Review: Another Day of Life
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsA gripping tale of a Polish newspaperman left behind in Luanda, capital of Angola, after the evacuation of the Portuguese in 1975. As everyone in town leaves, including the police and even the dogs, apocalypse seems imminent, but the author remains through impressive intestinal fortitude. Kapuscinski tells his story in telegraphic prose, admirably spare and concise. In fact, the translation preserves a certain Graham Greene flavor, and for a reporter on site, there can be no higher praise. The book's beginning might be the start of a story by Greene: ""For three months I lived in Luanda, in the Tivoli hotel."" Through the dark days, as the people surrounding the author vanish, he continues to send dispatches to Poland. The messages from the machine, typed in upper case, give an added typographical excitement to the book, rather as if the words were being banged out just as we read them. Not only does Kapuscinski keep reportting through all this, he even maintains his journalistic ethics: ""It's wrong to write about people without living through at least a little of what they are living through,"" he says. This maxim motivates a jeep ride hair-raising in its danger. The violence expected does not come, but the reporter sweats so much during the ride that a pack-age of cigarettes in his pocket dissolves into ""a handful of damp hay smelling of nicotine."" As the hour of invasion approaches, a deep sense of urgency makes the writing even better, if anything. There is a list of what can be done in an abandoned city on Sunday that is acceptable free verse, capped by the surreal image of a continuous showing of the soft-porn film Emanuelle in a public plaza, with freeze-frame effects by the projectionists. This touch of comedy does not detract from the book's tone of sorrow, encapsulated in the pathetically noble headline of a local newspaper: ""The hour of truth has arrived!"" For exciting, evocative, on-the-spot reporting of history in the making, a most vivid choice.
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Tom - GoodreadsI'm not born yesterday. I know that Kapuscinski played a deeper role in the MPLA than he would've liked to admit, and that much of his writing works as state propaganda. If you take his point of view ... Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Matthew - GoodreadsA quick, enjoyable read that shows what life was like in Angola in 1975 prior to and during the revolution. A fascinating insight into the life of a foreign correspondent and the breakdown of society during war. Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Stefano - Goodreads''In old Lisbon Angola was referred as the pais "dos degrados".... This is one of the most impressive documents about the civil war in Angola, Kapuscinski confirmed to be probably the best ... Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Leonor Duarte - GoodreadsI read it in Portuguese. It was really an amazing and strong emotional experience Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Larissa - GoodreadsThis book, published in 2001, is about an uprising in Angola. Our author, a foreign correspondent for a Polish communist newspaper, takes us on his travels, to the front line and surrounding areas ... Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Nicole - Goodreads'War is a reality only to those stuck in its bloody, dreadful, filthy insides.' A glimpse of Angola as it was about to be granted independence by the Portuguese in 1975, and the civil war that was ... Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Manheim Wagner - GoodreadsAn amazing document of the Angolan civil war, it's a must read on the absurdity of war. Read full review
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - GoodreadsFew other writers are capable of evoking the character of a war or a country so well. An amazing book that everyone should read, not in the least those who make the decisions that cause these situations.
Review: Another Day of Life
User Review - Phil Williams - GoodreadsBefore I read this book I knew almost nothing about Angola, and picked it up as part of my attempts to broaden my knowledge of Africa. By the time I reached the final chapter I still knew almost ... Read full review
