is not right and what is wrong & pure hate. Yahya Bas, the narrator, is a terror suspect who has written poems that reek of venom and hate against the westerners, and have allegedly played a major role in inspiring violent attacks. So is he really guilty?
"If the greatness of your Britain remains so assured, then why is it difficult to hear someone hate it?"
Contrary to the popular opinion I have always believed there is a very thick line and a very clear, or an almost clear distinction between hate speech and what could be termed as one's freedom of speech & expression. But I have also been great at looking the other way when it comes to the evils of society, so I read this as a work of fiction that touches upon the 9/11, 7/7 attacks. I believe one would read it and react to it based on how one's morals are. People do not like the gray these days, they want things black and white. Including me, on many occasions. But this one I was able to read and enjoy without being riled up. But but but...
The confessional format is both - the strength and the weakness of this book. The plot will seem lost in between but the characters are very much alive throughout the book. Not to forget - the premise itself is a brave attempt to point out the systematic othering of people in Western societies. In this case - of Muslims. I would be somewhere at 3 while rating this book out of 5.
October 21, 2024
Mister, Mister by Guy Gunaratne is written in numbered fragments, giving is a very unique style that felt similar to stream of consciousness. Each fragment is addressed to a 'Mister' - a man who had visited the narrator, Yahya, who has recently returned to England from Syria.
The first section of the book relates to Yahya's childhood and turn to radicalsm. Yahya writes poetry which attracts the attention of someone who encourages him to go to Syria. This section introduced the character, and let the reader understand why he would soon be susceptible to indoctrination.
The second section is more focused on his life in Syria. I enjoyed this section for its vivid, devastating descriptions of the place and people of Syria. It was brutal and sad, but so very realistic. It is in Syria that Yahya feels accepted. He sees himself as fitting in. This section is at times shocking, and often confusing, but that is likely due to my status as a white woman in America, who has no tangible experience with any of this.
Section three takes place after Yahya returns to London, and is reflective. We get to understand his intentions in writing the story and reflect on his decision until this point.
This is a book that took some effort. I had to reread a few passages, to gain a better insight into Yahya. But the work was worth it.
The first section of the book relates to Yahya's childhood and turn to radicalsm. Yahya writes poetry which attracts the attention of someone who encourages him to go to Syria. This section introduced the character, and let the reader understand why he would soon be susceptible to indoctrination.
The second section is more focused on his life in Syria. I enjoyed this section for its vivid, devastating descriptions of the place and people of Syria. It was brutal and sad, but so very realistic. It is in Syria that Yahya feels accepted. He sees himself as fitting in. This section is at times shocking, and often confusing, but that is likely due to my status as a white woman in America, who has no tangible experience with any of this.
Section three takes place after Yahya returns to London, and is reflective. We get to understand his intentions in writing the story and reflect on his decision until this point.
This is a book that took some effort. I had to reread a few passages, to gain a better insight into Yahya. But the work was worth it.
August 19, 2024
A confronting and challenging story about a British-Iraqi boy who grows up in modern, hyper-alert London, and finds himself as a return man from exile in detention, trying to tell his story.
The path from complex family upbringing, abandonment and loss, to attending a religious school. Here, he initially is ostracised due to his disability, but then finds his crew.
As a teenager he finds reading and poetry, helped along by his uncle who shares his message on the streets of London, and this leads to writing verse to help him process being a Muslim British-Iraqi in the times of the Coalition's War On Terror, in Iraq and the Middle East.
This in turn, leads him to a path that finds him with notoriety, and eventually leads him to find escape - to the desert and isolation for several years. Before finding himself returned, in a detention centre.
The nuance of that path, the feelings, fears and the complexities of falling into this story are compelling, and mind-expanding. Thought provoking, and provides much needed insight. Is it radicalisation, or processing things from another perspective?
A timely read for me, given the state of the world right now, and the many layers and ranges of empathy, understanding, and possibly.
The path from complex family upbringing, abandonment and loss, to attending a religious school. Here, he initially is ostracised due to his disability, but then finds his crew.
