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Paradise Divided: A Portrait of Lebanon
 
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Paradise Divided: A Portrait of Lebanon (Paperback)

by Alex Klaushofer (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 308 pages
  • Publisher: Signal Books Ltd (1 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1904955355
  • ISBN-13: 978-1904955351
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 151,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Alex Klaushofer could be Lebanon's new Lady Hester Stanhope, except that her understanding and love of Lebanon are greater than her predecessor's. The Lebanese in all their complexity, wonder, deceit and kindness shine through this delightful book. --Charles Glass, author of Tribes with Flags


Product Description

This timely portrait of Lebanon exposes the fault lines that underlie the current crisis in the Middle East, and charts the country's attempts to rebuild a fragile peace after its long civil war and recent conflict with Israel. Part reportage, part travel narrative, Paradise Divided chronicles the delicate web of relationships that make up contemporary Lebanese society. Drawing on interviews with community leaders and relationships with ordinary people, it reveals a richly-textured social and religious fabric in which Sunni and Shia Muslims, Druze and Christians of all kinds, from Maronite Catholics to evangelical Protestants, strive to maintain a delicate balance. It offers an insight into how Lebanon's religious communities, their identities formed by history, landscape and their relationships with one another, came to be what they are today and how their different perspectives can lead to potentially destructive tensions. What emerges is a quintessentially Middle Eastern form of coexistence, poised between tolerance and sectarianism a theme powerfully developed through the author's privileged access to the normally secretive Druze. The reader follows the country's changing fortunes after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the subsequent pro-democracy movement and withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanese soil. The final chapters examine the aftermath of Israel's military campaign and the emergence of the new battle dividing Lebanese society as opposing camps struggle to have their vision for Lebanon made reality. Paradise Divided opens a window onto a country little-visited by Westerners for decades, and one very different from the war-torn images of the Middle East that dominate our television screens. Offering a unique view of the struggle between sectarianism and tolerance, and the relationship between the Arab world and the West, it is a book which sheds light on some of the central issues of our time.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Middle Eastern Odyssey, 4 Jun 2007
By Liz Porter (Cardiff, Wales) - See all my reviews
Primarily about Lebanon but with chapters on Syria and the Palestinians, this is an engrossing account of the author's travels, a lucid introduction to the religious groups of the region in their spiritual and political context, and a timely exploration of ongoing conflicts.

The book is written with a journalist's shrewd eye for detail (it's frequently very funny) and you get the sense that the author's journey is as much spiritual as investigative. I really liked the interweaving of her personal narrative and her research: the book is structured as a series of interviews with people she meets along the way, both by accident and by design. And they are extraordinarily diverse; here you will encounter, amongst others, Hezbollah officials, bisexual Lebanese teenagers, lovelorn Syrian students, the organiser of a demo supporting political prisoners in Damascus, and some over-enthusiastic Palestinian trainee beauticians.

For me, the most fascinating chapters were on the Druze, and in keeping with the rest of the book she explores the tenets of this enigmatic sect by talking to its members.

This is an excellent, thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to know more about the complexities of the region. Having read this book I hope I'll get the chance to go there one day.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute gem, 8 Jun 2007
By D. H. Baillie (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
With great warmth and an engaging lightness of touch that belies a very astute and insightful analysis, Alex Klaushofer's sharply observed portrait of Lebanon provides not only a compelling look at a fascinating and complicated society, but also explores themes of identity and conflict that are all too relevant in the wider world today. Her interview style, which combines a tact born of her understanding of cultural sensitivities with a very cheeky forthrightness, elicits responses that go beyond the ususal rhetoric and generalities to give a sense of the intricacies of the day-to-day lives and feelings of real people, with all the surprises and contradictions that these inevitably entail. She also does a very good line in understated humour. Anyone who can begin a chapter with the sentence, "I am waiting for Hezbollah to pick me up outside MacDonalds", deserves to be very widely read!
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars One for the Druze-Curious, 9 Sep 2008
By D. Thomson (Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Paradise Divided paints a beautiful portrait of Lebanon made up of insights gained from conversations with locals and through interviews with religious community leaders.

Of special interest are the two chapters on the Druze. When I made my first Druze friend I quickly went to wikipedia to discover what the Druze religion actually was. Only to find that it's VERY secretive. Being rather nosey I enjoy knowing things that others don't and was looking forward to getting in on the secret. I was only to be disappointed as the secret is so big most of the Druze don't even know.

Alex Klaushofer's book is therefore especially interesting as she goes some way to expose the true nature of the Druze religion. If you want to know the secrets of the Druze however, don't look to this review, go get a copy of the book, for all of you who are Druze-curious, it's well worth it!
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