House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East

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House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 767 ratings · 178 reviews

“Evocative and beautifully written, House of Stone . . . should be read by anyone who wishes to understand the agonies and hopes of the Middle East.” — Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and author of Crossing Mandelbaum Gate

“In rebuilding his family home in southern Lebanon, Shadid commits an extraordinarily generous act of restoration for his wounded land, and fo...more

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Feb 15, 2013 Dave Cullen rated it 5 of 5 stars

So much about this book to love.

It's only the third book I've ever agreed to blurb. That tells you how much I loved it.

My blurb (and I wrote it myself, and meant every word):

“I was captivated, instantly, by Anthony Shadid’s lushly evocative prose. Crumbling Ottoman outposts, doomed pashas, and roving bandits feel immediate, familiar, and relevant. Lose yourself in these pages, where empires linger, grandparents wander, and a battered Lebanon beckons us home. Savor it all. If Márquez had explored...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Naila rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like so many books of this genre, I feel the weight of the gesture overshadows its execution.

Which isn't to say that I'm not glad he tried.

I will always be happy to see anyone, within or without the diaspora, to go back and rediscover their own family legacies, especially when most of the stories worth telling are downplayed by the heroes that star in them. Too many tales of kindness, bravery, and pain--along with some of the most curious characters--are lost to time and the larger-scale events...more Like so many books of this genre, I feel the weight of the gesture overshadows its execution.

Which isn't to say that I'm not glad he tried.

I will always be happy to see anyone, within or without the diaspora, to go back and rediscover their own family legacies, especially when most of the stories worth telling are downplayed by the heroes that star in them. Too many tales of kindness, bravery, and pain--along with some of the most curious characters--are lost to time and the larger-scale events that spurred them. These stories aren't always interesting, and they usually only hold real importance with their subjects' descendants, but they are mementos of people's lives and loves, and that has to count for something.

Basically, the preamble is so that I can say this: House of Stone is by no stretch of the imagination a great piece of literature. Even when placed in the small category of Arab "going-home" literature, it doesn't have the gorgeously deep and introspective prose of Amin Maalouf's Origins, nor the succinct finality of Kanafani's Return to Haifa

But I did enjoy reading it, and I felt it's warmth.

Reading Shadid is like reading a close friend or family member whom you've spent a lot of time with; you can see where he's "trying too hard," you sometimes want to interject and tell him to stop being so selfish, stop making so many assumptions, stop this, stop that...but there's something so sadly familiar about it, and I feel his pain, especially when he sinks into the futility of his efforts. His presence is ultimately fulfilling, and man, did he make me smile.

And another thing: he is so unabashed about interacting with his roots, it's refreshing. He's unapologetic and takes no pains to be politically correct when talking about people's varying relationships with the past, including his own. More than a little of his obsession with the past has to do with guilt over not being the sort of man his family needed him to be, and I think it says something about a lot us that the first place he goes to deal with that is "back home." What are we lacking that "going back home" is going to give us?

And though we try to deny it, shrilly defending our TOTAL MODERNITY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, we do have some unfinished business with the past, that we in turns wrestle with and pay tribute to despite ourselves. Sometimes, I read my own feelings and experiences off the pages of this book. Others, I found portions of the book casting light on my own reality. I can't say the book did much to answer the question's that troubled Shadid so much, and it's sad to think that he'll never be able to find them.

I look forward to more people taking up similar projects. So many are searching for 'belonging-ness," and projecting the image of a perfect past on the changing "back home" seems to be the first plan of action. I'd like to know what's next.(less)

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Apr 13, 2013 Linda Appelbaum rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book about a man returning to his family home in Lebanon to rebuild it and as he does so we learn of his family history and about Lebanon as well. There is always something beautiful and peaceful about returning to the past, even when that past is often destroyed by war and this author's story is even more poignant because he died shortly after finishing the book. This was an audio book for me and the reader was middle eastern and I very much appreciated his accent, which added so m...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biog-autobiog, mid-east-arab

p. xi
"The true Vienna lover lives on borrowed memories. With a bittersweet pang of nostalgia he remembers things he never knew. The Vienna that is, is as nice a town as ever there was. But the Vienna that never was is the grandest city ever." Orson Welles, Vienna (1968)

p.xx
"...the graceful slope of Arabic, leaning to the left, imposed on the rigidity of Latin, standing straight."

