I've always thought Croatia had a cool shape to it:
The summary has a normal shape:
Today in Eastern Europe the architectural work of revolution is complete: the old order has been replaced by various forms of free market economy and de jure democracy. But as Slavenka Drakulic observes, "in everyday life, the revolution consists much more of the small things—of sounds, looks and images." In this brilliant work of political reportage, filtered through her own experience, we see that Europe remains a divided continent. In the place of the fallen Berlin Wall there is a chasm between East and West, consisting of the different way people continue to live and understand the world. Little bits—or intimations—of the West are gradually making their way east: boutiques carrying Levis and tiny food shops called "Supermarket" are multiplying on main boulevards. Despite the fact that Drakulic can find a Cafe Europa, complete with Viennese-style coffee and Western decor, in just about every Eastern European city, the acceptance of the East by the rest of Europe continues to prove much more elusive
So...they can't all be winners. Or maybe I just failed to grasp the concepts on this one. To start with my ignorance, however, this was written in 1996, when I was 11. I wasn't exactly connected to what was going on with the world, so I think I'm a little out of touch with what things were like at the time. Also I finished this book last night and I looked up some other reviews. I've been questioning my opinion since then because I couldn't find any reviews that supported it; I can usually find at least one. All the others were complimentary, saying that she asked the hard questions about how people move on after Communism. I found it critical, apologetic, and somewhat whiny all at once. And, again, maybe I'm just being naive because I haven't had to live with that sort of instability.
There were parts that I had to remind myself the world wasn't quite as connected in 1996 as it is today. Drakulic talked about the belief that everyone in Eastern Europe is poor and everyone in Western Europe is rich; which is such a black and white, filtered view of the world. Additionally, there was the idea that those who "had," or were believed to be more well off, were obligated to share with those who didn't have as much. And those who have been helped have no necessity to be grateful or thankful. In fact, Drakulic says, "they are too busy suffering to respond."
But, interestingly, I did find similarities to what's going on today. She gives some anecdotes about uniforms denoting power and that perceived power ending up being a problem, which made me think of police officers in the US today. Soldier refers to them as legal gangs, and I kind of agree. Later on she says, "The administrators and experts behave as though they are not responsible to anyone but the mayor...The mayor of Zagreb has evidently not learned yet that he is responsible to the citizens." Same here. Lastly she tells a story of people mourning the fall of communism, which made me think of all the "Make America Great Again" people.
So, yeah, I was conflicted on this one...and the more I think about it the more conflicted I get. Maybe it was really good after all.
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