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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
I read about 3/4 of the book and skimmed the last bit because I was tired of thinking about this stuff. It was draining and made me feel sick to my stomach in a way that nothing since my first deep look at the holocaust has ever. It's a really great book about an awful topic that more people should know about. But goddamn. I was going to read Heart of Darkness again after this but I can't. I don't want to even think about this shit for a while.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
Powerful, harrowing, thrilling, deeply moving ... this is history writing at its finest.
Hochschild delves deep into King Leopold's, and Belgium's, reign of terror and desolation in the Congo. He argues, extremely convincingly, that this was one of the worst massacres not just of the 20th century, but in human history. Starting with Leopold's insatiable thirst for ivory, then even more so for rubber craved by the burgeoning automobile industry.
We look at the history of European colonialism in Africa, evangelical missionaries, intrepid explorers, tireless human rights campaigners, and people of unspeakable cruelty and sadism (Léon Rom and his house decorated with rows of heads).
As Hochschild himself repeatedly points out, the one thing that is sadly lacking from this book are Congolese voices. This is because there was very little written tradition amongst the Congolese and, as we know, history is written by the victors.
When we think of the monsters of history - Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot (and many, many more) - we must surely add King Leoplod II to this list.
Hochschild delves deep into King Leopold's, and Belgium's, reign of terror and desolation in the Congo. He argues, extremely convincingly, that this was one of the worst massacres not just of the 20th century, but in human history. Starting with Leopold's insatiable thirst for ivory, then even more so for rubber craved by the burgeoning automobile industry.
We look at the history of European colonialism in Africa, evangelical missionaries, intrepid explorers, tireless human rights campaigners, and people of unspeakable cruelty and sadism (Léon Rom and his house decorated with rows of heads).
As Hochschild himself repeatedly points out, the one thing that is sadly lacking from this book are Congolese voices. This is because there was very little written tradition amongst the Congolese and, as we know, history is written by the victors.
When we think of the monsters of history - Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot (and many, many more) - we must surely add King Leoplod II to this list.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Wow. That was rough. So many atrocities carried out, all for money and power.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I could probably read this book three more times and absorb more with each reading. I found some of the most shocking parts at the end. I appreciate the candor with which this important story is told but am now hungry for a Congolese perspective.
The horrors of colonialism in Belgian Congo, instigated by King Leopold, who wanted a slice of the African cake. He ruled this colony as his personal fiefdom, bequeathed to Belgium on his death.
A surprising amount of focus on the biographies of famous white men, but I suppose he went where the sources were. Also this did two important things. One, give you breaks from the atrocities (~20 pages at a time was about what I could handle anyway.) Two, correct the mistake that I somehow made, even though I should've known better. I thought of King Leopold as this particularly malicious figure who liked chopping off hands. He wasn't; he was a pathetic man who didn't care if he hurt anyone, or at least didn't care to think about it. He never even went to the Congo. And a good overview of how the activist movement worked.