I was in Austria a week ago. Many Austrians drive really big cars, live in well-kept buildings, etc. Why? Those high mountains are perfect for rebel groups to hide from the government, and it must be/ must have been very difficult for the government to project power. Why do Austrians living in isolated houses at the top of mountains far away from military and police sleep without worries, while people in the Congo (or in Africa for that matter) do not? Why is Austria developed and peaceful, and the Congo not? Sure, I can give a laundry list. But it did struck me.
When in France and Austria I did not have too much time to read. I did read something:
- Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil is a good book written by Nicholas Shaxson's who - after working for many years in Africa - discusses how oil is hurting the African continent. Especially France get's its ass kicked.
- Frederick Forsyth’s Dogs of War's is a novel set in imaginary Zangaro where richness are found in the Crystal Mountains. Interestingly, and probably not by accident, the latter is also a range of mountains that the Congo River has coursed its way through (located approximately 200 miles east of the Atlantic coast).
- Already mentioned in a previous post, but Adam Hochchild’s King Leopold’s Ghost is a fantastic book.
- Allah N'est Pas Oblige by Ahmadou Kourouma - a book I got from my supervisor already a while ago in order to learn French - is a first-person narrative by a West African child soldier who recounts his experiences in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nice book.
- I also bought Deception Point by Dan Brown and Foundation 2 by Isaac Azimov in French, I started the first.
Talking about French; I am now going to say something positive about France. TV5 Monde has a webpage called "Apprendre le français", which gives not only the newsvideos, but also their transcript, several games, etc. A great tool to study the language.
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