" 'Your first discovery when you travel,' wrote Elizabeth Harwick, 'is that you do not exist.' In other words, it is n...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really wanted to read this book when I saw that article about Shadid's death in Syria from an asthma attack. It finally came in at the library, and I started to read it with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm quickly turned to disappointment as I felt that it became a chore to read. I can honestly only think of one book that I have had such a hard time reading that I did not finish, and it was by a religious zealot that was trying to preach through a series of disjointed stories. While...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Aramis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-whispersync

I got the book after a heart-breaking interview with Nada, Shadid's widow. I'm happy I read it and knowing that Shadid had passed away, passages where he describes looking forward to living in the rebuilt house with his children are truly touching. I'm also conflicted about this book as some parts of it greatly annoyed me as well.
On the one hand, the writing is beautiful, the characters are compelling, you feel a real sense of love and admiration for this part of Lebanon (and the Levant in gener...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Jennifer Swapp rated it 4 of 5 stars

Most of this book I read beside a computer, accessing wikipedia and trek earth websites often to better understand the history of lebanon and the Levant, as well as to visualize the descriptive flowers, plants and architecture and countryside that Shadid wonderfully elicited.

It as noteworthy that Shadid's storyline was based on his great grandfather and great grandmother who sent their children to America to protect them from the destruction on war in Lebanon- a sacrifice they were willing to m...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anthony Shadid is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent. He died last year of an asthma attack while reporting in Syria for the New York Times. Shortly after, his third book, House of Stone was published.
It’s clear by the first page of this memoir, that Shadid is an engaging and insightful writer with a keen sense of observation and extensive knowledge of the political strife which his family’s place of origin, Lebanon, has endured for many years.
House of Stone interweaves Leb...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Michele Weiner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anthony Shadid has written about restoring his identity by means of restoring his great-grandfather's stone house in a Lebanese viillage called Jedeidet Marjayoun. He writes in a lyrical way, shifting back and forth between eras so frequently that it creates some confusion, at least it did for me. There are at least three intertwined tales; Bayt, meaning 'home' in Arabic, which refers not only to the physical, but also to the feelings of security and belonging that come with; the history of Leba...more Anthony Shadid has written about restoring his identity by means of restoring his great-grandfather's stone house in a Lebanese viillage called Jedeidet Marjayoun. He writes in a lyrical way, shifting back and forth between eras so frequently that it creates some confusion, at least it did for me. There are at least three intertwined tales; Bayt, meaning 'home' in Arabic, which refers not only to the physical, but also to the feelings of security and belonging that come with; the history of Lebanon; and the personal histories of the Samara and Shadid families in the Jedeidet Marjayoun and in America. Shadid describes his good friends in Lebanon in some detail, illustrating their world views and demonstrating why peace in the Middle East is not always a macro issue, but sometimes a micro issue about values and cultural differences. When discussing Lebanese history, Shadid puts much emphasis on the post World War I redrawing of boundaries in the Middle East that complicated the nomadic career of his great-grandfather and others who roamed the area from the Houran in Syria to the cities of Palestine in their search for business and wealth. His argument here is that the drawing of borders took away the life his great-grandfather and others enjoyed for hundreds of years, separating them from old ways and old friends. There is heavy emphasis on the sins of the French, who were given Lebanon to administer, and, of course, on the Israelis. After the Ottoman Empire, which was not a benign regime, fell at then end of the First World War, many Lebanese wanted to try self rule, but before long, they fell into sectarian violence based on religious affiliation that continues to this day. It is difficult to see how they could have ended up at a different place, whether the French came between or they were left alone to make their own decisions. When it comes to the Shadid and Samara families, the barrage of names can be defeating to Americans. Nabeeh, Nabiha, Majib, Ratiba, Bahija and more. It was hard to keep track and equally difficult to separate Shadid from Samara at times. But the story itself, of a family who chose to separate in order to avoid the violence in Lebanon, was affecting. They worked hard, and became wealthy the old fashioned way. Shadid's writing style contributed to the reader's confusion as he jumped back and forth from time to time and person to person. The story never came to the reader in a straight line, but as a series of loops. There was a lot of repetition of facts, theories and events some of it necessary because one hadn't seen the character for several chapters and may have forgotten salient points. The writing was beautiful, though, and I imagine its lyrical nature was due to Shadid's desire to communicate the Lebanese/Bedouin/Christian nature that his Samara family inherited. This book was made more poignant by the fact of Shadid's early death of asthma while walking through the desert behind a horse. He threw himself into dangerous situations repeatedly, and had previously been shot, kidnapped and beaten in pursuit of the story. He neglected his family and lost his first marriage. He never felt completely at home in American culture or Marjayoun. He agonized about being a better family man while running away from family. He was warm, generous, caring and had a bad temper and difficulty making choices. He smoked too much and missed his family when he was working and his job when he was with family, always guilty that he was in the wrong place. His reporting was without peer, however, and the consensus is that he gave Americans a view of the Arab world that they would not otherwise have had. I hope he felt more at peace after his remarriage and the birth of his second child, a son. It's a worthwhile book, though I suspect you might begin to skim some of it!(less)

