A Journey to Lebanon

I was soaring through the skies, traveling from my tropical paradise to the frigid Dartmouth Green, when I opened the first page of Meet Me in Beirut. As much as I dreaded stepping off the plane and feeling the biting Boston air hit my skin, the novel made me realize that things could be worse. This made it easy to slip into the shoes of Bob—a Dartmouth student from Nevada whose trip with friend Willard across Europe leads both men into hot water, and to an off-term to remember.

Ultimately, there is perhaps no book more relatable to the average Dartmouth student than Meet Me in Beirut. The heavy dependence on cheap beer, the numerous bouts of alcoholic consumption, and willingness to get tied up with Palestinian militia fighters is akin to the Dartmouth experience. The entrapments that the duo get engaged in do serve as a cautionary tale against what I imagine are all-too common situations for college students studying abroad.

By the end of the novel, I will admit that I became frustrated with the antics of the two main characters. Despite multiple times risking death, arrest, or an equally unfortunate fate, the two elect to remain in Beirut to partake in whatever their guide George has planned for them. I know that college students are not known for their sage decision-making abilities, but I would like to think that Dartmouth students have more sense than this.

At times, I found myself gawking at the sheer lack of common sense held by the two main characters—even taking into account that the two are college freshmen. In an era without modern technology, the two routinely venture with questionable individuals, alone, to equally questionable outlets in cities of which neither have any knowledge. 

Frankly, I was surprised that the book ended with both characters in one piece. The amount of alcohol consumed by the main characters over a monthslong excursion begs the question of how liver disease didn’t get to them before the PLO did. The amount of naivety and poor judgment that the two display on their adventures is frustrating to a fault. The two continuously shrug off death threats, close calls with authority figures of authoritarian governments, and provoke conflict with complete strangers. It is difficult to completely sympathize with the plight of characters whose actions give incredible credence to the theory of natural selection. 

As entertaining as the duo’s escapades are, there is a lack of variety in plot for some portions of the book. There are only so many times that I can read about how Bob and Willard go out for drinks with George.

During an excursion to Germany, Bob and fellow student Willard meet a strange man by the name of George, who seduces them with expensive drinks, food, and the lavish lifestyle that is unfamiliar to the average college student. George’s antics lead the two unsuspecting American students on a detour to Damascus. Despite George’s promise to rendezvous with them in Syria, the two are left alone on the three-week bender in the city, eventually deciding to go to George’s final intended destination, Beirut, to meet him.

Soon enough, it becomes clear that Beirut is not the paradisiacal land as George had described it. Bill and George become embroiled in a burgeoning conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon. Unbeknownst to the duo, the two are initially mistaken for Israeli spies due to suspicious behavior. After narrowly avoiding death, they remain insistent on continuing their excursion in Beirut until, eventually, tensions boil over to the point that they are forced to flee.

The most intriguing leg of the novel takes place in Beirut when the group is temporarily detained after attempting to visit a PLO training camp and being flagged by authorities. The duo is subject to heavy interrogation and scrutiny. This appears to be where the climax of the book takes shape.

 I would have preferred that this instance of peril had lent skepticism to whether or not their ever-knowledgeable George had as much lay-of-the-land as he initially claimed. The book does not make an explicitly political argument. Granted, the escapades that the two main characters go on is treated as enlightenment of the reality of the situation between Israel and its neighboring countries in the 1970s. Bob and Willard are treated as ignorant Americans imbued by the propaganda of their government. Meet Me in Beirut is more than worthy of a read for any young, curious student seeking to embark on a journey of their own. 

Even with its scant political messaging, the novel still serves to starkly remind the audience of the rampant anti-semitism that underpins the militant opposition to Israel in the Middle East. Characters in the book repeatedly refer to Western news outlets being imbued with “Jewish influence.” In any case, the two bear striking resemblance to the average college student in their unabashed lack of knowledge about world affairs. Where our characters differ from the average college student, however, is their staunch convictions about the very matters about which they know nothing.

The perilous journey of Bob’s off term made me question the veracity of my own off-term; perhaps rather than the internship route, I ought to attempt to become embroiled in a war. That ought to lend some credence to the long-needed skepticism of the D-Plan.