Book- Beirut Blues

Hanan al-Shaykh, a native Lebanese writes a hugely evocative novel about her homeland. Beirut Blues is told through a series of letters written by the main character, Asmaran, a woman who has decided to stay in war-ravaged Beirut. The letters are not just to people, they are to the city, and the war also. And those that are to people, you must doubt that they are ever sent---the letters are just a way for Asmaran to tell her feelings about the calamity that surrounds her, as civil wars rage through the city.

And the novel is like the blues. So sad in many ways, a lament for something now gone, that you hope to find again, if you can just stick it out. It is the blues of love, but a love that is no longer valid, but you hope to find again. This is Beirut Blues.

Each letter seems to capture part of Asmaran's story of her life, and how she decided to stay in Lebanon. It is her reflection on those who left, and her confusion as the many sides of the civil war keep changing alliances, and of outside countries invading to try to ostensibly keep the peace, but in reality to make Lebanon dependent on them.

Al-Shaykh writes wonderfully, with her character confused, disoriented but strong too. Each chapter is the beginning of a new letter, but it tells a complete story. Her letter to the war itself is particularly poignant. Beirut Blues captures the soul of this woman, and perhaps the also the soul of the city and country it is an ode to.