Book: If Lebanon were to speak

Description

Notre Dame University has launched a new series, the Murex Series, under the headline Lebanon by Lebanese authors.

It is basically made up of selected works by great Lebanese authors ranging from literary to political to social and historical writings about Lebanon. The books are translated and published in an elegant cover that bears the slogan of the Murex connotatively and denotatively.

The aim of this series is to bring forth the civilizational aspect of Lebanon in its cultural, historical and social dimensions and to present it to the Western reader as a rich subject matter that enables him to understand the Lebanese presence on the international map.

This project was introduced in 2003 and is ongoing with the publication of an average of one or two books per year.

The book If Lebanon were to speak is a journey through history, the history of Lebanon, ranging over the luminous stations of civilization. It has a series of enlightening chapters of Lebanese stories that deal with the human side that is of importance to all mankind at any time and in any place.

These stories cover locations of beauty with unique heroes, such as Pythagoras, Pericles, Europa, Elissa, Mokhos, Alexandrus, Abdel Rahman Al Ouzai, Prince Fakherddine and others.

Moreover, the stories deal with the meaning of courage, daring, knowledge, fidelity, faith and human values, in their ancient and modern aspects. All these are used by the author to draw a colorful canvas of Lebanon.

Author: Said Akl
Translated by: Rula Baalbaki
Revised by: Valérie Aoun
Edition: 2006
Language: English
Number of pages: 230

Extracts:

Here, under every grain of earth,
Lie charms of glory

Here, God threw open His doors
And gathered you to Him in fervor.

Here lies a mountain
Legends vie with for relish and the sun for glow.

Oftentimes seducing its meadows
With carnations and roses,

Oftentimes it plays and seduces
Valor with a toss of dice.