As a teenager he finds reading and poetry, helped along by his uncle who shares his message on the streets of London, and this leads to writing verse to help him process being a Muslim British-Iraqi in the times of the Coalition's War On Terror, in Iraq and the Middle East.
This in turn, leads him to a path that finds him with notoriety, and eventually leads him to find escape - to the desert and isolation for several years. Before finding himself returned, in a detention centre.
The nuance of that path, the feelings, fears and the complexities of falling into this story are compelling, and mind-expanding. Thought provoking, and provides much needed insight. Is it radicalisation, or processing things from another perspective?
A timely read for me, given the state of the world right now, and the many layers and ranges of empathy, understanding, and possibly.
March 27, 2024
Guy Gunaratne launched onto the literary scene with the multi-award nominated Our Mad and Furious City. It was one of my favourite novels of the year, and one I will return to again in the future. Expectation for his follow-up - Mister, Mister - therefore was high, and so could easily have disappointed. At first this novel appears very different in tone and style to his debut - our narrator, Yahya Bas, is in a detention centre, and is writing the story of his life. It is unravelled slowly, in small chunks, and builds as it goes into a story of a war, conflict, extremism and more. Themes which haunted the edges of Our Mad and Furious City are bought into focus here.
I will admit Mister, Mister took longer to grip me than Our Mad and Furious City did - the first twenty pages I wasn't sure, and thought perhaps it was a little bit of a misfire - but the more I read, the more I engaged, and I wolfed down the final third in one breathless sitting. This, then, is another very good novel from Guy Gunaratne, and I eagerly await his next to see where he goes next.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
I will admit Mister, Mister took longer to grip me than Our Mad and Furious City did - the first twenty pages I wasn't sure, and thought perhaps it was a little bit of a misfire - but the more I read, the more I engaged, and I wolfed down the final third in one breathless sitting. This, then, is another very good novel from Guy Gunaratne, and I eagerly await his next to see where he goes next.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
July 10, 2023
Wow. Here's a book that will get you thinking. I finished it 2 days ago and it's still swirling around in my head.
I loved it but am nowhere near intelligent or eloquent enough to explain why, other than for the obvious reasons of it being a supremely well written book, immensely readable and about a subject that cannot fail to invoke a reaction in you. For these reasons alone it's worth reading in my opinion.
I think what this novel has left me with (and perhaps it's something that has always been there) is a struggle to empathise with immigrants who are happy to accept the safety blanket of this country whilst simultaneously spewing hatred (and worse) for those providing that safety. Don't get me wrong...I'm fully aware of this country's horrendous leadership and disgusting treatment of immigrants but (without wanting to sound all rainbows and unicorns) stirring up hatred and eulogising suicide bombers for attacking innocent civilians is never the answer. And this is where it becomes very hard to empathise with the narrating character, despite the life and struggles he encounters.
However...I'm very glad I read the book. As with In Our Mad and Furious City, it's a riveting, beautifully written novel.
I loved it but am nowhere near intelligent or eloquent enough to explain why, other than for the obvious reasons of it being a supremely well written book, immensely readable and about a subject that cannot fail to invoke a reaction in you. For these reasons alone it's worth reading in my opinion.
I think what this novel has left me with (and perhaps it's something that has always been there) is a struggle to empathise with immigrants who are happy to accept the safety blanket of this country whilst simultaneously spewing hatred (and worse) for those providing that safety. Don't get me wrong...I'm fully aware of this country's horrendous leadership and disgusting treatment of immigrants but (without wanting to sound all rainbows and unicorns) stirring up hatred and eulogising suicide bombers for attacking innocent civilians is never the answer. And this is where it becomes very hard to empathise with the narrating character, despite the life and struggles he encounters.
However...I'm very glad I read the book. As with In Our Mad and Furious City, it's a riveting, beautifully written novel.
October 1, 2024
"Mister Mister" is a novel that explores themes of identity, belonging, and the complexities of human relationships. The story follows a main character through the challenges of adulthood while grappling with personal and societal expectations. Set against a backdrop of vibrant locales and rich character interactions, the narrative delves into the protagonist's struggles with self-acceptance and the quest for genuine connections.
