A review by floralfox
I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached

3.0

Perhaps I just had the wrong expectations coming to this book. I know nothing of the history of Beirut or Lebanon and I thought memoir--especially in graphic novel form--can be powerful and more interesting to read instead of a history book or article. And while initially I was drawn to Abirached's style (it reminded me of Persepolis) I found the book to fall a little flat. I expected to learn more about Lebanon, or at least Beirut, but beyond a few introductory pages, there wasn't much in terms of laying out the conflict or underlying causes of the war. This was more a memoir snapshot of memories, fragments, instead of a story. I sort of fumbled through the whole thing feeling like I should know more about Abirached's life and the characters that filled it, like I'd missed a chapter or perhaps a whole other book. Ultimately, I don't think anything about it is bad, I just think I wanted something else out of it.