A Thousand Farewells

Two week ago, I had the pleasure of reading Nahlah Ayed's book, A Thousand Farewells.



While I did enjoy the book as a whole, there are sections that are much stronger than others.

I feel the first half of the book was much stronger than the second half. Ayed does a superb job of grabbing the readers attention at the beginning of the book.

Her story of leaving Winnipeg with her family, only to return to a refugee camp in Jordan is brilliant. It brings many questions to the readers mind like, "Why would her family do this?" and "What was it like to move from a nice apartment in Winnipeg to the slums across the world?"

She answers all of these questions and more.

Her journalistic experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq are almost unbelievable. I can not imagine what the guts you had to have to be apart of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions.

It would be so hard to think about doing your job, all while living in a nation where anything can and did happen. When thinking about all the journalists who were kidnapped, attacked and killed throughout the past 10 years, it was remarkable that Ayed could spend so many years in countries of chaos.

I do think that when she gets to Lebanon, the book somewhat loses its touch. It's not that it isn't as good, I just don't find it as exciting as the first half. Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Journalists can learn a lot from this book, but nothing more than the fact that people make stories. It's as simple as that.

Without people, there are no emotions that the reader can latch on to. The reader needs to have an emotional connection with a story, otherwise it won't mean anything to them.

Ayed does a fantastic job of showing us that through her wonderful storytelling.

Although the book does focus on her life, the integration of the everyday people she meets and works with helps bring a nice focus to her story without making it look like it's all about her.

A Thousand Farewell reminds me of Band of Brothers in that regard. From the outside, they don't seem similar. But each book does a superb job of tackling a larger conflicts (Afghan/Iraq War and the Second World War) and bringing in the human side, which brings out such strong emotions.

Reading the book effected me in a real way. I think television has desensitized a lot of people regarding Middle Eastern issues and none is more evident then when a headline reads "Forty or fifty dead after suicide attack in Baghdad."

After seeing those headlines day-after-day, year-after-year, you become used to it. But the fact remains that those were mothers, fathers, sons and daughters whose lives were taken much too soon.

I think the perception has to do with those people not being Canadian, so no one takes it to heart. After reading Ayed's book, my perception has changed drastically.

So head to your nearest bookstore and pick up Nahlah Ayed's A Thousand Farewells. You won't regret it.