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Nov 02, 2012 Uwe Hook rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shadid was a war correspondent for the Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. He is the child of Lebanese Americans and grew up in Oklahoma.

In 2006, Shadid was a journalist covering the war in Lebanon (with Israel) when he heard that an Israeli rocket had crashed into the ancestral house his great-grandfather had built.

Shadid faces a spiritual crisis: he has lost his passion for covering war, his demanding career had affected his own life, contributing to the deterioration of h...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Marcy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anthony Shadid was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and with every page I read of this novel, he deserved this coveted prize. Anthony's great grandfather, Isber, left war-torn Lebanon with his family to live in America, where he could secure their future, "where his children could realize their ambitions and create their own families without the distractions of fear and conflict."

In better times in Marjayoun, Isber had built a magnificent "house of stone," done in the Levant style when life was...more Anthony Shadid was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and with every page I read of this novel, he deserved this coveted prize. Anthony's great grandfather, Isber, left war-torn Lebanon with his family to live in America, where he could secure their future, "where his children could realize their ambitions and create their own families without the distractions of fear and conflict."

In better times in Marjayoun, Isber had built a magnificent "house of stone," done in the Levant style when life was tolerant, and "more indulgent" in the Middle East. Isber's homeland "was, in essence, an amalgamation of diversities where many mingled, a realm of intersections, a crossroads of language, culture, religions, and traditions. All were welcome to pass through the territories and homelands within its landscape, where differences were often celebrated. In idea at least, the Levant was open-minded, cosmopolitan; it did not concern itself with particularities or narrow definitions or identities." The era after the Ottoman rule, lands were split up, and war ensued. "Two codes of justice, old imperial and new colonial, clashed and confused. Economies changed, currencies multiplied in the wake of the Ottoman Empire's collapse. First came the Egyptian pound, pegged to the British sterling, then the Syrian pound, fixed to the French franc. Sectarianism and nationalism, the dangerous kinds, reared their heads in spectacles of horror and cruelty." Isber's Lebanon "was perched before an abyss, more unpredictable than the Great War, and nothing, not France, not Arab leaders, not the British army across the border, not the potentates of the old order- could pull it back."

Anthony grew up in Oklahoma. He became a war correspondent and had covered three years of war in Iraq and Baghdad. His wife, "obsessed with the lethal aspects" of Anthony's career, divorced him. Tired of war and the stress of his life, Anthony had one desire, to return to his roots and transform Isber's war-torn home "to one of grace."

