In the Shadow of the Rising Sun

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In the Shadow of the Rising Sun: Surviving a Prisoner of War Childhoodis Olga Henderson’s harrowing, but ultimately uplifting, account of her life as a prisoner of war during World War Two. Her unflinching memoir details the torture, hunger, punishments and inhumanity that she and her family endured while being held captive. Ipak, nije Rišard proveo toliko godina u Africi bez da iskusi političku situaciju tamo. Iako politika nije nešto što me zanima niti nešto o čemu volim da čitam, moram da primetim da se pisac potrudio da ovu situaciju objasni na najjasniji mogući način, tako da i politički laik može da je skonta. Ono što je najbitnije jeste da ove epizode mogu da se preskoče bez da to utiče na celokupan osećaj posle knjige, jer je svaki aspekt priča i doživljaj za sebe. Most fundamental, however, are the political weaknesses of the system. It is in the basic political inheritance of America, reflected in the very design of the Constitution and the long dominance of Jeffersonian individualism over Hamiltonian statism, that we must locate the roots of American impotence in the face of Japan's challenge. Camp Superintendents over the years who took on the difficult task to keep peace within the PoWs, managed the scarce resources, negotiated with the Japanese and ensured the safety and health of all; Sorpresivamente positivo me resultó descubrir la existencia de un país llamado Eritrea del que jamás había escuchado su nombre y que se ubica al norte de Etiopía. Más agradable aún me resultó el saber que en ese país se encuentra la ciudad de Asmara, cuya arquitectura italiana y su benigno clima hacen que se antoje visitarla.

This has been an important book for me to read, as I really know very little of Africa, apart from the outlines of its history and geography, and the wars, famines and violence that fill our news services. Certainly, the latter feature largely in The Shadow of the Sun, but Kapuściński does spend time away from the European enclaves in towns and cities, with 'ordinary people' and in the country areas where transport is almost non-existent.

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Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn't exist.” Ebanovina: Moj afrički život nije knjiga koja ima zaplet, za razliku od nekih drugih memoara i romana. Glavna tema ove knjige je Afrika, i to ne bilo koja Afrika – već ona svakodnevna. Kroz različite decenije i najrazličitija mesta na ovom kontinentu, Kapušćinjski na neverovatan način dočarava svakodnevnicu svih ljudi koji žive ovde. Kako bi bio siguran da su njegova iskustva autentična, on je godinama živeo u siromašnim delovima različitih gradova i sela, gde je iskusio kako je to kad ti upadnu u stan i pokradu sve što imaš, kako je to izboriti se sa kobrama, ali isto tako upoznajemo brdo likova kroz mini epizode, kao što je moj omiljeni lik – gospođa koja poseduje samo lonac. Naime, ova epizoda je iz nekog razloga bila izuzetno emotivna, iako je opisana u svega nekoliko paragrafa. Ipak, piscu nije potrebno više od dva paragrafa da izuzetno opiše tu emociju i atmosferu koja tamo vlada. Ovaj momenat konkretno govori o ženi koja, kao što sam rekao, poseduje samo svoj lonac, i na taj način zarađuje novac za sebe i za svoje dete. Ona svakoga dana kuva proso koji prodaje kao male obroke, i na taj način zarađuje novac. U trenutku kada joj budu ukrali lonac ona će shvatiti da više nema način da zaradi svoj novac – što je momenat u kome zaista shvatamo koliko smo srećni što imamo to što imamo, posebno jer su ovakve stvari izuzetno česte u ruralnim delovima Afrike. I found this book to be a surprisingly absorbing read. For all book lovers, there is one sentence in this book that will resonate:

Without transport, he emphasises, exchange is difficult and trade almost impossible. Poverty is inevitable in regions with no transport. Another one of those ideas that states the obvious, and shifts the way you see things ever after. Dawn and dusk—these are the most pleasant hours in Africa. The sun is either not yet scorching, or it is no longer so—it lets you be, lets you live.” This is probably Kapuscinski's best known book, and is his highest rated book on GR. Not without reason. This is 5 stars for me, and this was confirmed by about a third of the way through.

In the Shadow of the Rising Sun

At the start of the 7th century, new names emerged among Japanese political elites in reaction to the unflattering term used by the Chinese Empire to refer to the archipelago. Since the 1st century, the latter have used the word "wa" which means "dwarf" or "submissive" to speak both of the Japanese and of their country. The following Japanese appellations thus appear: Hi izuri tokoro ( country from which the sun comes out ), Hi no moto ( country of the origin of the sun ) and Hi-takami no kuni ( the country where the sun is seen high ) . To get at the political roots of American economic decline, businessman-scholar William Dietrich puts the disciplined thinking of political philosophy, comparative politics, and international political economy to effective use in analyzing the source and nature of American institutional weakness. February 2022 marked 80 years since the Fall of Singapore and at last Olga is ready to tell the story of her years as a child prisoner of war. It’s a story of great fear and deprivation; of a childhood utterly lost to conflict. It’s also a story of class prejudice and unkindness that didn’t end when Olga was freed from the camp and returned to England as an unwanted refugee. Kapuscinski is no fool, and makes no claims to be 'describing Africa,' an impossible task. He does a very good job of describing the misery of being trapped in heat so brutal that people simply find a patch of shade and stop moving, sometimes for hours; a good job of describing the beauty of the Rwandan landscape and the way people, faced with challenges that we in the Western world can scarcely imagine, find ways to cope. Sometimes he tries to lift his matter-of-fact prose into something loftier, which tends not to work very well.