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nanirump's review against another edition
4.0
Ineresting look into what UN was really like in the genocides and atrocities of the 90's.
anika_bush's review against another edition
5.0
not what you think it is...about U.N. workers in war-torn countries. fascinating
bookgardendc's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure if this book made me want to do humanitarian work in the field more, or less. But the personal experiences of some of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of the 1990s were interesting and moving and for those who already have a good dose of UN-related cynicism this is a well-rounded picture of the people doing those jobs and the political constraints they face. But mostly it's just a series of great vignettes with some surprisingly good writing.
tikaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
booksbecreads's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I liked this book. In sections it could be self absorbed by one contributor or another but overall I would recommend it.
It covers three different UN employees travels to various postings in the 1990s. Mixed in with what the individual experienced you are exposed to (mostly breifly) the conflicts in Rawanda, Liberia, Hati, Bosnia and the starting point of the book - Cambodia.
Having grown up in a family where my parents and family friends often talked about working in areas of conflict during the 60s and 70s it reminded me that while some may be doing it purly as a living experience and exploiting the benifts they recieve ALL come away affected in one way or another and are reminded in their future days of what they have seen/heard/experienced.
My favorite of the three was the Kiwin Doctor, who as Heidi (the female of the three contributors) notes at the end of the book was exposed to conditions and attrocities that the world should be thankful for and no one should have to do (he was involved in the forensic teams in gathering evidence from the Rawandan and Bosinian mass graves). We as a human race need to learn from the past.
It covers three different UN employees travels to various postings in the 1990s. Mixed in with what the individual experienced you are exposed to (mostly breifly) the conflicts in Rawanda, Liberia, Hati, Bosnia and the starting point of the book - Cambodia.
Having grown up in a family where my parents and family friends often talked about working in areas of conflict during the 60s and 70s it reminded me that while some may be doing it purly as a living experience and exploiting the benifts they recieve ALL come away affected in one way or another and are reminded in their future days of what they have seen/heard/experienced.
My favorite of the three was the Kiwin Doctor, who as Heidi (the female of the three contributors) notes at the end of the book was exposed to conditions and attrocities that the world should be thankful for and no one should have to do (he was involved in the forensic teams in gathering evidence from the Rawandan and Bosinian mass graves). We as a human race need to learn from the past.
jackie_lily's review against another edition
4.0
The ending is so insightful and beautiful. The character/authors are all figures of moral authority and wisdom in contemporary politics and ethics. Interesting analysis of the effectiveness of UN humanitarian interventions throughout the 1980s/90s.
juncoard's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely thrilling. It’s fascinating, surprising and crude. The authors have managed to blend perfectly real life with shocking realities. It’s a MUST read.
bougainvillea's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book because I've always wondered what pushes people to sign up for these missions, especially when they have no clue about the place they're going to. The two answers I got from reading this are: money and arrogance. I love how the one guy really feels like he's bringing the concept of democracy to Cambodia. Cute. I learned a lot from this. It was a powerful read. Also sad. Not because of the atrocities described -- those are all already widely known and well documented by now, but because the mix of arrogance and ignorance that pervades these so called peacekeeping missions. Because of how people are deemed experts and given power over entire populations when they have no idea what they're doing.
A lot of reviewers have criticized the woman of the trio for mostly describing her romantic and sexual encounters. But I thought those parts of the text gave a lot of insight into the types of relationships UN workers and others like them are willing to forge with the people they're supposedly helping. The doctor had a strong relationship with a family in Cambodia, but apart from that, I got the sense that neither he nor Ken had any real relationships with the people they were supposedly there to help. Of Heidi, Andrew says: "she'd figured out from her time on the Bowery that if you want to change anything in this world, you should start by attending to those around you. Which is what she did, one person at a time, through her cooks and drivers and the people she worked with. And the men she loved. While for me, with each successive mission, individuals somehow got lost; they became Haitians, Rwandans, Bosnians -- populations, not people." (297) And it's definitely clear that for both Ken and Andrew, there is no complexity, no variation among the societies they parachute into. Everyone can be and is reduced to a Serb or Tutsi or Nigerian or Cambodian.
Still, of the three narrators, I have the most respect for Andrew and the work he did. Ken seemed to resemble the "mission type" the most. He gained some nuance over the course of the narrative, but not much. Heidi seemed messed up in a lot of ways, but true to herself and others in a way the men were not. I appreciated that.