The community of eccentric people Anthony befriends and hires to rebuild "the house of stone" in his great-grandfather's home town bring tears to the readers' eye, mostly with laughter, and sometimes great sadness. Anthony listens endlessly to friends who hold grudges, and continue their feuds. He hires a list of characters to rebuild his great-grandfather's home - drinkers, smokers of cigarettes and pot, war-wounded, and Jean Abu, the elderly, indolent "leader" of the workers who smokes and drinks coffee all day, who actually never works on the house. The work on the house is always delayed. Workers do not show as promised, and Jean Abu's reaction to Anthony's pleading is "If this person doesn't come, if that person doesn't come, what am I supposed to do? Should I pull them by their ear, drag them, and make them work? Should I ask God to invite him over? Should I bring God from heaven and make him bring this guy here?"

Meanwhile, Anthony becomes obsessed with buying the Cemento tiles of the past, with the purpose to lay them in patterns on portions of each room's floor, to lift his great-grandfather's history, and bring back a bygone era. Anthony was in search of his identity, and influence of what Marjayoun used to represent during the height of the Ottoman empire. His great-grandfather's story rivals his own. Both stories captured my attention and my heart.

I was saddened to learn that Anthony Shadid lost his life before this book was published at age 43. Another writer wrote, "Knowing that Shadid lost his life shortly before this book was published makes each piece of tile he polished, each plant he nurtured, feel all the more significant. It also raises the quiestion: Who will watch the house now that this exceptional man is gone?"
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Oct 22, 2012 Rob Warner rated it 5 of 5 stars

As we age, our hearts eventually turn to our fathers, and we try to understand those who went before, what they were like, how they faced life, what challenges they overcame, and we gauge whether we measure up to our ancestors. House of Stone chronicles Shadid's return to his roots as he tries to restore the family home in Marjayoun, Lebanon, and also tries to understand his ancestors and his homeland. His quest evokes admiration for Shadid's family, sorrow for the tragedies they faced, and thou...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Julie Whelan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is meditative story of the author's return to the Lebanese town, Marjeyoun, where his ancestors lived. He goes there to rebuild and restore the family's home and his efforts stretch out to span the course of a year. We meet all of the neighbors, the town doctor, other returning ex-patriots, the suppliers and the workmen hired to help with the house. We learn what they like to eat, how they spend their days, and the hopeless despair they feel about the fate of their town and their country. W...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Catherine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shadid was a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, and his posthumous memoir has been promoted on several TV shows and web sites. I was really looking forward to delving into his book.

I’m so sad to say that this was a slog from start to finish. The book is partially about the renovation of his ancestor’s home in Lebanon. That portion of the story was typical of so many others I’ve read, full of construction delays, eccentric characters, and discovering “home.” But there was nothing really unique. For...more

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Mar 30, 2012 emi Bevacqua rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mideast

This is the first Anthony Shadid I've read and he came across as rather guarded. He's much more generous in his descriptions of the foibles and weaknesses of all his ancestors, neighbors and contractors. I did learn a good bit about Lebanon's history, and the country's identity within complicated constructs of cultures and politics (Christian, Muslim, Arab, Maronite, Druze, Levant...).

The story is about an American journalist who gets divorced and takes a leave of absence from the Washington Po...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Lily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lily by: Charles Rice - Light to Read By

Shelves: kindle

1) Journalistic in tone.
2) Sorry for author's death so soon after completion of this monumental effort.
3) Since this was in many ways a memoir, wanted at least a little more of how the author ended up with a second wife and a son by the end of the book, alongside the house-refurbishment and bayt story.
4) More repetitive on some themes than necessary -- more time to edit and rewrite could have been noticeable, especially true of some of the historic characters. The repetition did help a bit with...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Diane S. rated it 3 of 5 stars

A reporter, a man whose family had moved to the states from Lebanon, a man who had seen many wars and been many places and a man who returns to Lebanon, to the village of his forebears and decides to repair the family home that had been neglected and war torn and was in need of extensive repair. His writing is the writing of a reporter, his strength was in writing of the many abuses of wars. Dead bodies, bombs, destroyed families and the little things found that have been left behind as a testam...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Generally, I avoid memoirs, but since this book was up for the National Book Award, I decided to read it.

