Why a Booktrail?
1990s: A boy returns to his homeland of Beirut in the search for his father
The Storyteller
What you need to know before your trail
Samir leaves the safety and comfort of his family’s adopted home in Germany for volatile Beirut in an attempt to find his missing father. His only clues are an old photo and the bedtime stories his father used to tell him. The Storyteller follows Samir’s search for Brahim, the father whose heart was always yearning for his homeland, Lebanon. In this moving and gripping novel about family secrets, love, and friendship, Pierre Jarawan does for Lebanon what Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan. He pulls away the curtain of grim facts and figures to reveal the intimate story of an exiled family torn apart by civil war and guilt. In this rich and skillful account,
Travel Guide
Travel to Lebanon BookTrail style with Pierre Jarawan and The Storyteller
A journey of two parts – a family moves from war-torn Beirut to Germany and then years later, a young boy returns to his homeland, one he doesn’t know, and searches for answers about his family.
Beirut
It’s a fascinating way of seeing Beirut through the eyes of a young boy, now a young man as he searches for answers and at the same time walks the footsteps of his father and family members. It is a city of memories, impressions, contrasts, hope and fear….
“Bright lights, throbbing sounds. Beirut by night, a sparkling beauty, a twinkling tiara, a breathless trail of flickering lights.”
The stories his father told, about the land, the landscape, people and the political history of the country are interwoven with style. There’s a short history at the end of the book which helps to explain the background behind the novel and this is very helpful and easy to understand. This country is the story, the story is the country. What it means to be Lebanese, an immigrant and more.
There is a lot of information and atmosphere around the Civil War and the fact that Beirut was a divided city during it. Samir recognizes the divisions and the difference between East and West when he returns. There is a definite religious divide too with more churches in the East and more Mosques in the West.
“Beirut is pure joy and pure sorrow all at once. Beirut is forgiveness. Beirut is limping, confused, and scarred, but still dancing. Beirut is like me.”
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Storyteller
Destination: Beirut, Lebanon Author/guide: Pierre Jarawan Departure: 1990s
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