Light Holiday Reading

I got back at the end of August from a three-week, relaxing holiday in Croatia. But on that holiday I made the choice to read and watch material that was completely devastating and opposite to my idyllic surrounding. Not necessarily a choice I recommend, but I have some thoughts in any case.

I read King Leopold's Ghost, a damning and detailed description of the unspeakable acts committed by agents of Belgium's King Leopold II leading to an estimated decrease in the Congolese population by 10 million. This is a story that “hits home” for me because I have spent a lot of time in Brussels, specifically in the originally Congolese neighborhood of Matonge (named after a neighborhod in Khinshasha, formerly Leopoldville). But also because I met people there still studying the Congolese culture in Belguim and the inability of the Belgians to properly deal with their history. And because I saw many of the monuments that were financed by the prosperous and blood-financed rubber period. There is even a park still holding the King’s name.

I read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, the epic story of the Joad's journey from Oklahoma to California and the utter powerlessness they had against destitution and the lack of compassion of their fellow Americans. I don’t know how this story escaped me during my school times, but despite the glaring pro-communism argument, the story also hit home. I saw the depictions of the Californians selfish of their stability and afraid of the Okeys moving in to their space, and I saw a similarity to some of us Americans today.

I watched the recent Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary miniseries The Vietnam War, about a war that I always knew made little sense. It has taught me that not only did it make little sense, it was a tragedy motivated only by a misguided and misinformed policy and ultimately the political greed and untrustworthiness of a line of American presidents and cabinet members. This viewing experience did not hit home in contrast to the others; unlike many other people my age I did not have a father, uncle, or family friend that was affected by Vietnam. But this documentary rather challenged my view of all of the people involved. The American leaders, the American soldiers, and also the Vietnamese on all sides. Despite being 17 hours in total I recommend it to anyone, especially lovers of Ken Burns.

What did I learn from this very poorly chosen vacation reading? I guess if I were to say only one thing it would be that nodoby should trust the version of history they were told. The past was a very different place and even those who are held up as heroes, or even just as honourable, could be not so disimilar to those today we would hold in contempt, both personally and as a society. Events are always complex to understand, especially as they unfold, but with the sharp lens of history we can learn something, and we must actively seek this in order to properly assess and deal with the past.