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moniwicz's review against another edition
4.0
Fisk wrote this absolute monolith of reportage about his life living, reporting, and speculating on a country that has suffered in horrifying disproportion to the length time in which it could be called a country (1923, The French Mandat).
At the time of my trip to the country I was around the 5/6th mark, and serendipitously therefore, had read nothing about the real threat to foreigners of kidnap (people had joked to me about kidnap on multiple occasions but I never really heard them). While there I wondered how Fisky would have written about the Beirut explosion and the 2019 economic crisis - now 100,000 Lebanese pounds to the US dollar as opposed to 3. He would probably not have been surprised about a country whose identity is defined by its suffering. Such is the lot of the Lebanese.
The Lebanese are also the only country I know of with three official languages but where, as I see it, none of them are spoken so good by anyone.
Fisk builds up to the Chatila and Sabra Palestinian camp massacres by the Phalangist militias with premonition that was only slightly less disturbing than the descriptions of the piles of bloated bodies and pervasive lack of remorse.
The Israeli expulsion of the Palestinians into Lebanon essentially displaced a conflict that could very well have stayed in Israel. Lebanon suffers. A country with already strained and cracked by religious factionalism [sic] harmony.
It seems to me that on a broad level the Christians and Muslims in Lebanon acted similarly, despite their obvious differences. Each massacre had its parallel massacre. Each Army militia had another very similar opposing guerilla force. Each devastated, good Christian civilian family was mirrored in a poor Shia house in the neighbouring town. There were certain small or large details, which were important, for example, Maronite Christians, holding positions of political. The Invading Israeli state (still not honoured with verbal recognition by a great number of Lebanese, I noted while there) destabilised and aggressed both.
Syrian involvement was baffling to me as up to its entry I simplified and understood most of the internal conflict down religious lines. The Syrians maintained (even with shifting alliance and sypathy over the decades) a hostility towards PLO action and Palestinian settlement despite their common Islamic faith (although Shia/Sunni/Alawite divide could be to blame).
The book was published in 1991, the same year Terry Anderson would be released by Shia Hezbollah militants of Islamic Jihad.
At the time of my trip to the country I was around the 5/6th mark, and serendipitously therefore, had read nothing about the real threat to foreigners of kidnap (people had joked to me about kidnap on multiple occasions but I never really heard them). While there I wondered how Fisky would have written about the Beirut explosion and the 2019 economic crisis - now 100,000 Lebanese pounds to the US dollar as opposed to 3. He would probably not have been surprised about a country whose identity is defined by its suffering. Such is the lot of the Lebanese.
The Lebanese are also the only country I know of with three official languages but where, as I see it, none of them are spoken so good by anyone.
Fisk builds up to the Chatila and Sabra Palestinian camp massacres by the Phalangist militias with premonition that was only slightly less disturbing than the descriptions of the piles of bloated bodies and pervasive lack of remorse.
The Israeli expulsion of the Palestinians into Lebanon essentially displaced a conflict that could very well have stayed in Israel. Lebanon suffers. A country with already strained and cracked by religious factionalism [sic] harmony.
It seems to me that on a broad level the Christians and Muslims in Lebanon acted similarly, despite their obvious differences. Each massacre had its parallel massacre. Each Army militia had another very similar opposing guerilla force. Each devastated, good Christian civilian family was mirrored in a poor Shia house in the neighbouring town. There were certain small or large details, which were important, for example, Maronite Christians, holding positions of political. The Invading Israeli state (still not honoured with verbal recognition by a great number of Lebanese, I noted while there) destabilised and aggressed both.
Syrian involvement was baffling to me as up to its entry I simplified and understood most of the internal conflict down religious lines. The Syrians maintained (even with shifting alliance and sypathy over the decades) a hostility towards PLO action and Palestinian settlement despite their common Islamic faith (although Shia/Sunni/Alawite divide could be to blame).
