When the world is filled with a sense of catastrophe, is it possible to convey anything of the scale and quality of what’s besieging Lebanon? That’s the question at the back of my mind whenever I speak to anyone outside the country. “How are things in Beirut?” they ask sympathetically. When I explain that things are falling apart, they nod yes, they understand, things are really tough there too, before describing the anxieties of the pandemic, its restrictions and economic ramifications. There’s no point trying to explain over another Zoom call. So, in turn, I nod.