paul chaderjian

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 ...

--> Review by Paul Chaderjian The Daydreaming Boy By Micheline Aharonian Marcom Riverhead Books, Penguin Group Literature crosses into uncharted boundaries with Micheline Aharonian Marcom's genius introspection of the psychology of an Armenian Genocide survivor five decades after the great catastrophe. More than a just another book, more than just another survivor story, more than scenes and dialogue, "The Daydreaming Boy" is a like prayer, an homage, a poetic mantra of images, thoughts, sounds and feelings. It's a hymn that flows like music, like a waterfall or like a desperate jump into an uncharted ocean of emotions. "The Daydreaming Boy" sways and lullabies, informs and challenges, races into the past and to the future. It invites the reader into a dream state, where capturing a reader's attention is no longer the object and empathy is not just a longing but a reality. This literary daydream is a collective trance state ...

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...