The Lebanese Civil War revisited
review by Paul Chaderjian
The Bullet Collection
by Patricia Sarrafian Ward
Graywolf Press
If depression is imprisoned and unexpressed rage, the trauma, rage and
scars of the Lebanese Civil War is finally being addressed through the
new literary voice of a generation of survivors like novelist Patricia
Sarrafian Ward.
In her debut novel, "The Bullet Collection," those who witnessed the
annihilation of the Paris of the Middle East come to life to address
the psychological effects of bombs, sniper fire, shelling, air raids
and violent bloodshed.
Sarrafian Ward, a Lebanese native who moved to the US in 1987,
effortlessly captures the history and images of a catastrophe through
the minds and hearts of one Lebanese family, whose typical and
atypical idiosyncrasies are a true reflection to thousands who
witnessed, escaped or simply ignored the reality of a violent and
heartless war.
While some lost their homes and wealth, others lost their loved ones
or their grasp on reality. Some of those whose stories Sarrafian Ward
contributes to world literature escaped the violence, while others
stayed, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. These are the
people of "The Bullet Collection," generations seldom noted in the
annals of literature, the people buried in the unpublished articles
about war and peace.
Sarrafian Ward's mastery of the English language brings to life the
stories of the sons and daughters of the Armenian Genocide, who while
struggling to rebuild their lives and still searching for their true
ethnic and national identities, found themselves yet in the middle of
another catastrophe. Their families were torn apart by the Ottoman
Empire and 60 years later their lives were torn apart, once again, by
the politics of religion and superpowers serving volleys to quench one
another's appetites for regional control.
Images of what once was, the innocence and beautify of the magical
Lebanon -- the bountiful fields of the Bekka Valley, the scrumptious
cuisine of many cultures, mountain homes near the biblical Cedars and
the nightlife on the inspiring shores of its Corniche -- are the
setting for Sarrafian Ward's poetic, lyrical, captivating and
unsettling story of a family whose past and future meld to tell the
story of a people caught in the crossfire, torn apart and left to
salvage their mental well-being in foreign cities across seas and
oceans.
"The Bullett Collection" is the stunning story of two young sisters,
their American father, a historian grappling with history in the
making, and their Armenian mother whose ancestry's turbulent pass
remains an obsession and at the same time a distant historic unknown.
Born into this is the blond haired blue-eyed Marianna and her
dark-eyed sister Alaine.
As the violence of the civil war ignites, as Syria and Israel invade
and retreat, it is first Alaine who is traumatized and acts out
against herself and her family. But when the children are removed from
the war zone to the foreign desolation of New England, Mariana and
Alaine experience a transference, and Mariana begins to suffer from a
chronic maladjustment that challenges her well-being and their family
dynamics.
"The Bullet Collection" is a must-read epic of modern war, a tale of
what once was the magic of Beirut, the nightmare that assaulted two
generations of Genocide survivors, and the courage nameless victims
were forced to find to keep the rage and depression of war from
infecting a people's collective well-being and collective soul.
The Bullet Collection
by Patricia Sarrafian Ward
Graywolf Press
If depression is imprisoned and unexpressed rage, the trauma, rage and
scars of the Lebanese Civil War is finally being addressed through the
new literary voice of a generation of survivors like novelist Patricia
Sarrafian Ward.
In her debut novel, "The Bullet Collection," those who witnessed the
annihilation of the Paris of the Middle East come to life to address
the psychological effects of bombs, sniper fire, shelling, air raids
and violent bloodshed.
Sarrafian Ward, a Lebanese native who moved to the US in 1987,
effortlessly captures the history and images of a catastrophe through
the minds and hearts of one Lebanese family, whose typical and
atypical idiosyncrasies are a true reflection to thousands who
witnessed, escaped or simply ignored the reality of a violent and
heartless war.
While some lost their homes and wealth, others lost their loved ones
or their grasp on reality. Some of those whose stories Sarrafian Ward
contributes to world literature escaped the violence, while others
stayed, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. These are the
people of "The Bullet Collection," generations seldom noted in the
annals of literature, the people buried in the unpublished articles
about war and peace.
Sarrafian Ward's mastery of the English language brings to life the
stories of the sons and daughters of the Armenian Genocide, who while
struggling to rebuild their lives and still searching for their true
ethnic and national identities, found themselves yet in the middle of
another catastrophe. Their families were torn apart by the Ottoman
Empire and 60 years later their lives were torn apart, once again, by
the politics of religion and superpowers serving volleys to quench one
another's appetites for regional control.
Images of what once was, the innocence and beautify of the magical
Lebanon -- the bountiful fields of the Bekka Valley, the scrumptious
cuisine of many cultures, mountain homes near the biblical Cedars and
the nightlife on the inspiring shores of its Corniche -- are the
setting for Sarrafian Ward's poetic, lyrical, captivating and
unsettling story of a family whose past and future meld to tell the
story of a people caught in the crossfire, torn apart and left to
salvage their mental well-being in foreign cities across seas and
oceans.
"The Bullett Collection" is the stunning story of two young sisters,
their American father, a historian grappling with history in the
making, and their Armenian mother whose ancestry's turbulent pass
remains an obsession and at the same time a distant historic unknown.
Born into this is the blond haired blue-eyed Marianna and her
dark-eyed sister Alaine.
As the violence of the civil war ignites, as Syria and Israel invade
and retreat, it is first Alaine who is traumatized and acts out
against herself and her family. But when the children are removed from
the war zone to the foreign desolation of New England, Mariana and
Alaine experience a transference, and Mariana begins to suffer from a
chronic maladjustment that challenges her well-being and their family
dynamics.
"The Bullet Collection" is a must-read epic of modern war, a tale of
what once was the magic of Beirut, the nightmare that assaulted two
generations of Genocide survivors, and the courage nameless victims
were forced to find to keep the rage and depression of war from
infecting a people's collective well-being and collective soul.
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