The writing in "Mister Mister" is poignant, effectively capturing the internal conflicts. The character is strong, allowing readers to empathize with his journey. The book's exploration of identity is timely and relevant, resonating with contemporary issues of self-discovery and acceptance.
The emotional depth and relatable themes make "Mister Mister" a worthwhile read for those interested in character-driven narratives. Overall, it's a compelling exploration of the search for meaning in an increasingly complex world.
Thank you Penguin Random House's Vintage division for my gifted copy of this book.
The writing in "Mister Mister" is poignant, effectively capturing the internal conflicts. The character is strong, allowing readers to empathize with his journey. The book's exploration of identity is timely and relevant, resonating with contemporary issues of self-discovery and acceptance.
The emotional depth and relatable themes make "Mister Mister" a worthwhile read for those interested in character-driven narratives. Overall, it's a compelling exploration of the search for meaning in an increasingly complex world.
Thank you Penguin Random House's Vintage division for my gifted copy of this book.
February 17, 2024
I savored this one. It gets five stars in part because it’s a brave and ambitious novel, the sort of story most writers would be afraid to touch. It surely wouldn’t have been published 20 years ago, and it couldn’t have been written by anyone much younger or older because it’s about coming of age before and after 9/11, the climate surrounding Bush and Blair, the height of ISIS and ISIL, and the horror we felt in learning about Abu Ghraib. And though it’s not about Israelis and Palestinians it’s a relevant read at the moment—a story that lends its antihero just enough empathy to give time to how a cycle of radicalization is born—and touches on how the west builds a villain and how the media craves an “other” to pity. Gunaratne’s journalism background is showing. But it wouldn’t be fair to neglect that this is also about searching for a tribe as well as some sort of origin story, and the way family and family trauma can shape identity.
November 3, 2023
Thank you to Knopf Books for the giveaway.
This was such an interesting read and I will warn this is one of those enjoy the journey type books as the ending is a bit unsatisfying so I just want to put that out there beforehand. Don't rush through this book, really enjoy what's going on throughout.
I personally can't relate to the things the MC experiences in this book but I think about the sorts of issues people faced post 9/11 a lot. Especially with everything else that's going on in the world today. This book really opened my eyes to perspectives I haven't looked into. Although it's fiction you can see the real world influences that made up some of the plot/setting of the story. This is my first Guy Gunaratne book but I will definitely be checking out his other work.
Happy reading!
This was such an interesting read and I will warn this is one of those enjoy the journey type books as the ending is a bit unsatisfying so I just want to put that out there beforehand. Don't rush through this book, really enjoy what's going on throughout.
I personally can't relate to the things the MC experiences in this book but I think about the sorts of issues people faced post 9/11 a lot. Especially with everything else that's going on in the world today. This book really opened my eyes to perspectives I haven't looked into. Although it's fiction you can see the real world influences that made up some of the plot/setting of the story. This is my first Guy Gunaratne book but I will definitely be checking out his other work.
Happy reading!
April 3, 2024
Deep and interesting!
This novel took me on a ride, with its well written chapters to its deep dive into identity and nationality I found myself intrigued by this read. I cant even explain really what ive read, just that you should read it too.
The unique narration of this story is what hooked me, written in a confession sort of tone you feel deeply connected to the speaker by the end of this novel. This book is inspired by the after math of Brexit and you can tell which parts of this the author has pulled from. Deeply eye opening to the lives and treatments of migrants/poc, you wont be able to look away from this novel for a second. For sure a book to add to your TBR if you like books that focus on real topics.
This novel took me on a ride, with its well written chapters to its deep dive into identity and nationality I found myself intrigued by this read. I cant even explain really what ive read, just that you should read it too.
