Once Upon A Time In Beirut: A Journey To The Heart of the Middle East

by Catherine Taylor

Beirut isn't an obvious home for a young Australian couple, but when the opportunity arose for journalist Catherine Taylor and her husband to move to Lebanon, they didn't think twice about leaving their comfortable life in Sydney.Catherine soon fell in love with the Paris of the Middle East and became fascinated by the complexity of its their exuberant and loving nature seemed to belie the many dark years of bloodshed and conflict they'd endured.She set about trying to understand the region, interviewing the wives of suicide bombers, Lebanese hashish farmers, stricken Palestinians on the West Bank, female boxing contestants in Cairo, Hezbollah fighters, and even Osama bin Laden's best friend. She also witnessed firsthand the impact of 9/11 on the region.Gradually she learnt to negotiate these very different cultures with humour and more than the occasional faux pas. When she reluctantly left after several years she vowed to return. In 2006, after the violence flared up again between Israel and Lebanon, she went back to see how her adopted country and friends had coped, and how, with their remarkable resilience, they saw the way forward.

Genres: Lebanon, Middle East, Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir

364 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Muphyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A journalist's exploration into the Middle East... Catherine Taylor, an Australian journalist, recounts the four years she spent living and working in Beirut, covering politics in the Middle East. Not knowing all that much about the Middle East, I found her stories of people she met and her discovering life in Beirut really quite fascinating. During the four years she spent there, she travelled to Gaza, covered the war in Iraq, spent some time in Egypt covering a women's boxing championship, discovered and enjoyed life in Lebanon, and dug into the life of Hezbollah fighters.

Her personal feelings and thoughts on living in the Middle East as a Western woman are nicely balanced with, sometimes heartwrenching, stories of people she encountered and/or formed deep friendships with.

Makes me want to read more about the Middle East, travel there and discover it myself, and try some of the awesome food she describes!! :)

[Josh Shephard]

I never considered traveling to Lebanon before, now it's top on my list.

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 / 5)

A fascinating read, as I do like to hear about cultures different to my own, and some of the stories shared by the residents of Lebanon are quite heartbreaking. The only problem is that it does drag towards the end, and just when things get interesting again (that is, when Taylor returns to Beirut when war has broken out again) it is dealt with quite quickly and not in as much detail as we have been subjected to previously.

[Anita Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Well written, draws you in, explains the politics without being political.

[Cat Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a journalist by trade can be both a help and a hindrance in writing personal stories and especially an entire book rather than a collection of stories. Catherine has written a moving, evocative and highly readable memoir of her time living in Beirut with her foreign correspondent husband. Coming fresh off Charmian Clift's marvellous memoir of her Greek life with her journalist husband (seeing a pattern here...?), the standard was set high. This isn't the beautiful chaos that Charmian and George lived in but it's absolutely relevant now and will be always, I suspect. The intermingling of superficial obsessions with jewellery, glamourous hair, perfect makeup and visage alongside poverty, violence, orthodox religious practices is common to all cities. The fact that devastation has truly visited upon Turkey and Syria now and this is a window into daily life before the utter carnage that developed makes it an eminently timely read. For the wanderlust, the journalist, the passionate writer and seeker of human stories and experience...read Catherine's book and keenly await her next adventure.

[Nola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a portrait of the Middle East, the conflict and having to try and live within it. An interesting memoir.

[Neen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read. It is a memoir of sorts - for a brief time in her life when she lived in Beirut. It is good to have some idea of what it is like for people living in this tortured but eerily romantic city.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

posted a review here...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Once-upon-a-t...

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about Lebanon, Syria, Israel/Palestine, Iran and Iraq - written by Australian Journalist Catherine Taylor. Highly recommended.

[Pinkgreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating Quality non-fiction told in freaking beautiful prose ! I want to read more from this author.

[VSY · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say I just couldn't get into this book, much and all as I wanted to. When I read a memoir, I want to get to know the author, but in this memoir I felt the author remained distant.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this.

[Velvetink]

1 of 21 books for $10. 2/10/12