The book was published in 1991, the same year Terry Anderson would be released by Shia Hezbollah militants of Islamic Jihad.
trishadenise's review
3.0
interest sparked by my visit to lebanon (obviously), recommended by my italian/lebanese(dutch) friend farah (thanks, girl)...i've already learned much from this revealing book
mubeenirfan's review
5.0
There are a very few writers you come across who change your entire outlook on certain aspects of human life. For me that writer was Robert Fisk who changed the way I used to perceive the geo-political situation around me and about the suffering of world in general. The Great War for Civilisation (TGW) is (and probably will) remain the book I will keep referring back to whenever I want to understand and lament on what the world has come to due to big agendas of world powers.
Ever since I had read TGW, I wanted to read Fisk's earlier book, Pity the nation to understand deeper the civil war in Lebanon which I had kept hearing about in my teens but was not bothered to research more about at that time. Why I did not read his book earlier was simply because I felt I cannot digest it so soon after reading TGW. There was too much gloom in TGW for me to deep dive into further abyss of human suffering. But I finally picked it up in order to round up a devastating 2016 which has probably been a very rough year in all aspects and so thought, why the hell not.
Robert Fisk is a pacifist. He hates wars for any reason whatsoever. And for that person to witness and then write about Sabra, Shatila & Qana massacres? I can only imagine what he must have gone through knowing I had to stop reading the book several times to close my eyes in hopes of forgetting the tragedy I was visualising through his written words. The book goes in detail on the Lebanese civil war of 80s and the population it consumed (be it politicians, warlords or civilians). Interestingly, the latest Lebanon election has brought the same characters or their descendants back into power folds which makes one wonder if everything in this world does come to full circle eventually.
This book is a master class but is heartbreaking. You will weep if you are sensitive or plunge into a dark mood if you are not, but there is no escaping it.
The title is from a Kahlil Jibran poem who is a famous son of lebanese soil and the poem can be read in full in the link below:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/744795-pity-the-nation-that-is-full-of-beliefs-and-empty
Ever since I had read TGW, I wanted to read Fisk's earlier book, Pity the nation to understand deeper the civil war in Lebanon which I had kept hearing about in my teens but was not bothered to research more about at that time. Why I did not read his book earlier was simply because I felt I cannot digest it so soon after reading TGW. There was too much gloom in TGW for me to deep dive into further abyss of human suffering. But I finally picked it up in order to round up a devastating 2016 which has probably been a very rough year in all aspects and so thought, why the hell not.
Robert Fisk is a pacifist. He hates wars for any reason whatsoever. And for that person to witness and then write about Sabra, Shatila & Qana massacres? I can only imagine what he must have gone through knowing I had to stop reading the book several times to close my eyes in hopes of forgetting the tragedy I was visualising through his written words. The book goes in detail on the Lebanese civil war of 80s and the population it consumed (be it politicians, warlords or civilians). Interestingly, the latest Lebanon election has brought the same characters or their descendants back into power folds which makes one wonder if everything in this world does come to full circle eventually.
This book is a master class but is heartbreaking. You will weep if you are sensitive or plunge into a dark mood if you are not, but there is no escaping it.
The title is from a Kahlil Jibran poem who is a famous son of lebanese soil and the poem can be read in full in the link below:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/744795-pity-the-nation-that-is-full-of-beliefs-and-empty
mcparks's review
5.0
Lots of fascinating history but the narration meanders a lot. Unfortunately, this history is just so, so brutal to experience. After the 3rd time I found myself crying, I just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe someday I will finish this.
elturko64's review
5.0
Powerful book. Easily one of the greatest non-fiction books. Though I don't think I can read this book again from the sheer horror that was inflicted on everyone during this civil war.
miscbrah's review against another edition
5.0
Absolute world class novel depicting the tragic events that occurred in Lebanon during the 70s-1990. So much unnecessary war,genocide, corruption, and more. Took a world history class in HS.... never once did they mention any of this shit except how great Israel is. I can't believe I went through life never knowing about what occurred here and all the wars/different minorities/religions and so forth in the Middle East.
Amazing author with some invaluable experience to put forth to his readers.
A MUST READ!
Amazing author with some invaluable experience to put forth to his readers.
A MUST READ!
smartipants8's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book immediately after returning from the Lebanon Conflict. I was appalled and traumatized by what I read - and to be honest - about what I saw even though it was not as bad as the civil war. I had to put it down because I was so filled with fury and the stupid egotistical men who wage wars and destroy the lives of men, women, and children.
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