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A review by koreilly
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid
3.0
Anthony Shadid paints a convincing and heartfelt portrait of small town life in Lebanon. All of the gossip, political anxiety and sense of tradition are present, along with a cast of colorful characters (exclusively male sadly, but more on that later) with quirks and outsized personalities bring his ancestor's home of Marjayoun to life.
The only thing is that he does this for a long time and greatly overstays his welcome. The book mainly consists of a few things, anecdotes of meetings he had with townspeople, reflections on the history and current state of conflict in Lebanon and the story of his great grandparents eventual emigration to America. Paired down with the help of a skillful editor, these could've made a compelling and interesting story but left as they are in the book right now, it turns into a predictable and momentum-less mess.
Shadid is more than happy to gloss over the more shady part of his Great Grandfather's forture (he got rich from selling wheat to the British but never farmed a day in his life. Make from that what you will), to try and create an interesting story where one isn't there. And the portraits of townspeople are well-rendered and endearing as you really begin to feel like you know these people but in the arduous task of trying to build the house, there is very little development. They postpone tasks, argue and drink coffee. That sums up a good couple hundred pages. Oh and they all talk shit about each other behind their backs. That too.
Shadid also doesn't dwell on the troubles of women in rural Lebanon, never once meeting a female character who wasn't someone's wife. While this is understandable due to some cultural differences, the refusal to comment on it is not.
Honestly, I was most fascinated by the portions that dealth with the embattled history of Lebanon from it's arbitrary border establishments in the 1920s to the constant over-eager retaliatory strikes from the war-mongers in Israel. I found myself wondering why I wasn't just reading about that exclusively if it was what interested me most.
The only thing is that he does this for a long time and greatly overstays his welcome. The book mainly consists of a few things, anecdotes of meetings he had with townspeople, reflections on the history and current state of conflict in Lebanon and the story of his great grandparents eventual emigration to America. Paired down with the help of a skillful editor, these could've made a compelling and interesting story but left as they are in the book right now, it turns into a predictable and momentum-less mess.
Shadid is more than happy to gloss over the more shady part of his Great Grandfather's forture (he got rich from selling wheat to the British but never farmed a day in his life. Make from that what you will), to try and create an interesting story where one isn't there. And the portraits of townspeople are well-rendered and endearing as you really begin to feel like you know these people but in the arduous task of trying to build the house, there is very little development. They postpone tasks, argue and drink coffee. That sums up a good couple hundred pages. Oh and they all talk shit about each other behind their backs. That too.
Shadid also doesn't dwell on the troubles of women in rural Lebanon, never once meeting a female character who wasn't someone's wife. While this is understandable due to some cultural differences, the refusal to comment on it is not.
Honestly, I was most fascinated by the portions that dealth with the embattled history of Lebanon from it's arbitrary border establishments in the 1920s to the constant over-eager retaliatory strikes from the war-mongers in Israel. I found myself wondering why I wasn't just reading about that exclusively if it was what interested me most.