Madame Elysé spoke for three minutes and forty-seven seconds. The silence that followed seemed interminable. As I stood at the podium, a gentle sound filled the Great Hall of Justice, the sound of tears.
I waited to address the Court.
Later, after the morning session was over... Madame Elysé... turned to me.....
'May I ask a question?'
'Yes.'
'Why did it take so long for us to come to The Hague?'
so-soI didn‘t appreciate this as much as I feel I should have. Historical fiction in war (WWI) and post-war Africa. Amazing writing, but not my typical read. Read for my country challenge.
#Tanzania #ReadtheWorld2025
pickInformative. Mostly focuses on India and China (and colonialism) but also covers a lot of time and a few other places.
pickA well researched book on the opium plant and its impact on all aspects of society during the eighteen and nineteenth century. It was this plant that provided a lion share of the capital needed for European colonization. A lot of the wealthiest Americans made their fortune from this trade before they diversified into other ventures.
so-soI finished this, but other than the story of the water buffalo and the boy who left and then returned home, don‘t ask me to tell you any details. I struggled to stay focused during several sections. I see how it addressed important points about colonialism, but I also expected more about the actual coffee business.
#FoodAndLit #Netherlands #Indonesia #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #audiobook #translated #1001books
It‘s the final week of January and I finally chose a book by a Dutch author from the 1001 list. Yesterday, I thought to check LibriVox and started the tagged book. I also made hopjesvla, and this morning I had coffee custard that tastes much like a caramel latte for breakfast.
#FoodAndLit #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #Netherlands #translated #audiobook #1001books
😳 Yes, that seems like a good place to draw the line. In fact, it seems to me that the psychiatrists who performed that service, teaching torturers to suppress their feelings of guilt, were doing the exact opposite of what their mental health mandate ought to be!
"The very same people who had it constantly drummed into them that the only language they understood was that of force, now decided to express themselves with force . . . To the expression: 'All natives are the same, the colonized reply: 'All colonists are the same.'"
Given the brutality of colonization, expressions of explosive violence by the oppressed were, in his view, inevitable in the opening phase of a liberation war.
