This Arab Life: A Generation's Journey into Silence
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- Create Date：2022-10-17 04:16:39
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：Amal Ghandour
- ISBN：1954805268
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Summary
This Arab Life is an intimate and honest exploration of a rising Arab generation’s descent into silence。 Personal and panoramic， granular and sweeping， the book offers a raw account of the unremitting mire that anticipates the region’s present-day chaos。
In an unusual twist， the author， a daughter of the Levant who claims Jordan and Lebanon as her homes， locates her own privileged class in this painful history and holds a mirror to herself and her fellow travelers。 In doing so， she threads a generational tale with grit， color， and nuance。
This Arab Life begins in Amman in the Summer of 1973， and concludes in Beirut in December 2021。 But the narrative encompasses a world by turns distant and faded， near and vital。
Editorial Reviews:
Born of Lebanese parents and having spent most of her formative years in Jordan from the 1960s through to the early twenty-first century， Amal Ghandour was part of a generation that saw and experienced the unsparing tide of Arab politics and its unhappy consequences。 Amal’s family， including her father， had moved to Jordan after her father was sentenced to death in Lebanon。 From the perspective of a member of the upper classes in her society， which was Amal’s background， she gives a lucid account of her life and encounters as she grew up in the Levant region in This Arab Life: A Generation’s Journey Into Silence。 Get yourself Amal’s memoir to find out more。
Amal Ghandour’s memoir took me through an eventful and emotional ride that was riddled with heart-wrenching， agonizing， and yet at the same time， gratifying and witty anecdotes。 She paints a perfect picture of what her childhood involved， and most importantly what it felt like growing up as an Arab girl。 She captures the mood and setting of her Arabian homeland， enunciating the tension that pervaded the social and political norms of the region。 Amal addresses many sensitive topics that span religion， politics， and family。 She graces her narration with pictures and quotes which made the reading experience engaging。 This Arab Life will appeal to enthusiasts of culture and politics。— Keith Mbuya
Community development specialist and author Ghandour reflects on her life growing up amid the political tumult of the Middle East and her generation’s response to it。
The author was born in Lebanon in 1962， but when she was only 5 months old， her family was compelled to flee the country for Jordan when her father， Ali， was sentenced to death by the Lebanese state for his alleged involvement in an attempted coup。 She was raised in Amman and experienced a peculiar kind of stability in the wake of its civil war， which finally settled into an “ugly memory。” Still， there were always paroxysms of unrest—so many， in fact， that they became nearly indistinguishable from the normal rhythms of life and led to a kind of acquiescent “atrophy，” as the author puts it。 Ghandour’s experience was colored by her own privilege， which provided her family with a means of escape and her with an education in the United States that afforded her a taste of “unencumbered aliveness。” However， the author also tells of being plagued by the “listlessness” of a generation that came of “political age” in the 1980s but had allowed itself to be silenced—a predicament that Ghandour affectingly portrays in these pages。 Specifically， her account includes an astute interpretation of the uprisings that roiled the Arab world in 2011—the shock of their promise as well as their disappointments: “I don’t know if my generation understood the meaning of what we saw…or if we knew， were at a loss about our options， and so decided to sell out。” Over the course of this memoir， her prose is poetically precise and as sharp as her encounter with cultural and philosophical ambivalence permits。 Overall， this is a disarmingly candid memoir in which Ghandour takes herself and her entire generation to task for the manner in which they may have been complicit in the Arab world’s political failures。 As such， it’s a gripping remembrance and one that’s as clear as it is dramatic。
An unflinching depiction of an author’s complex international experiences。— Kirkus Reviews
In an unusual twist， the author， a daughter of the Levant who claims Jordan and Lebanon as her homes， locates her own privileged class in this painful history and holds a mirror to herself and her fellow travelers。 In doing so， she threads a generational tale with grit， color， and nuance。
This Arab Life begins in Amman in the Summer of 1973， and concludes in Beirut in December 2021。 But the narrative encompasses a world by turns distant and faded， near and vital。
Editorial Reviews:
Born of Lebanese parents and having spent most of her formative years in Jordan from the 1960s through to the early twenty-first century， Amal Ghandour was part of a generation that saw and experienced the unsparing tide of Arab politics and its unhappy consequences。 Amal’s family， including her father， had moved to Jordan after her father was sentenced to death in Lebanon。 From the perspective of a member of the upper classes in her society， which was Amal’s background， she gives a lucid account of her life and encounters as she grew up in the Levant region in This Arab Life: A Generation’s Journey Into Silence。 Get yourself Amal’s memoir to find out more。
Amal Ghandour’s memoir took me through an eventful and emotional ride that was riddled with heart-wrenching， agonizing， and yet at the same time， gratifying and witty anecdotes。 She paints a perfect picture of what her childhood involved， and most importantly what it felt like growing up as an Arab girl。 She captures the mood and setting of her Arabian homeland， enunciating the tension that pervaded the social and political norms of the region。 Amal addresses many sensitive topics that span religion， politics， and family。 She graces her narration with pictures and quotes which made the reading experience engaging。 This Arab Life will appeal to enthusiasts of culture and politics。— Keith Mbuya
Community development specialist and author Ghandour reflects on her life growing up amid the political tumult of the Middle East and her generation’s response to it。
