What part of the book had the biggest impact on you?

[Cait]

Was there a particular story, event, or location that stood out to you more than others?

[Cait]

I was struck by a lot of things in the book... a hard read, but I'm glad I did it. The one that continuously struck me was how Yazbek wrote about her horror at the fact that Syrians are killing Syrians - "I am going to cry as soon as I get out of here, as I return to the taxi all alone I will cry for all the Syrian boys being killed by Syrian men", and that the regime has turned ordinary people into monsters and murderers - "I pity those starving men stuffed into the buses, a tiny monster lurking inside each one of them." It obviously made me think about how that is still happening in Syria, but it made me think about how it happens everywhere... obviously nobody bombed Standing Rock, but the U.S. did use war tactics against it - gas, fire hoses, rubber bullets, and that short-lived attempt to fine people for bringing in supplies. There is something totally abnormal and yet simultaneously totally normal (as in it happens all the time) about governments turning on the people they are supposed to protect. What stuck out to everyone else?

[Elizabeth]

Again, before I even clicked to see your response to this I already had a similar response in mind. Yazbek's description of the murderers all around them, how they appear out of nowhere and make up a big proportion of the people around her, is chilling. The murderers are her neighbors, the ordinary people surrounding her. Another thing that sticks with me is the way the security forces continually shoot into crowds of unarmed people. I find this really hard to read, especially because it keeps happening and happening. And they keep going back day after day even though they know that there's a good chance they're walking straight into suicide! I really can't imagine the strength it must have taken to stand up like that. It is very sobering especially in the context of what's going on in the US right now. Sure we're all going to protests, and maybe some even feel all righteous about doing it, but it is a whole different ballgame when you're risking your life for a protest, and doing it day after day. Those who are really taking risks like Yazbek are the real heroes worth celebrating.

[Cait]

Yeah that thought occurred to me as well... also I found myself continuously holding two thoughts about this: Yazbek was so brave throughout, when she was being targeted. But also, the "ordinary" people on the street were SO brave as well. The stuff that Yazbek went through was in no way ok, but there is a difference between her power as an Alawite and as an academic that caused them to keep trying to convince and intimidate her into silence, versus the people who, as you said, piled into the street even though there was a very real chance that they would be murdered - not intimidated, but just killed outright.

Another thing that sort of stood out to me, I guess, was how I had to continuously remind myself that everything about this was real - not because I thought she was lying or anything like that, but because the sheer horribleness, and the repetition, could get overwhelming like my brain literally refused to understand that this happened. That was part of the reason I was so slow at reading the book, not just because it was emotionally difficult to read, but because my mind couldn't comprehend too much of it at once.

[Becki]

I agree with all of the above. My biggest standout was Yazbek herself. She gave up everything to participate and to share these stories with the world- something she did not have to do but has done with such heartbreaking success. She is instrumental in the wider world's understanding of the crisis. I wish we could say that that understanding has had a more tangible effect on finding a constructive way to end it, but at least no country can say they didn't know. Without her fortitude I don't think we would have nearly the level of detail of these atrocities, how widely they occurred, or have known so quickly about how bad things were. It is a beautiful gift to all those who died that she put together such a moving testament to their suffering. This was such a hard read but I'm very glad I did it.