One could pair this book with A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea to contrast the hell that is Syria. To leave means certain death, to stay means certain death, there are no good options. Kassem Eid chose to stay. He tells history story from the beginning and shows how Syria changes over time. With the "election" of Assad, more and more corruption and nepotism become apparent. Protests begin, but when the protestors are simply murdered, Kassem faces a difficult decision, to stay or to leave. This is his home, his people. He chooses to stay. Eventually, he becomes a guerilla fighter against the Assad regime. His strongest weapon will be his journalism. Film, writing, and photos show the atrocity of the regime. He escapes to American and then to Germany. The legacy of the damage done will remain for many years as the war and disruption continue. People like Kassem will be people without a country.

Beautifully told like a bildungsroman, the tragic results of war that never ends.

4.5 stars to the powerfully written My Country: A Syrian Memoir!

The stories and images out of Syria have haunted me. I want to know more, read more, understand more. I thought My Country would be a fortunate reading opportunity for me to attempt those things, and I am grateful that Kassem Eid survived to tell this story, his story.

Eid, a Palestinian immigrant, describes his childhood in Syria, the jasmine-scented streets, and his experiences in school. He notices that he is treated differently at school because he is Palestinian. He is always an outsider, and his accomplishments are somewhat limited because of that.

While Eid is growing up, Bashar al-Assad becomes the new leader of Syria, and any small hope that he would be more tolerant than his father is quickly dashed. Al-Assad is known for his tyrannical ways to this day, and as his hold on Syria grows stronger, a revolution is generated in response. Al-Assad, in turn, reacts with arrests and extreme violence. As a result, Eid experienced a civil war in his country during his teen years.

In 2013, Kassem Eid is living in Moadamiya, Syria, just outside of Damascus, when there is a gas attack by the government. While a large number of residents are killed right before his eyes, Eid survives. The same day, he is hit by a mortar while he is assisting the Free Syrian Army against al-Assad’s army (i.e., the government’s military). While Eid survives physically, all around him is completely wiped out. He loses everything, and he continues to feel the aftershocks and ongoing devastation that happens in Syria on a daily basis.

This book is beyond timely and exceedingly important. Eid’s experience is human, raw, and beautifully translated. My favorite parts are his descriptions of the beauty and family life of his early childhood, but the salient, paramount parts are everything else.

A shocking account of a Palestinian immigrant who grew up in Syria and survived to tell about the atrocities committed by Al-Assad's government.

Eid recalls entering his childhood home and witnessing the destruction of everything his family had once owned. He gives heartbreaking details as he watches his friends die one by one, helping to bury them while running from snipers in his neighborhood. Eid is devastated as he watches children die, as a result of hunger and suffocation from a chemical attack that rained down on Syria. The unspeakable violence he witnessed around him was difficult to read about; I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like to live through it.

My Country is an emotional book that gives a first-hand account of what continues to happen in Syria. Eid uses social media, is interviewed by reporters, joins the Free Syrian Army, and goes on a hunger strike, all in order to get word-wide attention and help that never comes. His bravery knows no bounds as he fights against the oppression and the demise of his beloved Syria.

An exceptional book that should be read by everyone who cares about humanity.