A Thousand Farewells

Nahlah Ayed’s novel A Thousand Farewells has a lot to teach a young journalist.

A Thousand Farewells is a memoir that shows Ayed’s relationship with the middle-east and journalism.  The novel can be confusing at times – Ayed discusses conflicts in a few different countries, making it difficult to keep track of what happened where.  However, she explained in plain terms the conflicts in these countries.  As the countries and their conflicts were foreign to her, Ayed was clearly dedicated enough as a reporter to dig up the information needed to give her a full understanding of what was happening around her.  Sharing this information in her book effectively illustrated her dedication and passion as a journalist.

Ayed’s physical reaction to stress was a reminder to young journalists that while telling stories and sharing information is important, looking after your own wellbeing is as well.  Ayed touched briefly on how she eventually dealt with her feelings by talking with people, but she did not go into much detail.  Who did she speak with?  In what context?  What did she say?  And, most importantly, how could she have avoided getting to the point where she was fainting and blacking out in the first place?  Ayed suggests that had she always been open about her fears and stress she would not have had the same negative reaction to them, but after being beaten and seeing the shattered glass in her apartment it is difficult to believe that.

Ayed shows journalists what dedication to the job looks like.  She is full of passion and throws herself in her work – but maybe a little too much.  Ayed mentions losing friends because she became so wrapped up in sharing stories from the middle-east.  As a journalist just entering the field, being told by teachers and established journalists that it will be hard to find and keep jobs and that we should have a backup plan, it feels like we need to fill all our time working to develop our skills and prove ourselves.  Ayed shows that there are consequences to this.

Non-fiction stories can be told in a variety of mediums, and I think that Ayed chose the right one.  Anne Marie Flemmings’s graphic novel The Magic Life of Long Tac Sam tells the story of her adventures uncovering the history of her great-grand father.  The story has hand drawn pictures, photographs and scanned documents illustrating her words.  Because so much of the evidence Flemming found to tell her great-grandfather’s story was physical, the use of imagery along with words worked perfectly.  Ayed’s story would not have worked in the same way.  Her story was deeply emotional and personal.  The accompaniment for photographs and images may have brought out emotions in the reader, but they would have distracted the reader from Ayed’s feelings.  The stress, excitement and fear Ayed experienced in the middle-east was great and could not have been told through anything but written words in the form of a novel.

This book made me even more excited to be a journalist.  I wanted to feel the excitement and passion that Ayed felt.  Reading her words made me eager to get out into the field and interview people to share their incredible stories with the world.  But it also served as a warning to me.  I tend to throw myself into what I love, as Ayed does, and will be in danger of losing people I love, which is not something I want.  Though Ayed does not exhibit signs of slowing down, her novel has made me realize that I may not want to put as much of myself into my journalism career as she has.  Although that is easier said than done.