I was reading this Vogue article about the theme of this year’s MET Gala, The Garden of Time, which was taken from J.G. Ballard’s short story of the same title. The more I read about it and the author, the more I was intrigued by his style of stories, which is also now used as an adjective.
Ballardian.
resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in the works of J. G. Ballard, esp dystopian modernity, bleak artificial landscapes, and the psychological effects of technological, social, or environmental developmentsCollins English Dictionary
Then, while looking up “Beirut” in the Internet Archive’s collection of books, I found another of his short stories, War Fever, because it’s set in the city. I knew there was a reason I was supposed to know his name, I thought. Published in 1990, the title story talks of Ryan, a young fighter in a split city who dreams of “a better Beirut”, a Lieutenant Valentina, and a secret scheme to secure a ceasefire.
Ryan comes up with a plan: if everyone joins the “blue helmets” or the UN peacekeeping force, the same force that aren’t to intervene or take sides, the fighting will stop because there would be no one left to fight.
At first, the simple genius of Ryan’s plan seems too good to be true. And it is. The twist in the story *SPOILER* is that the whole city is being used as a global testing ground for war, the UN are in on it, and they want to remove Ryan from their simulation before he ruins the whole operation.
Instead of spending the first day of Eid in the South, I was reading this short story, what Ursula K. Le Guin called “a laboratory for the study of war”, at my parents’ house in Beirut. In today’s reality where Lebanon is the battlefield for bigger players who pull strings, Ballard’s dystopian fiction is a perfect allegory. Beyond the recent events (Gaza, the South, and the renewed [horrendous] hateful actions against Syrians in Lebanon), there have been signs of foreign influence for decades.
But what do I know, I’m just a young person asking for a ceasefire.
THE CARTON IS BACK
Well, kinda. The Carton shop at Kalei’s Mar Mikhael branch has added a little wine corner that’s stocked with a limited selection of natural wines from Lebanon and Greece. The latter are hard to come by in Beirut so stop by to see what unique bottles are still available. As for Lebanese, they’ve got Ward, the new rosé from Heya, and Helem, the new white from Dar Richi.
AT LEAST 10 LITTLE LINKS
If you enjoyed my intro above, you must read “Beirut and the Birth of the Fortress Embassy” by Habib Battah for MERIP.
”A Point Of View: JG Ballard and the alchemy of memory” by John Gray
Dana Ballout beautifully unpacks the list of murdered Palestinian and Lebanese journalists on ”The 95” for Act Two of This American Life’s podcast. Listen to it, it’s just 10 minutes.
Photographing hunger in war-ravaged Sudan(video) with Diana Jeyneb Alhindawi for The Washington Post
I’ve been watching lots of YouTube videos about New York architecture including this one and anything with Michael Wyetzner on Architectural Digest. Also, I found this helpful.
“Tell Me Why the Watermelon Grows” by Jori Lewis for Switchyard is not about Palestine’s association with the fruit.
Watch this ad if you miss HBO’s Insecure. Watch this if you need an absurd distraction. ← no, seriously.
“Write on My Shrine” by Ahmed Miqdad for The Dawn Journal
I want to visit this Mexican quesabirria shop in Chicago because of its great backstory.
There were lots of wine-related links I was going to share here but I’m going to compile them into a piece instead. Until then, I’m sure the wine world will keep watching the world burn with the energy of Mount Etna.