Older Brother is the story of two Franco-Syrian brothers born and raised in Paris. Their mother died when they were in their early teens and the two watched their father try to make his living as a taxi driver. The elder brother smoked a lot of weed and drove for UBER. The younger brother worked as a nurse until he went off to Syria to do humanitarian work, then dropped completely out of contact. While I enjoyed the story when it was focused on the brothers and their relationship, huge chunks of the book were just too dull, including the younger brother’s time in Syria and the older brother’s run-ins with the law. What did work for me in Older Brother was the plight of being Syrian in an age of terrorism. That gave me much to think about. I also really liked the epilogue (something I rarely say). It made the entire story make much more sense. (...)
