Congo
2011/23
David Van Reybrouck: Congo (582p.)
Maybe the effect is somewhat less strong these days, but there was a time (a few decades ago) when almost every Belgian had an uncle, ant, or other relative doing something in Congo, proud Belgium’s former colony, and the brainchild of King Leopold II, who once famously said of his own citizens “petit pays, petit gens” (“small country, small people”), which is why he perhaps got himself a colony to begin with.
My dad was born in 43, completed his studies as a teacher at age 20, and subsequently left Belgium to teach in Congo three years, between 63 and 66, which nicely corroborates his claim to have seen Mobutu taking over, seated atop a tank – it must have been November 65, the start of Mobutu’s decades-long dictatorship, during which he sucked his country dry.
David Van Reybrouck’s Congo is a history of Congo from 1870 (Stanley and Livingstone) up until now, related the way I like history to be related: anecdotally, through the people that actually lived it. (As a result, Congo at times feels more like a work of fiction rather than non-fiction; Van Reybrouck has also published as a novelist.)
In the end, for all its 582 pages, Congo never is less than captivating, is well-written, well-researched, fun, loads of fun, and a great re-hash as well. It really says a lot when a non-fiction tome of nearly 600 pages becomes a bestseller. Great!
To you all Anglo-Saxons: watch out for the English translation, to be published by Harper-Collins.
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