The Best Kind of American. By Kim Ghattas. Henry Holt(美国知名出版社); 496 pages; $32.99. Bloomsbury Continuum; £25
《最好的美国人》。金·加塔斯著。亨利·霍尔特出版社；496页；32.99美元。布鲁姆斯伯里连续体出版社；25英镑。
FEW PLACES have fallen farther from their glory days(从辉煌岁月跌落得更远). Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, was once a small corner of freedom in the Arab world, known for dance parties and louche(放荡不羁的) living. Then in 1975 it descended into a vicious sectarian(教派的) conflict. Israel and Syria occupied swathes(大片（区域）) of its territory. America sent marines to Beirut, and Iran cultivated(扶植、培植) Hizbullah(黎巴嫩什叶派武装组织真主党), a Shia militia. By the end of the civil war in 1990 around 350,000 people, a tenth of the population, had been killed or wounded.(到1990年内战结束时，约有35万人——占人口十分之一——死伤。)
很少有地方像贝鲁特那样，从昔日的辉煌跌落得如此之远。黎巴嫩首都贝鲁特曾是阿拉伯世界的一小片自由之地，以舞会和放荡不羁的生活闻名。后来，1975年，它陷入了一场残酷的教派冲突。以色列和叙利亚占领了其大片领土。美国向贝鲁特派遣了海军陆战队，伊朗则扶植了什叶派民兵组织真主党。到1990年内战结束时，约有35万人——占人口十分之一——死伤。
Into this carnage stepped Malcolm Kerr (pictured below), who became president of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1982.(就在这片血腥之中，马尔科姆·克尔（见下图）登场了，他于1982年成为贝鲁特美国大学校长。) Kerr’s parents, who taught at AUB, had raised him on its leafy(绿树成荫的) campus overlooking the Mediterranean from west Beirut. “I figure there’s a 50-50 chance that I’ll get bumped off(被干掉、被暗杀),” Kerr confided(吐露（秘密）) to his daughter. But the university was a symbol of Lebanon’s cosmopolitanism(世界主义、国际化), and he wanted to help keep it running. Less than two years later he was shot dead outside his office.
就在这片血腥之中，马尔科姆·克尔（见下图）登场了，他于1982年成为贝鲁特美国大学（AUB）校长。克尔的父母曾在该校任教，在西贝鲁特那座俯瞰地中海的绿树成荫的校园里将他抚养长大。“我估计自己有五成概率会被干掉，”克尔向女儿吐露。但这所大学是黎巴嫩世界主义的象征，他想帮助它继续运转。不到两年后，他在办公室外中弹身亡。