I am so glad I did.

Shadid combines the story of rebuilding his families' hundred year old home in Lebanon, which had been hit by a rocket, with his own story and that of his extended family. The story of rebuilding the house is captivating in itself. Anyone who has ever built a home or taken on a renovation project can relate to all the difficulities that Shadid experiences with finding and...more Generally, I avoid memoirs, but since this book was up for the National Book Award, I decided to read it.

I am so glad I did.

Shadid combines the story of rebuilding his families' hundred year old home in Lebanon, which had been hit by a rocket, with his own story and that of his extended family. The story of rebuilding the house is captivating in itself. Anyone who has ever built a home or taken on a renovation project can relate to all the difficulities that Shadid experiences with finding and affording appropriate materials and reliable and skilled workmen. However, because although he speaks Arabic, he is not at home in the land of his grandfathers, so his problems are much more difficult than running off to Home Depot or using the Yellow Pages. He also brings to life many of the people he meets in the town of Marjhoun. Abu Jean the general contractor who old,irrascible, very much in charge, but in the end reliable. Dr. Khairalla, the intellectual, who is a skilled gardener,and maker of stringed instruments.

The stories of Shadid's ancestors weave through out the book. The danger of war is present through out the span of time discussed in the book. Readers watch the past flow by as Shadid's grandparents send their children away to safety and opportunity in the United States. The book is the story of these immigrants success in the United States to become doctors, lawyers, and a grandson a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.

Almost finished with the book, I became curious about what Shadid was doing now, so I googled him only to find that he died in February 2012 at the age of 43 from an asthema attack. Knowing this made all the parts of the book where he addresses his young daughter about his hopes for her and his reasons for rebuilding the house more important. I learned that he remarried and had an infant son at the time of his death. At least, these children can come to know their father through this book. I was sadden to learn that we as readers had lost this talented writer with a sense of what is important in life.

I plan to read one of his other books Night Draws Near.

House of Stone is a wonderful read.
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May 01, 2012 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's important to put a face on history. This promises to be a good book from the first page. For a page turning story with beautiful words, dry sage humor, a culture/history memoir, and for thought provoking reading. A good book makes you want to read more. This is one of those.

I thought it would be more about Anthony Shadid, the man. He actually concentrates on making a visual picture of the place, the people, the culture through stories and encounters. And through in large part centered aroun...more It's important to put a face on history. This promises to be a good book from the first page. For a page turning story with beautiful words, dry sage humor, a culture/history memoir, and for thought provoking reading. A good book makes you want to read more. This is one of those.

I thought it would be more about Anthony Shadid, the man. He actually concentrates on making a visual picture of the place, the people, the culture through stories and encounters. And through in large part centered around the house of is Great Grandfather as he tries to rebuild it. Making it the symbol of his looking back into his family and the countries past history. You can miss this symbol. I was worried this wouldn't be a good book because some reviewed it as being too much about the details of his house building, which was boring to them.

He does some reminiscing on himself a bit, but brushes over that to build up a family tree story in snippets. As I read it I thought it seemed like that was to replace his lack of building his own family and choosing his career. Regaining his lost possibilities through understanding where he came from, and what brought him to now. A lost place, drifting people,and a lost man. Reading this gives you a sense of living the aftermath of years of living through a war torn place. Which it is, and this man personally saw a lot of that in his reporting. Lots of pages to chew on. Not a quick surface read. There is introspection involved. So it's not directly about him, but afterward you realize the book is entirely about how he became who he was. Too bad he didn't live to write more. The reading is like the first chapter. The last chapter maybe would have been the next book. More about himself directly. Still, it made me realize how much I didn't know. Which makes it a good book. I want to read more to find out.

