Paradise Divided: A Portrait of Lebanon |
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Alex Klaushofer
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Pages: 308 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1904955355
Pub: Signal Books Ltd
Pub date: 2007-05-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 212598
Reader Reviews:
An absolute gem (2/3 people found this helpful)
With great warmth and an engaging lightness of touch that belies a very astute and insightful analysis, Alex Klaushofer's sharply observed portrait of Lebanon provides not only a compelling look at a fascinating and complicated society, but also explores themes of identity and conflict that are all too relevant in the wider world today. Her interview style, which combines a tact born of her understanding of cultural sensitivities with a very cheeky forthrightness, elicits responses that go beyond the ususal rhetoric and generalities to give a sense of the intricacies of the day-to-day lives and feelings of real people, with all the surprises and contradictions that these inevitably entail. She also does a very good line in understated humour. Anyone who can begin a chapter with the sentence, "I am waiting for Hezbollah to pick me up outside MacDonalds", deserves to be very widely read!
A Middle Eastern Odyssey (3/4 people found this helpful)
Primarily about Lebanon but with chapters on Syria and the Palestinians, this is an engrossing account of the author's travels, a lucid introduction to the religious groups of the region in their spiritual and political context, and a timely exploration of ongoing conflicts.
The book is written with a journalist's shrewd eye for detail (it's frequently very funny) and you get the sense that the author's journey is as much spiritual as investigative. I really liked the interweaving of her personal narrative and her research: the book is structured as a series of interviews with people she meets along the way, both by accident and by design. And they are extraordinarily diverse; here you will encounter, amongst others, Hezbollah officials, bisexual Lebanese teenagers, lovelorn Syrian students, the organiser of a demo supporting political prisoners in Damascus, and some over-enthusiastic Palestinian trainee beauticians.
For me, the most fascinating chapters were on the Druze, and in keeping with the rest of the book she explores the tenets of this enigmatic sect by talking to its members.
This is an excellent, thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to know more about the complexities of the region. Having read this book I hope I'll get the chance to go there one day.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Religious History -> Other Religions
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Social & Economic History
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Asia -> 1946-Present
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)