The Bookworm: The Emperor
Blogger's Note:
No, I didn't read this book in the last five days. I started this post a week ago when I finished it, so I'm just catching up.
Using simple interviews and short, narrative interruptions, Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish journalist, recreates the life and downfall of Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile Selassie I, in The Emperor. (For those who don't know much about Rastafarianism, Selassie was the man Rastafarians considered God incarnate, or "Jah" as they called him.) In their own words (I'm not sure if the interviews were transcribed verbatim or not), the men and women who were close to the emperor — his secretaries, maids, and servants — detail the every day life of the man they called "the King of Kings" and recall the events leading to the downfall of the Solomonic dynasty in 1974 (the royal house of Ethiopia could be traced back as far as the 13th Century and claimed roots with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba).
The picture I took of the library copy sucks, and I can't find any good, large images of the paperback cover online, so here's a picture of Kapuscinski.
Kapuscinski was a very well traveled guy. He has been dubbed the Herodotus of our times. His Wikipedia page says it all:
Insane. Most of his work deals with revolutions, coups, and wars in third world countries. As a member of the Polish United Workers' Party, I suspect Kapuscinski was able to witness these events first-hand, on the ground, because of his connections with the communists and their lurking presence and interest in the places he visited. In Another Day of Life he tours Angola in the mid-'70s, when the Portuguese were leaving and two separate military forces were battling the communists for control of the country. My first impression of him came from a short I read for a nonfiction class in college. Mesmerized by the terse, to-the-point style, I asked the TA where it came from and she pointed me to Kapuscinski's Imperium, a travelogue he wrote about the Soviet Union and it's rusted, deteriorated state near the end of communism. But despite his political leanings, he strove for simple understanding and facts. Kapuscinski was a chronicler and not a propagandist, preferring to add to the ledger of life and not distort it. His writings are humanitarian, exposing injustice, bureaucracy, and extravagance.
Intent on collecting information and stories after the fall, Kapuscinski went to Ethiopia and carefully sought the former servants and palace workers who had escaped execution. As he explains in the book, it's hard getting in touch with people in hiding, people who don't want their pasts exposed. But a journalist has his ways. An old connection introduced him to the storytellers who fill the book. Each short section has one or two initials at the beginning, much like the "F." at the top of the introduction quote, serving as the servants identifying mark. As expected, the interviewees were very nervous:
Great reading. Of course, I highly suggest you pick up The Emperor and any other Kapuscinski work. The Soccer War is on my to-read list.
No, I didn't read this book in the last five days. I started this post a week ago when I finished it, so I'm just catching up.
F.:
It was a small dog, a Japanese breed. His name was Lulu. He was allowed to sleep in the Emperor's great bed. During various ceremonies, he would run away from the Emperor's lap and pee on dignitaries' shoes. The august gentlemen were not allowed to flinch or make the slightest gesture when they felt their feet getting wet. I had to walk among the dignitaries and wipe the urine from their shoes with a satin cloth. This was my job for ten years.
Using simple interviews and short, narrative interruptions, Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish journalist, recreates the life and downfall of Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile Selassie I, in The Emperor. (For those who don't know much about Rastafarianism, Selassie was the man Rastafarians considered God incarnate, or "Jah" as they called him.) In their own words (I'm not sure if the interviews were transcribed verbatim or not), the men and women who were close to the emperor — his secretaries, maids, and servants — detail the every day life of the man they called "the King of Kings" and recall the events leading to the downfall of the Solomonic dynasty in 1974 (the royal house of Ethiopia could be traced back as far as the 13th Century and claimed roots with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba).
The picture I took of the library copy sucks, and I can't find any good, large images of the paperback cover online, so here's a picture of Kapuscinski.
Kapuscinski was a very well traveled guy. He has been dubbed the Herodotus of our times. His Wikipedia page says it all:
When he finally returned to Poland, he had lived through twenty-seven revolutions and coups, been jailed 40 times and survived four death sentences
Insane. Most of his work deals with revolutions, coups, and wars in third world countries. As a member of the Polish United Workers' Party, I suspect Kapuscinski was able to witness these events first-hand, on the ground, because of his connections with the communists and their lurking presence and interest in the places he visited. In Another Day of Life he tours Angola in the mid-'70s, when the Portuguese were leaving and two separate military forces were battling the communists for control of the country. My first impression of him came from a short I read for a nonfiction class in college. Mesmerized by the terse, to-the-point style, I asked the TA where it came from and she pointed me to Kapuscinski's Imperium, a travelogue he wrote about the Soviet Union and it's rusted, deteriorated state near the end of communism. But despite his political leanings, he strove for simple understanding and facts. Kapuscinski was a chronicler and not a propagandist, preferring to add to the ledger of life and not distort it. His writings are humanitarian, exposing injustice, bureaucracy, and extravagance.
Intent on collecting information and stories after the fall, Kapuscinski went to Ethiopia and carefully sought the former servants and palace workers who had escaped execution. As he explains in the book, it's hard getting in touch with people in hiding, people who don't want their pasts exposed. But a journalist has his ways. An old connection introduced him to the storytellers who fill the book. Each short section has one or two initials at the beginning, much like the "F." at the top of the introduction quote, serving as the servants identifying mark. As expected, the interviewees were very nervous:
They caution me again, needlessly: no addresses, no names, don't say that he's tall, that he's short, that he's skinny, that his forehead this or his hands that. Or that his eyes, or his legs, or that his knees...There's nobody left to get down on your knees for.
Great reading. Of course, I highly suggest you pick up The Emperor and any other Kapuscinski work. The Soccer War is on my to-read list.
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