I think it might be to shallow to take this book as his memoir. He remarried, had another child, went back to reporting. Now I think, after reading more about him (not enough, I'll read more,) that he's a very passionate knowledgeable man of the area(an understatement). With excellent writing skills. A really good understanding of people. It's not a superficial book or a simple man. He had grip on the convoluted turmoil of people's lives during war and past that.

Now I want to read more about him and also the area. It's a shame he couldn't have lived and wrote more. I appreciated his perspective. I was too busy with family life during his reporting years to pay attention. My loss. This book makes me want to dig backward and see what I missed.

I'm including these quotes from the New York times article about his death, because it shows through his poignant writing in this book:

“He had such a profound and sophisticated understanding of the region,” Martin Baron, the editor of The Boston Globe, for whom Mr. Shadid worked during his tenure there, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “More than anything, his effort to connect foreign coverage with real people on the ground, and to understand their lives, is what made his work so special. It wasn’t just a matter of diplomacy: it was a matter of people, and how their lives were so dramatically affected by world events.”

"The Times nominated him, along with a team of his colleagues, for the 2012 Pulitzer in international reporting. (The awards are announced in April.)

In its citation accompanying the nomination, The Times wrote:

“Steeped in Arab political history but also in its culture, Shadid recognized early on that along with the despots, old habits of fear, passivity and despair were being toppled. He brought a poet’s voice, a deep empathy for the ordinary person and an unmatched authority to his passionate dispatches.” "

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Jan 07, 2013 Judith Dollenmayer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anthony Shadid, who died too young and tragically, of asthma as he was fleeing Syria on horseback a year ago, writes elegiacally of returning to restore an ancestral house of stone in a Lebanese village perhaps 50 miles from Beirut. Mourning a broken marriage, he leaves Maryland (and the Wash.Post), takes a leave, hires a maddening construction crew of assorted craftsmen and charlatans, learning a lot in the process about Lebanon today. A few cousins remain in the village, and old clan-based ani...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: asia-africa, biographies-memoirs

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Jul 26, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir, non-fiction

http://philadelphiareviewofbooks.com/...

An almost fetishistic love of birds and, to a lesser extent, all the other observable powers of nature, drew Annie Proulx in 2006 to a new home in Wyoming on the North Platte River. The remote 640-acre ranch, comprising wetlands, prairie and 400-foot cliffs offered Proulx a blank slate on which to build not only a new house, but also a fully reclusive existence, a perch on which to observe the desolation of life in Big Sky country and to obsess over the th...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Ray rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Knowing that "House of Stone" was a National Book Award Non-Fiction Nominee for 2012, and that Anthony Shadid was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, I was eager to pick up this book. But only very few books prove to have universal appeal, and this book proved that point to me.

I wanted to enjoy it, and tried to like it, but it just wasn't a book for me. It's really something of a memoir of the author, and the book focused on the rebuilding of a long-held family home in Lebanon, built by the au...more

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May 13, 2012 Rula Bilbeisi rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Empires fall. Nations topple. Boarders may shift or be realigned. Old loyalties may dissolve or, without warning, be altered. Home, whether it be structure or familiar ground is, finally, the identity that does not fade.”

With such a profound introduction, the story begins. His poetic words and sincere emotions captivated my attention in the beginning, especially when describing how home “bayt” is perceived here, in the Middle East. I quote: “A house was a display of pride and in time it would b...more

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May 19, 2012 Dixie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, middle-east

With light, deft strokes Shadid limns the full circle of the immigrant experience, the sacrifices, the successes, the discrimination, the fear, the determination, and the search for roots, all viewed through the lens of the house that was left behind.

