「book」

Out of Place by Edward Said, who has been an inspiration to me for many years. His memoir collects vivid childhood memories of Palestine, peaceful neighborhoods suddenly erased and entire communities displaced in the process. This book is Said’s early recollections of his parents, siblings, relatives and friends, the way they once were, revealing that crucial moments lived in daily life may not fully make sense as they unfold in the present, but only start to piece themselves together as time passes. And in spite of the harshness of external events beyond one’s control, warmth, sweetness, humor and laughter are the streaks that stand out the most.

“Along with language, it is geography — especially in the displaced form of departures, arrivals, farewell, exile, nostalgia, homesickness, belonging, and travel itself — that is at the core of my memories of those early years. Each of the places I lived in —Jerusalem, Cairo, Lebanon, the United States— has a complicated, dense web of valences that was very much a part of growing up, gaining an identity, forming my consciousness of myself and of others.”