Finally reaching the end seems the hardest part when reading a book. It seems that you've work very hard to reach your target, but in reality no extraordinary work has been done. This book, has been a whole adventure and trying to keep up with the narrator is an almost impossible task. He jumps from one place to another in just a few seconds, sometimes without the reader knowing it. "Pack the suitcase. Unpack it, pack it, unpack it, pack it: typewriter (Hermes Baby), passport (SA 323273), ticket, airport, stairs, airplane, fasten seat-belt, take off, unfasten seat-belt, flight, rocking, sun, stars, space, hips of strolling stewardesses, sleep, clouds, falling engine speed, fasten seat-belt, descent, circling, landing, earth, unfasten seat-belts, stairs, airports, immunization book, visa customs, taxi, streets, houses, people, hotel, key, room, stuffiness, thirst, otherness, foreignness, loneliness, waiting, fatigue, life (The Soccer War, Chapter 5, pg. 198)." Ryszard Kapuscinski is always on the move and one must pay close attention to not loose him from sight. He says somewhere along the book that his life is defined by the search for a story. Basically Kapuscinski lets the reader know that if there is a story to be told, he will be there no matter the consequences. During this part of the book, Ryszard talks about all the wars and conflicts he has attended and in one occasion (with the leader of the Mount Hermon group) there is a discussion about military strategies and Kapuscinski tells this man what he thinks went wrong in some wars he has attended as a journalist. It's amazing to see how much Ryszard Kapuscinski learns out in the field. It would seem that he is a man who's learned to value life more than others because of his experiences. There have been wars, starvation, catastrophes (human or natural) and still he wishes to tell the true story no matter what because in his eyes the world needs to know what is going on.
Kapuscinski lives various conflicts during his journalist life and while reading, I noticed that he talks or at least mentions Bogota. This made me go back and read various times because I couldn't believe it. Up until know, most of my connections have been made with movies and pop culture, but this time I'd like to connect most of the problems, conflicts, etc. that Kapuscinski lives, with the ones Colombians suffer everyday. Most people think that the high class never suffers because 'money buys it all, especially happiness' who ever invented that phrase was a stupid bastard who didn't know anything. Every Colombian has suffered from this "ever lasting" war, directly or indirectly. There was a part in the book, that made me think because it has a clear and strong message that makes a lot of sense. "Syria was losing the Golan Heights and at the same time, that same day, that same hour, in Damascus -twenty kilometers from the Golan Heights- the cafés were full of people, and others were walking around, worrying about whether they would find a free table. Syria lost fewer than 100 soldiers in the 1967 war (The Soccer War, Chapter 5, pg. 201)." One can notice this same problem in Colombia, people don't know there is a conflict, but they believe it's far away so they don't care. This should not be this way, if every single Colombian joined forces to face the guerrilla head on, there is a high possibility that something amazing would happen. More than 40 million people against 10 thousand, that's something to be afraid of. Sadly this will never occur. Most of the population does not care and would never do this because it would be 'waisting time', but when it's time to criticise the government and its 'failures' everybody has lots of time.
- What will happen to Kapuscinski?
- Does he get injured in any of his expeditions?
- What other conflicts will Ryszard experience?
- Where's his family?
- Does Ryszard Kapuscinki's boss worry about him?
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