The themes are universal and the memoir would have made an affecting book even without the added piquancy of the Levantine setting. His clear-eyed picture of life in the midst of internal and external chaos gives us intimate glimpses of a seemingly...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Mary Kooistra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sort of "a year in Province" - only a year in Lebanon...where this Pulitzer prize winning reporter - takes a year to restore a house that belonged to his great grandparents. I like books that help me imagine what it is like to live in other places and situations, and this does that. Really makes the point as to the effect of ongoing conflict on the lives of those caught in the middle. Also effectively points out that until the European powers became involved at the end of the Ottoman Empire - th...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobiography, conflict, current-events, memior, non-fiction, travel, war, family

Anthony Shadid is a journalist by trade who wrote for the New York Times before he died and The Washington Post previously. He won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles he wrote in 2003 and 2004 about the personal side and hardships of the Iraq War before and after the American invasion. While covering the West Bank in 2002, he was shot by an Israeli sniper who did not recognize him as an American reporter but as a Palestinian. He recovered from his wounds and then covered Iraq for the Pos...more Anthony Shadid is a journalist by trade who wrote for the New York Times before he died and The Washington Post previously. He won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles he wrote in 2003 and 2004 about the personal side and hardships of the Iraq War before and after the American invasion. While covering the West Bank in 2002, he was shot by an Israeli sniper who did not recognize him as an American reporter but as a Palestinian. He recovered from his wounds and then covered Iraq for the Post. His wife who lived in Oklahoma City with their young daughter decided that she couldn't tolerate the distance often put between them and the risk to his life. She asked for a divorce. Sad and wanting to deal with the changes in his life, he ventured back to Lebanon where his extended family had left in waves. He moved to Marjaryam, his home town and back into his family's ancient home. The family in Oklahoma City worried about his sanity and he was very far away from his young daughter who couldn't understand why he was not with her. The town itself was amazed because people leave and leave for good for America, they don't come back to live there. In his memoir he recounts his effort to rebuild his house (and his life), learns about the neighbors (who criticize each other with abandon) and the town. The town is a place with no employment and very few people. The houses are mostly abandoned but the place is beautiful. But what good is a beautiful place without people or jobs the residents ask. Shadid takes the reader back to the end of the Ottoman Empire, an empire in which people of many languages, ethnicities and religions lived together in relative peace. Conflict came with its fall during WWI, attempt at independence and regional break ups between France and Britain as they colonized the spoils without regard to the residents. France was an unfriendly colonizer and many began to leave for America, the friendly Western country. The people continued coming through wars and conflicts that devastated the area. A wonderfully written tale of an attempt to rebuild a life through rebuilding a house and a history, I found myself very moved. Weeks after this book was published, Shadid was killed covering Libya for the New York Times as a revolution occurred. This makes the memoir even more poignant. (less)

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Mar 17, 2013 marcus miller rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-east

I plowed my way through this book. Maybe it was the self-pity the author admits to as he complains about the slow pace of rebuilding his ancestral house, his crumbling marriage, his relationship with his daughter, or the mess that is Lebanon, that made it difficult to read.

At times I wondered if Shadid didn't try to do to much. In telling the history of Lebanon, the story of rebuilding the house, the emigration of his ancestors to Oklahoma and Texas, plus comments about his job, marriage, and h...more

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May 07, 2013 Mal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pulitzer Prizer winning journalist Anthony Shadid shares his family history and memoir while returning home to rebuild and restore his great-grandfathers war ravaged home in Marjayoun Lebanon.

Mr. Shadid without a doubt was a gifted writer and his loss is felt throughout the world. His memoir is elegantly written and you sense the pride, necessity and importance this writing and project held close to his heart, his legacy.

Mr. Shadid discusses the issues of the Middle East as well as a intimate...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Abe rated it 5 of 5 stars

A very interesting and informative story about the author’s quest to restore the homestead of his ancestors in Lebanon. The restoration project is fraught with numerous construction problems typically Lebanese. His sojourn corresponds with the aftermath of Lebanon’s civil war. The story was of special interest to me since I was in Lebanon during the early stages of the Civil War and knew members of the Samara family related to the author in this story. The struggle of their emigration to America...more

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About Anthony Shadid

Anthony Shadid was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times. Until December 2009, he served as the Baghdad bureau chief of the Washington Post. Over a 15-year career, he reported from most countries in the Middle East.

Shadid won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2004 for his coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the occupation that followed. He won the Pulitzer Prize agai...more

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Books by Anthony Shadid

Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War

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