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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
Honestly I believe this book should be taught to students in school. This recent history has really shaped our current world view, and I feel that makes it much more important to our society. Not only that, but the writer does a great job of telling the story: he doesn’t present historical figures as completely heroic and without flaws, he reminds readers of who certain historical figures are since the names can be confusing, and he continuously remarks on how this historical tragedy helped to shape the later tragedies during the World Wars. This portrayal has begun to open my eyes to some of the tragedies occurring in the colonies of the imperialistic European countries, and has piqued my interest (and slightly scared me) to learn more.
My favorite quote from the book:
“And yet the world we live in- its divisions and conflicts, it’s widening gap between rich and poor, its seemingly inexplicable outbursts of violence- is shaped far less by what we celebrate and mythologize than by the painful events we try to forget.” (From the Chapter “The Great Forgetting”)
My favorite quote from the book:
“And yet the world we live in- its divisions and conflicts, it’s widening gap between rich and poor, its seemingly inexplicable outbursts of violence- is shaped far less by what we celebrate and mythologize than by the painful events we try to forget.” (From the Chapter “The Great Forgetting”)
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Five stars for the subject and the author's detailed research, three for his writing style. I hadn't known much of anything about Belgium's brutal colonial history in the Congo. I learned a lot, and was repeatedly reminded of the African museum in Tervuren. I spent many lazy afternoons wandering the beautiful formal gardens of the park outside the museum, as it was across the street from where I caught the 44 tram to go into Brussels when I lived in Bertem as an exchange student. On several occasions I wandered through the dusty museum, full of century-old curios and no mention of the atrocities brought to the Congo by their colonizers. Nearly as shocking as the loss of 10 million Africans in the Congo was the story of the willfull misinformation circulated before, during, and after the event by those in power. "Fake news" is nothing new.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
It's hard to call a book detailing a hidden genocide "good," but it was well written and profoundly upsetting. I recommend it to everyone who has a love for history. This was an incredible and heartbreaking story.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
Hochschild holds on tightly the entire book to who the culprits were to these violent horrors in the Congo and doesn't let you look away from that truth for the entire book.