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justbill82's review
4.0
beginning with the jubilation surrounding Independence in Ghana and ending in Hell scapes of 90s Liberia and Eritrea, this is a fairly grim journalists travelogue in which most major countries of Africa are somewhat poetically described from the sixties through the mid-90s, notably absent being Congo and South Africa. good enough that I would read his other books
jimmylorunning's review
4.0
4.5 stars. Kapuscinski, a Polish reporter, writes about his first-hand experiences in many African countries around the end of colonialism. I was struck by some of the less dramatic things... like in a coup d'etat, how he describes the darkness and silence. I never thought of darkness and silence. How could I not have thought of darkness and silence? Here we are trying to escape the country, and I never thought of darkness and silence!
The best chapters, for me, were the ones on Zanzibar and Rwanda, since they really gave me a context to understand some of what is going on. But all the chapters are good, and they all have different focuses.
What really comes across clearly is that, and this is going to sound obvious, any kind of outside interference, without the kind of understanding of the many different ethnic groups and cultures here, is going to end badly. So often France or England or someone comes in to support one leader over another. It makes me so angry cause I see it in the news even today, just recently with the Ivory Coast elections. Not that there won't be bloodshed or other nastiness if nobody takes sides, (although often it means more high tech weaponry to do the bloodshed with) but it all seems so much more escalated when the world gets involved. And why does everyone think they can get involved in Africa's business anyway? It's so damn presumptuous, to think we know better, when usually we're just supporting our guy because he'd be easier to get our agenda through.
What this book really makes clear is that we don't know better. In fact, we can hardly relate at all to most of what goes on here. How can we relate to the tribe whose whole existence relies on one mango tree? Or a tribe who believes that if your truck breaks down, it's because someone from another tribe cast a spell on it, and not because your truck needed maintenance? Or the tribe who always believes that someone from within the same tribe cast a spell whenever something bad happens, and thus always lives in a state of fear--father afraid of daughter, son afraid of mother? Anyway, there are too many examples to quote.
The darkness was so profound that his silhouette ahead of us appeared and disappeared like a phantom. Finally, we sensed boards beneath our feet--it was probably the pier. The old man whispered that we should walk down the steps to the boat. What steps? What boat? p. 94Earlier, he talks about the locals who go through this kind of stuff often:
Ordinary people here treat political cataclysms--coups d'etat, military takeovers, revolutions, and wars--as phenomena belonging to the realm of nature. They approach them with exactly the same apathetic resignation and fatalism as they would a tempest. One can do nothing about them; one must simply wait them out, hiding under the roof, peering out from time to time to observe the sky--has the lightning ceased, are the clouds departing? If yes, then one can step outside once again and resume that which was momentarily interrupted--work, a journey, sitting in the sun. p. 91In fact, waiting around seems to be the norm, because the African thinks of time as defined by the event happening whereas the European thinks of time as a separate entity that they must bend their lives to fit. So the African sits around waiting for these events to happen...
What does this dull waiting consist of? People know what to expect; therefore, they try to settle themselves in as comfortably as possible, in the best possible place. Sometimes they lie down, sometimes they sit on the ground, or on a stone, or squat. They stop talking. A waiting group is mute. It emits no sound. The body goes limp, droops shrinks. The muscles relax, the neck stiffens... I have observed for hours on end crowds of people in this state of inanimate waiting, a kind of profound physiological sleep: They do not eat, they do not drink, they do not urinate; they react neither to the mercilessly scorching sun, nor to the aggressive, voracious flies that cover their eyelids and lips. What, in the meantime, is going on inside their heads? p. 18OK so I'm quoting a lot. So sue me. The fact is, there are so many interesting passages, little surprising bits. The book is full of great observations as well as, every once in a while, panning back to tell of the history of a tribe or of a country. Each country he writes about is given individuality, because there is immense diversity, as he says in the beginning of the book: "Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say 'Africa'. In reality, except as a geographical appellation, Africa does not exist."
The best chapters, for me, were the ones on Zanzibar and Rwanda, since they really gave me a context to understand some of what is going on. But all the chapters are good, and they all have different focuses.
What really comes across clearly is that, and this is going to sound obvious, any kind of outside interference, without the kind of understanding of the many different ethnic groups and cultures here, is going to end badly. So often France or England or someone comes in to support one leader over another. It makes me so angry cause I see it in the news even today, just recently with the Ivory Coast elections. Not that there won't be bloodshed or other nastiness if nobody takes sides, (although often it means more high tech weaponry to do the bloodshed with) but it all seems so much more escalated when the world gets involved. And why does everyone think they can get involved in Africa's business anyway? It's so damn presumptuous, to think we know better, when usually we're just supporting our guy because he'd be easier to get our agenda through.
What this book really makes clear is that we don't know better. In fact, we can hardly relate at all to most of what goes on here. How can we relate to the tribe whose whole existence relies on one mango tree? Or a tribe who believes that if your truck breaks down, it's because someone from another tribe cast a spell on it, and not because your truck needed maintenance? Or the tribe who always believes that someone from within the same tribe cast a spell whenever something bad happens, and thus always lives in a state of fear--father afraid of daughter, son afraid of mother? Anyway, there are too many examples to quote.
sb2022's review
4.0
Beautiful, engaging and incisive prose which seamlessly moves between countries, contexts and times to paint a beautiful portrait of several African countries at the time of independence. I loved the characters, the described small nuances of culture, language and beliefs which often do not reach non-fiction writing.
What I would love to have read was more about how he travelled: practicalities, such as transport, money, dealing with differences in culture and being a white face on the continent.
A fantastic read.
What I would love to have read was more about how he travelled: practicalities, such as transport, money, dealing with differences in culture and being a white face on the continent.
A fantastic read.
madhukaraphatak's review
3.0
Actual rating - 3.5
Interesting stories from Africa. After the 50% mark, they started to feel repetivitve.
Interesting stories from Africa. After the 50% mark, they started to feel repetivitve.
letyourmindwander's review
4.0
Too much information :P I wonder if this book have been banned somewhere.