Review: The Emperor
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsAs a Polish foreign correspondent, Kapuscinski thought he could write about the bungling Gierek regime in Warsaw (the book appeared in Polish in 1978) by writing about the decaying Haile Selassie regime in Addis Ababa. Both leaders have now passed into history without, it must be said, much illumination from Kapuscinski. After the Emperor's 1974 imprisonment, he sneaked around Addis Ababa interviewing people who had served His August Majesty--as a pillow bearer, as an officer in the Ministry of Ceremonies or the Ministry of the Pen. We find out, in snippets, that Haile Selassie spent hours listening to oral reports from spies and intelligence-gatherers, preferring to keep such information in his head; that he personally fed his palace lions and panthers chunks of meat while Ethiopians starved in the north; that he was attended by legions of servants and lackeys who, like everyone else, were not allowed to look him straight in the eye; that he shuffled people about, making and breaking his subjects on the spot, during a daily period called the Hour of Assignments. Some historical details regarding the attempted 1960 coup and the subsequent, successful one emerge en route: once starvation hit the headlines through a British journalist, the development ideology fostered by the Emperor backfired in widespread discontent, and his rule was doomed. Most of the book, however, is pure atmosphere.
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Andrew - GoodreadsI suppose the American frame of reference for The Emperor is probably the "new journalism" stuff from the '60s-- Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Hunter Thompson, all that. So I liked all those guys a grip ... Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Amyem - Goodreadshttp://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1... Although I was somewhat hampered by my lack of knowledge of Haile Sailese's reign, it was still a very fascinating book. I'll have to pull out The Shadow of the Sun from the lower depths of the reading pile. Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Erin - Goodreadsalthough short and interesting, am finding it hard to finish Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Ian Kemp - GoodreadsTo most Westerners as well as deluded Rastafarians, Haile Selassie was a humane, gentle, enlightened leader of an unfortunate nation. To those close to him, he was an iron-fisted despot, who ... Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - GoodreadsSalman Rushdie wrote about him: "One Kapuściński is worth more than a thousand whimpering and fantasizing scribblers. His exceptional combination of journalism and art allows us to feel so close to what Kapuściński calls the inexpressible true image of war".
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Lauren - GoodreadsDespite being a non-fiction work and a series of interviews, this reminds me of novels like Marquez's "The Autumn of the Patriarch" and Miguel Angel Asturias' "The President", both of which are biting ... Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Adrian - GoodreadsStory of Haile Selasse's Ethiopian empire. Kap interviews a host of people who worked in the Selassie palace after his overthrow and cleverly lets them hang the Emperor with their own words. Fair bit ... Read full review
Review: The Emperor
User Review - Amy - GoodreadsHaile Selassie, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, enjoyed a 44-year reign until his own army gave him the boot in 1974. In the days following the coup, the ... Read full review
