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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s novel The Lebs is a hard-hitting look at what it is like to grow up in Australia as the Muslim son of Lebanese immigrants.
Set in an all-boys school in Sydney in the late 1990s, it’s a potent mix of profanity, sex, lust, religion, racism, misogyny and hyper-masculinity.
It’s not an easy book to like. There are many confronting scenes and the language doesn’t pull its punches. Women are largely seen as sexual objects and there’s a dark undercurrent of racism running underneath it.
But this feels like an authentic world, a world in which teenage boys are full of bravado and hormones, where being different is to become an outcast, where bullying, peer pressure and tribal violence is the code by which everyone lives.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
Set in an all-boys school in Sydney in the late 1990s, it’s a potent mix of profanity, sex, lust, religion, racism, misogyny and hyper-masculinity.
It’s not an easy book to like. There are many confronting scenes and the language doesn’t pull its punches. Women are largely seen as sexual objects and there’s a dark undercurrent of racism running underneath it.
But this feels like an authentic world, a world in which teenage boys are full of bravado and hormones, where being different is to become an outcast, where bullying, peer pressure and tribal violence is the code by which everyone lives.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
I have lived in Belmore and worked in Bankstown. Although it was many years ago, it helped me gain a glimpse of the local culture. As a teacher I have seen the nicest students become thugs when they operate in a gang. Thus, the novel rang true.
I thought I would sympathise with the protagonist who wanted to separate himself from those who surrounded him. I did not. Bani’s arrogance was annoying, even though it was serving as self-protection, a cloak I also adorned as a child, but it was tiresome and ultimately grating. I wanted to know more about the motivations about the other characters because they basically felt like stick characters in stark contrast to every musing inside Bani’s head.
I was expecting to be shocked. I wasn’t. Perhaps I’ve read too many books like it. It particularly reminded me of The Chocolate War (Robert Cormier) which I haven’t read since I was a teenager so I can’t pinpoint the similarities.
It is written well in terms of picturing the place and experience of Bani but I didn’t engage with it emotionally and that’s really what I want from a novel.
I thought I would sympathise with the protagonist who wanted to separate himself from those who surrounded him. I did not. Bani’s arrogance was annoying, even though it was serving as self-protection, a cloak I also adorned as a child, but it was tiresome and ultimately grating. I wanted to know more about the motivations about the other characters because they basically felt like stick characters in stark contrast to every musing inside Bani’s head.
I was expecting to be shocked. I wasn’t. Perhaps I’ve read too many books like it. It particularly reminded me of The Chocolate War (Robert Cormier) which I haven’t read since I was a teenager so I can’t pinpoint the similarities.
It is written well in terms of picturing the place and experience of Bani but I didn’t engage with it emotionally and that’s really what I want from a novel.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel was quite thought provoking and a wonderfully written insite on the life and feelings of the main character Bani.
I did have so trouble with the narrative writing style at the beginning. But other wise it was extremely engaging novel.
I did have so trouble with the narrative writing style at the beginning. But other wise it was extremely engaging novel.
The narrative is raw and emotionally punishing at times.
Wonderfully explores the search for finding peace with who you are. The search isn't perfect and is never complete.
Wonderfully explores the search for finding peace with who you are. The search isn't perfect and is never complete.
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I went into this book expecting not to enjoy it. Growing up in western Sydney around the kinds of boys the main character, Bani, calls ‘Lebs’ made me weary and reluctant to dive back into a world I was never really comfortable with.
But I am so glad I picked this book up. MMA’s writing is so unapologetically authentic and accurate that it felt almost triggering at times. The harsh and vivid language made me cringe in the same way it did when I was growing up. From the homophobic and racist slurs to the brazen sexual imagery, it felt like I was back in high school and I both appreciated that and hated that at the same time.
The main character, Bani, is easy to empathise with. His rejection of hypermasculinity and pursuit of the arts serves as an intentional contrast to the violent machismo of his classmates. He is a poet not a commoner, a lover not a fighter, but despite all of this, he knows he is still a ‘Leb.’ It is this tension between 'who we want to be' and 'who we are' that carries the novel, and as a second generation Australian Muslim, I found Bani’s messy journey with his identity painfully relatable.
I do wonder how other readers will deal with the novel’s imagery and language - particularly readers that aren’t familiar with this side of western Sydney. But it’s worth the read, even if (and perhaps because) it’s confronting.
But I am so glad I picked this book up. MMA’s writing is so unapologetically authentic and accurate that it felt almost triggering at times. The harsh and vivid language made me cringe in the same way it did when I was growing up. From the homophobic and racist slurs to the brazen sexual imagery, it felt like I was back in high school and I both appreciated that and hated that at the same time.
The main character, Bani, is easy to empathise with. His rejection of hypermasculinity and pursuit of the arts serves as an intentional contrast to the violent machismo of his classmates. He is a poet not a commoner, a lover not a fighter, but despite all of this, he knows he is still a ‘Leb.’ It is this tension between 'who we want to be' and 'who we are' that carries the novel, and as a second generation Australian Muslim, I found Bani’s messy journey with his identity painfully relatable.
I do wonder how other readers will deal with the novel’s imagery and language - particularly readers that aren’t familiar with this side of western Sydney. But it’s worth the read, even if (and perhaps because) it’s confronting.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
If only the final two instalments of this three-part novel sparkled with the intensity of the first. It was gripping and rich in detail, necessarily confronting and unsettling. The second and third parts fell a little flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes