196 Books: Ethiopia

 Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste 

Here's Ethiopia:

Here's the summary:

This memorable, heartbreaking story opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974, on the eve of a revolution. Yonas kneels in his mother’s prayer room, pleading to his god for an end to the violence that has wracked his family and country. His father, Hailu, a prominent doctor, has been ordered to report to jail after helping a victim of state-sanctioned torture to die. And Dawit, Hailu’s youngest son, has joined an underground resistance movement—a choice that will lead to more upheaval and bloodshed across a ravaged Ethiopia.

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze tells a gripping story of family, of the bonds of love and friendship set in a time and place that has rarely been explored in fiction. It is a story about the lengths human beings will go in pursuit of freedom and the human price of a national revolution. Emotionally gripping, poetic, and indelibly tragic, Beneath The Lion’s Gaze is a transcendent and powerful debut.

Oh my word. This book was incredible. But man, SO dark. I keep being drawn to war themed books, and I don't know if I have some sort of sick fascination or if I feel like that history should be remembered. Could be both, I guess. The way the author told the story of this family during the revolution was heartbreaking and so compelling. They each had different views and feelings of responsibility on what was happening in their world and how to deal with it. 

But, as with most of the war stories I've read, the inhumanity is gut-wrenching. Have we all figured out by now that torture doesn't actually work? Is that a thing that can go away? Has anyone figured out that just murdering all your opponents isn't the best plan in the long run? There was one quote about this that I found interesting: "That's what a new government will fix. These rich elites are nothing but traitors to their people, and until we get rid of all of them, nothing will change!" But then the enemy changes or people become disenfranchised or whatever. One thing I find super interesting, and it's happened in many of the civil war/coup d'etat books I've read, is that one dictatorship or undesirable regime gets overthrown and the new system is exactly the same. Or worse. The torture used in this one was sickening-there were honestly times where I was really into the story but had to stop reading because it was making me sick to my stomach. 

Seriously. This book was amazing. Mostly the way she wove the relationships and how they were affected by the war. But she was also really good at describing the awful torture. So, I guess that's nice. 

Anyway, that's it for the letter E! Moving on!

196 Books: Estonia

 When the Doves Disappeared by Sofi Oksanen

Estonia is in northern Europe:

And the summary:

1941: In Communist-ruled, war-ravaged Estonia, two men are fleeing from the Red Army—Roland, a fiercely principled freedom fighter, and his slippery cousin Edgar. When the Germans arrive, Roland goes into hiding; Edgar abandons his unhappy wife, Juudit, and takes on a new identity as a loyal supporter of the Nazi regime . . . 1963: Estonia is again under Communist control, independence even further out of reach behind the Iron Curtain. Edgar is now a Soviet apparatchik, desperate to hide the secrets of his past life and stay close to those in power. But his fate remains entangled with Roland’s, and with Juudit, who may hold the key to uncovering the truth . . .

Great acts of deception and heroism collide in this masterful story of surveillance, passion, and betrayal, as Sofi Oksanen brings to life the frailty—and the resilience—of humanity under the shadow of tyranny.

I think it's rather obvious that I'm kind of fascinated with WWII. Some of these books have shown me, as this one has, just how much of a bubble my history education has been. Like Egypt, this is another example of a country that welcomed Germany and hoped for their victory. 

In the 1940s sections of the book, the Bolsheviks trying to take over Estonia, and Germany is trying to run them out and "free" Estonia. So, honestly, it makes sense for them to support Germany and be glad of that occupation. Of course, as the years pass, it comes out what Germany is actually doing with the Jews and those they deem undesirable. But, and this feels horrible to say, but I felt sad when the Soviet Union prevailed and then just took over the country again. So in the 1960s sections they're under Communist rule and still don't get to have their country back. 

So then we come to the characters. On one extreme you have Roland, who stuck to his principles and fought to have his country back. At the other extreme you have sneaky, cunning, douchebag Edgar. Who I obviously hated. There's something so cowardly about a person who can put on a different mask for any occasion and who will lie, cheat, steal, kill, and otherwise do anything needed to gain favor and power. And Juudit was kind of in the middle, really just trying to get through life and be somewhat happy.

Here's the bad part: the story was good and entertaining, but the ending was completely unsatisfying. The bad guy prevailed. And he basically sacrificed his family to get there. And while I truly believe self-preservation is extremely persuasive, it's not the same as severe selfishness.