This intriguing collection of essays chronicles the author's experiences as a foreign correspondent covering war and revolution between 1958 and 1980. The titular piece refers to a brief war between Honduras and El Salvador, but the collection mostly deals with Africa, especially the Congo, Ghana, and Algeria. Some of the essays are, inevitably, not as strong as others; nevertheless, Kapuscinski, an internationally acclaimed journalist, communicates with immediacy and heart in an engaging, readable style. Speaking of his childhood in Poland during World War II, he writes, "In my country, the war did not pass anyone by; it went through every home, it smashed its rifle butt against every door, it burned dozens of cities and thousands of villages. The war wounded everyone, and those who survived cannot cure themselves of it. A person who has lived through a great war is different from someone who never lived through any war. They are two different human beings. They will never find a common language, because you cannot really describe the war, you cannot share it, you cannot tell someone: Here, take a little bit of my war. Everyone has to live out his own war to the end." ( )

Africa > Description and travel/Latin America > Description and travel/Asia, Central > Description and travel/Revolutions > History > 20th century/Kapuâsciânski, Ryszard > Journeys

A collection of personal reportage by a guy addicted to throwing himself into life-threatening situations. The access he gets is amazing, but it is difficult to imagine the personal cost is worth it. ( )

http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/arty... ( )