Jewish Library: ‘Every Man in This Village is a Liar’

Every Man in This Village is a Liar, by Megan K. Stack, Doubleday Publishers, 2010

By Sheila Orysiek

Sheila Orysiek
Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO — Megan K. Stack, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times writes from distant lands wracked by war and unrest.  She takes the reader to Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, various Palestinian areas, Israel and Jordan.

She doesn’t hesitate to travel into some of the most dangerous areas, whether active battle zones in remote outposts governed by local warlords or in large cities where millions are violently protesting for either a change in leadership – or to keep the status quo.  She often goes only accompanied by a local interpreter rather than in a bus with a gaggle of other reporters.  She has an impressive list of literary awards and there is no doubt as to her bravery.

The view she presents is from the ground looking up at the planes dropping bombs and since that view is thus from the standpoint of the intended target, it is easy to assume that the people piloting the planes are automatons.  They are simply pushing buttons to release bombs without thought or reason of the devastation they cause.

Stack occasionally makes some attempt at context – the why of what is happening – the action which initiated the response.  However, that is far outweighed by her obvious sympathy for those she perceives as innocent victims even while to her face they proclaim the ascendency of Islam and their undying hatred for her, for the United States, for Israel and the West in general.  Even when she acknowledges that the “victims” are massively slaughtering one another such as in the Sunni-Shiite conflict (which has been going on for centuries) – it is still somehow the fault of the West.

Her stay in Jerusalem is fraught with self guilt and frustration and she offers very little in the way of historical context to the complex problems of the area.  How her frustration colors what she sees is exemplified by an incident when she wants to visit a certain Palestinian family but an Israeli soldier tells her the road is closed due to ongoing hostile action.  Here is how she describes her response (page 47):

“I felt like informing him that I am an American taxpayer, that my family and I had been compelled to pay for his guns and tanks and jeeps, for his salary, to the detriment of schools and homeless shelters and other miscellaneous things for our own country…….(more of the same)…….that he could at least wipe the smirk off his teenage face.”

A smirk is the least of the agonies of war.  A smirk on the face of a teenager is not an unusual fact of life.  He didn’t threaten her – he was not rude.  One cannot help but wonder if this is her response to what she concludes is a smirk on the face of a teenage soldier who is under orders to keep civilians away from a military action – how unbiased and objective could her reportage be?

Unlike the usual stark drum beat of books about war, Stack’s style in this book has a poetic lilt which engulfs the reader in the very smell and feel of a world gone mad in a frenzy of slaughter.  Though this style, if judiciously used, can bring the reader along for an up close and personal ride, however, when there is no let up it fairly soon takes over the story. Metaphors and similes galore – page after page – sentence after sentence – are drawn with the same “poetry” spilling from her pen.

In the “Epilogue” she writes:  “By now I’ve given up on pulling poetry out of war.”

And that’s the problem – even she finds it tiresome – because there is no poetry in war.

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Orysiek is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts and literature. She may be contacted via sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)
Orysiek is a freelance writer who specializes in arts and literature.  Comments may be made in the space provided below this article or sent to the author at sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com