Travels with Herodotus

Dette er nærmest tre bøker i en, hvor ikke alle tre er like interessante:

1. En bok om Kapuściński sine reiser som journalist fra den første turen til India til de sene turene til Afrika.
2. En bok om Kapuścińskis forhold til Herodot, og om forholdet mellom hans egne reiser og leseropplevelsene Herodot gir.
3. Tekster fra “Herodots historier”, direkte sitater

De mange kapitlene veksler mellom de tre ulike typene tekster, og det tar langt tid å venne seg til å lese gjengivelsene av Herodots historier. Først mot slutten merker jeg at jeg blir fenget av de. Kapuścińskis forhold til Herodot er mer interessant, men heller ikke det er veldig interessant før jeg kommer et stykke ut i boken. Det er først og fremst Kapuścińskis egne opplevelser som løfter boken, og det er i de siste kapitlene at de tre bøkene forenes i en hel tekst som til slutt blir til et verk - og når jeg først har havnet der sitter jeg igjen med en storartet opplevelse. Men først da.

This was Ryszard Kapuściński's last book, written shortly before he died in 2007.It is a work of retrospect - he isn't writing about recent events, or his recent thoughts, but writes about his own past and ties it to a book which inspired him - [b:The Histories 1362 The Histories Herodotus https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399225547s/1362.jpg 488198], by Herodotus.It is a book written from a position of knowledge, often about the times where he was far from knowledgeable - a young Polish journalist, sent from the recently opened East to India - a place he had no former knowledge of, and similarly to China - where he was no longer welcome due to a political change which occurred the day he arrived - although the Chinese left him to work this out.He was given a copy of Herodotus' newly translated (into Polish) book as a gift on the eve of his first departure from Poland, and it was a travelling partner for him over the years, and as well as analysis of the book, and drawing inspiration for his reportage, he feels an affinity with the author.The writing is a combination of his experiences (albeit a short version of most) in India, China and Africa, amongst other places, and his retelling, or examination of [b:The Histories 1362 The Histories Herodotus https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399225547s/1362.jpg 488198], where he draws comparison and takes lessons from the writing of Herodotus.As other reviews point out the writing is, at times, a little self indulgent, but some of the anecdotes are wonderfully written, and some of the points are poignant enough to overcome this.I have only read one excerpt book of Kapuściński's before - [b:The Cobra's Heart 889336 The Cobra's Heart (Penguin Great Journeys) Ryszard Kapuściński https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1179202418s/889336.jpg 45724600] - and enjoyed that a lot (5 stars). I will be keeping an eye out for more of his work.For this book - 4 Stars for me.