The author was born in Lebanon in 1962， but when she was only 5 months old， her family was compelled to flee the country for Jordan when her father， Ali， was sentenced to death by the Lebanese state for his alleged involvement in an attempted coup。 She was raised in Amman and experienced a peculiar kind of stability in the wake of its civil war， which finally settled into an “ugly memory。” Still， there were always paroxysms of unrest—so many， in fact， that they became nearly indistinguishable from the normal rhythms of life and led to a kind of acquiescent “atrophy，” as the author puts it。 Ghandour’s experience was colored by her own privilege， which provided her family with a means of escape and her with an education in the United States that afforded her a taste of “unencumbered aliveness。” However， the author also tells of being plagued by the “listlessness” of a generation that came of “political age” in the 1980s but had allowed itself to be silenced—a predicament that Ghandour affectingly portrays in these pages。 Specifically， her account includes an astute interpretation of the uprisings that roiled the Arab world in 2011—the shock of their promise as well as their disappointments: “I don’t know if my generation understood the meaning of what we saw…or if we knew， were at a loss about our options， and so decided to sell out。” Over the course of this memoir， her prose is poetically precise and as sharp as her encounter with cultural and philosophical ambivalence permits。 Overall， this is a disarmingly candid memoir in which Ghandour takes herself and her entire generation to task for the manner in which they may have been complicit in the Arab world’s political failures。 As such， it’s a gripping remembrance and one that’s as clear as it is dramatic。
An unflinching depiction of an author’s complex international experiences。— Kirkus Reviews
Reviews
Mars
，
I had the pleasure of getting to narrate the audiobook for this title， and I did not expect it to resonate with me as much as it did。 As a 22 year old Arab-Muslim who was born and raised in America， I feel that I rarely get to hear about the things that happened before my time while my parents were still in Palestine/Amman/Lebanon， mainly due to the confusing and traumatic nature of most of these events。 My father grew up in Palestinian refugee camps in Amman while his father was imprisoned for I had the pleasure of getting to narrate the audiobook for this title， and I did not expect it to resonate with me as much as it did。 As a 22 year old Arab-Muslim who was born and raised in America， I feel that I rarely get to hear about the things that happened before my time while my parents were still in Palestine/Amman/Lebanon， mainly due to the confusing and traumatic nature of most of these events。 My father grew up in Palestinian refugee camps in Amman while his father was imprisoned for protesting against Israel， and my mother moved to Kuwait from Lebanon as a child due to the civil war。 The way that this book weaves itself through the fabric of history while being simultaneously heart-wrenching and heart-warming is truly something special。 The descriptions of Amman in the 20th century were particularly memorable， and I found myself experiencing a plethora of emotions throughout my reading of the book。 I've spent a majority of my life searching for parts of myself that do not exist on American soil， and it's been nothing short of difficult to conjure up an identity that doesn't feel like a betrayal of my people。 The fact remains that we do not get representation in media that isn't fabricated or forced or untrue， but this book is evidence that our voices can be loud enough to be heard， and I am endlessly grateful to Amal for that。 As an aspiring writer， I often harbor the sentiment that I will not be successful if I continue to carry my name and be as vocal as I am about the Middle East， but this book proved that part of my mind wrong。 Thank you Amal， for writing such a beautiful retelling of circumstances that were very much the opposite， and for giving someone like me the chance to experience the world that was not made accessible to me。 。。。more
Nour-Lyna Boulgamh
，
“I don’t know if my generation understood the meaning of what we saw， what we encountered and experienced， but were at a loss about our options， or if we knew exactly where it all was leading but were just sellouts， or if we knew， were at a loss about our options， and so decided to sell out。” This is how Amal Ghandour captures the heart-wrenching yet heart-warming reality of being a progressive Levantine Arab of her generation impelled into silence。 The book takes us back in time to the last fiv “I don’t know if my generation understood the meaning of what we saw， what we encountered and experienced， but were at a loss about our options， or if we knew exactly where it all was leading but were just sellouts， or if we knew， were at a loss about our options， and so decided to sell out。” This is how Amal Ghandour captures the heart-wrenching yet heart-warming reality of being a progressive Levantine Arab of her generation impelled into silence。 The book takes us back in time to the last five decades， a critical period in the MENA region， ample with salient events， ones that shaped and still mold the entire political discourse in the region。 When does power become so powerless in the face of tyrant Arab regimes？ Where were Amal and her peers amid the political and socio-economic dichotomies happening in the MENA region？ Despite being a member of one of today’s younger generations， I found myself drawn to the narrative， identifying with several situations and conundrums of the Arab life I share and cherish。 Amal enthrallingly assembles it in bits and pieces， drawing captivating crude images of what it means to be an Arab through anecdotes very much rooted in the Arab culture。 For me， as an Algerian academic scholar at Harvard University， Amal’s educational parcours at the universities of Georgetown and Stanford， respectively， echoed questions of responsibility， change and action untangled with feelings of an uneasy unfamiliarity with the countries we fled。 How can I channel substantial social change in my country？ And in which direction should it be？ Where should I start？ 。。。more
Huda Baroudi
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