Escape to Hell
by Muammar Qaddafi
Stanké

Whatever happened to Muammar Qaddafi, that fiery and relatively iron-fisted Libyan leader whose idealistic calls for pan-Arab and pan-African unity have gone largely unheeded?

After a brief, memorable turn as Dictator of the Day during Ronald Reagan's tenure as U.S. president, Mr. Qaddafi has largely slipped out of sight, content to make occasional guest appearances in the world media as one of the Third World dictators we love to hate.

With the exception of some recent high-profile appearances on the African unity scene, Qaddafi has been relatively quiet. But, as the dust jacket of "Escape to Hell" informs us, he's not letting the world off the hook that easily. Qaddafi has simply "withdrawn to his tent, in the desert, in order to meditate, study and... write!"

But his publisher's introduction to the contrary, it is unlikely that "Escape to Hell" will establish Qaddafi as a new literary talent, at least as the term "talent" is usually interpreted. "Escape to Hell" was pounded out (or translated) in a simple, awkward style that defies most attempts to wrest enjoyment from its jaws.

This is only exacerbated by the book's frequent use of mostly impenetrable sarcasm, Koranic references and an unpredictable, flexible worldview that defies easy classification. The book is a grab-bag of short essays, allegories, commentary pieces and bits of abstract thought on religion and politics, published (presumably) to widen America's somewhat limited appreciation for Qaddafi. It's not the work of a fixated zealot, although it's still a lump of uneven, partially digested literary cud.

But it's still a valuable book.

Its title — a reference to the migration of nomads from the desert into the city — is representative of the unyielding and pointed stands that Qaddafi makes throughout the pages. When Qaddafi launches into his two-part tirade against the evils of city life, and the beauty of traditional life in the desert, he touches upon a number of strong, familiar themes. Environmentalism, tradition and enlightened interdependence are high on his list of virtues — these are ideas not entirely out of place in some of America's modern urban renewal movements. It's not hard for a thoughtful reader to start to grasp some of the frustration at the global expansion of urban, capitalist culture that have helped fuel many of the world's most bitter social rifts.

Moreover, his insights about the Gulf War are both amusing and perceptive. He has praise laced with mockery for Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf's proclamation that settled when Ramadan, Islam's month of daytime fasting, would fall for the allied Islamic forces. Traditionally, determining Ramadan's duration in various regions across the world is a task left to Islamic scholars, and is the source of much debate. But Qaddafi sees something perverse and humiliating in the American general's ability to solve the question by fiat, and even prescribing the type of prayers to be spoken by the troops. It's hard not to see some merit in his perspective.

Qaddafi's often-labored text also scores a solid success with one of his essays, entitled, "The Musahharati During the Day." A look at the life of the man traditionally responsible for waking up his neighbors for the pre-dawn Ramadan meal (called suhur), "The Musahharati" is a poignant and potent glimpse into an aspect of Islamic life that many Americans may not be familiar with.

Even with its rough gems of insight and cultural boundary breaking, "Escape to Hell" isn't traditional coffeetable or bedside reading. But readers looking for a fascinating (if muddied) glimpse into the anti-Western Arab world might want to flip through its pages, and learn something about a people we've come to demonize and fear.

— James Norton (jrnorton@flakmag.com)