Birds of September
Lebanon, Essay, 8/9/1997

September is about to arrive, flying away from the Lebanese villages thousands of birds that seek better conditions to live in. They are not the only ones to do so, for human beings are leaving their native villages as well.

This is what Emily Nasrallah describes in an extremely vivid and simple style in "Birds of September," a realistic story that whisks the reader away to the typical atmosphere of the Lebanese countryside. Some aspects of human nature in general are also described in it, like the ambition and the determination of the youth, and the despondency of old people...

What makes the writing of Nasrallah special is the way she discusses openly the negative sides of the mentality in the village; she does it successfully through the story of a young countrywoman, Mona, and her friends.

Gossip is unfortunately the most widespread phenomenon among women, and everyone knows that Najla and Kamal are deeply in love together. Nevertheless, destiny, or, more specifically, the difference of rites, separated them. Kamal had to run away, threatened by Najla's brother. Najla was forced to marry someone she didn't love, just to satisfy her parents...

This is a common event that reflects the mentality of a great number of Lebanese parents who give priority to superficial details and interfere in their children¹s private life, at the risk of messing it up.

Mirsal, Mona's best friend, was in love with a handsome guy who left Lebanon, hoping to reach wealth and success in the States. He left in his country a destroyed father who wanted his son to stick to his land.

The attachment of countrymen to their land is evoked several times, and the reader can notice a certain nostalgia in the author's style.

Mona could not bear the ignorance in which girls were kept. This is the reason she moved to the city to study at the university, after tough discussions with her parents.

Nasrallah is obviously revolted by the ignorance that is the origin of under-development, and her anger against injustice is evident through the story where she shows that access to knowledge should be the right of every human being.

The sun shines again after the rain, and the spring brings back with it the emigrants, whether birds they be or people. After her revolution against the conservative mentality in the villages, Mona is back, but people do not recognize her. She kisses a rock, but it stays cold. Mona is unsatisfied and lost. She feels rejected by the whole village for having once "denied her roots," and her story ends up on this sad tone.

It is worth noting that the author herself is a native of a village in south Lebanon of which she is very fond, and this shows in her writing, regardless the criticisms she makes.


Review of Book "BIRDS OF SEPTEMBER"
Book author Emily Nasrallah

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