war-torn

I found some similarities between Laura Marks' letters from Beirut and Chantal Akerman's notes on D'est. Both tell of countries/areas affected by war, about maybe a decade or so apart. I thought of Marks' easier to relate to, even though there were at times I seemed to be unfamiliar with what she was talking about or referring to. I liked how she balanced the topic of what was going on over there militarily and how people back home could help and the topic about what socializing was like over there for her and the people around her. I think the letters made me realize that I don't have a lot of knowledge of what is going on over there. When thinking about the fights in the Middle East, I usually just think of Iraq and Iran (when talking about fighting over there presently). I didn't feel like Akerman's notes were as well developed as Marks' letters; and maybe that's because there were just notes, as opposed to letters--usually people make their letters more detailed and structured than their notes.