As always, there were inaccuracies about Haiti that bothered me. It may seem nit-picky, but if I know there are things wrong about what's said about Haiti, it makes me doubt what they say about Cambodia and Liberia and Bosnia, etc.
One example that stands out is the whole laundromat thing: "Middle-class women are entering the workforce, just as their American counterparts did twenty years before, and no longer have time for housework. But their husbands still expect them to do it. A laudromat seems the most natural thing in the world; I can't believe no one here has thought of it already. For Marc it's as if a whole new world has opened. What other businesses are there in the US to make women's lives easier? he asks me. He's caught on fast" (240). This is supposed to have taken place in 1996. 1996. Women entering the workforce! I don't think I can unpack it any more than that because it would take pages, but that's just some craziness.
And then of course, there's the obsession with being the first. Heidi's the first to think of a laundromat in Haiti, Andrew's the first to ever surf in Cambodia... What a mindset to be able to think something like that, say it, publish it for anyone to read! The height of arrogance. Maybe people who surfed in Cambodia before didn't take pictures, didn't think it was important enough to put in a book. That doesn't mean it never happened. Middle-class families in Haiti have been outsourcing their laundry since before Heidi was born. Maybe not in a Brooklyn-style laundromat, but still. Anyway. Minor points, I guess.
My conclusion from reading this book is that most lowly mission workers are clueless and the higher-ups in the UN and other similar organizations, including countries, suck. But I already knew all that. As Andrew puts it: "If blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. Or else get weapons. Your lives are worth so much less than theirs." (253)
Hopefully people going on missions will read this and understand why people who actually live in the places they drop in to are not too welcoming.
A lot of reviewers have criticized the woman of the trio for mostly describing her romantic and sexual encounters. But I thought those parts of the text gave a lot of insight into the types of relationships UN workers and others like them are willing to forge with the people they're supposedly helping. The doctor had a strong relationship with a family in Cambodia, but apart from that, I got the sense that neither he nor Ken had any real relationships with the people they were supposedly there to help. Of Heidi, Andrew says: "she'd figured out from her time on the Bowery that if you want to change anything in this world, you should start by attending to those around you. Which is what she did, one person at a time, through her cooks and drivers and the people she worked with. And the men she loved. While for me, with each successive mission, individuals somehow got lost; they became Haitians, Rwandans, Bosnians -- populations, not people." (297) And it's definitely clear that for both Ken and Andrew, there is no complexity, no variation among the societies they parachute into. Everyone can be and is reduced to a Serb or Tutsi or Nigerian or Cambodian.
Still, of the three narrators, I have the most respect for Andrew and the work he did. Ken seemed to resemble the "mission type" the most. He gained some nuance over the course of the narrative, but not much. Heidi seemed messed up in a lot of ways, but true to herself and others in a way the men were not. I appreciated that.
As always, there were inaccuracies about Haiti that bothered me. It may seem nit-picky, but if I know there are things wrong about what's said about Haiti, it makes me doubt what they say about Cambodia and Liberia and Bosnia, etc.
One example that stands out is the whole laundromat thing: "Middle-class women are entering the workforce, just as their American counterparts did twenty years before, and no longer have time for housework. But their husbands still expect them to do it. A laudromat seems the most natural thing in the world; I can't believe no one here has thought of it already. For Marc it's as if a whole new world has opened. What other businesses are there in the US to make women's lives easier? he asks me. He's caught on fast" (240). This is supposed to have taken place in 1996. 1996. Women entering the workforce! I don't think I can unpack it any more than that because it would take pages, but that's just some craziness.
And then of course, there's the obsession with being the first. Heidi's the first to think of a laundromat in Haiti, Andrew's the first to ever surf in Cambodia... What a mindset to be able to think something like that, say it, publish it for anyone to read! The height of arrogance. Maybe people who surfed in Cambodia before didn't take pictures, didn't think it was important enough to put in a book. That doesn't mean it never happened. Middle-class families in Haiti have been outsourcing their laundry since before Heidi was born. Maybe not in a Brooklyn-style laundromat, but still. Anyway. Minor points, I guess.
My conclusion from reading this book is that most lowly mission workers are clueless and the higher-ups in the UN and other similar organizations, including countries, suck. But I already knew all that. As Andrew puts it: "If blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. Or else get weapons. Your lives are worth so much less than theirs." (253)
Hopefully people going on missions will read this and understand why people who actually live in the places they drop in to are not too welcoming.