Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming is Abdelrahman ElGendy‘s story about his experience being incarcerated at the age of 17 for being part of a protest against the authoritarian government in Egypt. Watching the protest from a distance, he and his father were swept up in the police enforcement and arrested for participating. The book not only tells of the more than six years he spent in prison, it also talks about escaping Egypt and then having to again watch as the scene repeats itself in the United States.
His writing is deep and reflective, giving you a sense of what is was like to be there – not knowing what lay ahead in your future.
I was drawn to this book because I have friends in Egypt. This is not something I can talk to them about – for their own safety, conversations about politics are off limits. Unfortunately, this is also becoming a concern with United States – again conversations about politics are not safe. It is something that we, in Canada, enjoy the freedom to write or speak about such things.
I found that once I got past the first chapter I could not put the book down. ElGendy is an incredibly good writer, sharing not just the descriptions of his experience but also the emotional toll on his mental health. I was especially interested in the aspects of community that formed among the prisoners – with visiting family supporting the entire cell blocks, not just their kin. The acts of sharing in a world where everyone has little is a lesson that so many people could learn.
Huna is an important book because it sheds light on the randomness and unfairness of living in a world where autocratic governments have control, and the courts are not places of safety or justice.
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