The unique narration of this story is what hooked me, written in a confession sort of tone you feel deeply connected to the speaker by the end of this novel. This book is inspired by the after math of Brexit and you can tell which parts of this the author has pulled from. Deeply eye opening to the lives and treatments of migrants/poc, you wont be able to look away from this novel for a second. For sure a book to add to your TBR if you like books that focus on real topics.
November 7, 2023
A fascinating and imaginative book. Written in the first person, it presents the life story/confession of Yahya Bas, a young British Muslim and modern-day Dickensian character. He is an unreliable witness. His childhood recollections of growing up in a ramshackle women's refuge veer towards the gothic, a child neglected by society. His popularity as an orator and poet brings him to the attention of the tabloid press before he takes flight to the Middle East. He, and his story, loses its way a bit here, but comes back with a powerful ending. There's no easy answers offered, no clear right or wrong, but a memorable journey.
October 15, 2024
This book is a terrifying mirror into the current moment. Of course, war, displacement, genocide, and colonialism exist the length of history, but the story of British-Iraqi, Yahya Bas, and his cohort witnessing the horrifying Iraq ‘war’ in the digital age resonates with all racially marginalised individuals witnessing the Isr@el’s genoc!de on Palestine.
How the experiences of Palestinians are being warped to uphold the Western machine, continuously reproducing injustice.
As another review said, Mister Mister is a novel to admire, not to love. It’s just too exasperatingly heartbreaking for that.
How the experiences of Palestinians are being warped to uphold the Western machine, continuously reproducing injustice.
As another review said, Mister Mister is a novel to admire, not to love. It’s just too exasperatingly heartbreaking for that.
July 29, 2023
Incredibly well written, deeply introspective and thrilling. From the day I picked this up I was in love with it. The story is told in letters to the titular “mister” which gives it a unique voice. Everything feels deliberately told and crafted to the Mister. Although the first part of the story is interesting and well done, it really comes into its own during the second part. I read the entire last half in one sitting because I got to a point where I just had to know where this story lead. I can’t remember the last time a story really caught my attention the way this did.
December 14, 2023
I'm still contemplating this one, could be a three or a four. Started out slow but kicked in around page 100 and stayed compelling throughout. Yahya's voice is distinctive but sometimes I wasn't quite sure what I was meant to take away at the end, some blank I couldn't quite fill in. But maybe that's my own inadequacy. And I loved "In Our Mad And Furious City" so I'm rounding this one up.
March 3, 2024
"Because deep down, I think, you understand, Mister, that there have been things done in your name that have been unforgivable. It's why while all them British bombs fall far enough away, you still flinch here at home."
A fascinating exploration of identity, language, poetry and story set against the backdrop of being Muslim in England during the War on Terror.
A fascinating exploration of identity, language, poetry and story set against the backdrop of being Muslim in England during the War on Terror.
August 4, 2024
Stunning, complicated and ambitious, Mister Mister is told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator caught in a difficult life, with a difficult tale to tell. It is truly excellent and I cannot recommend it more thoroughly. Our protagonist (so aloof that he has cut out his tongue to avoid self-incrimination) is as unplaceable as his narrative is weaving.
December 28, 2024
عشتُ مع هذا الكتاب، ومع بطلِه يحيى باس شهورًا عديدة، بين قراءةٍ وترجمةٍ وبحثٍ وتواصلٍ حثيثٍ مع الكاتب
تعرفتُ على بواعثِ القصة، وما بين سطورها، وما اختبأ خلف كلماتِها ومشاهدها حتى كأنَّني أحدُ شخوصِها
هذه قصَّة مؤلمة، ذات شجون. وقد شُرِّفتُ بترجمتِها والتعلُّق بها
وأتمنى أن تلقى عند القارئ العربيِّ الصدى الذي تستحق
تعرفتُ على بواعثِ القصة، وما بين سطورها، وما اختبأ خلف كلماتِها ومشاهدها حتى كأنَّني أحدُ شخوصِها
هذه قصَّة مؤلمة، ذات شجون. وقد شُرِّفتُ بترجمتِها والتعلُّق بها
وأتمنى أن تلقى عند القارئ العربيِّ الصدى الذي تستحق
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