The Undivided Self - Selected Stories by Will Self

A chronicler of bizarre undercurrents in human relations.  Some I find interesting.  Some I find disturbing.  Some I find drag on.  Read a selection of them.

King Leopold's Ghost - Adam Hochschild

A brilliant piece of historical writing on a very charged and disturbing period in history.It is an interesting read and not because of the horrific abuse - the author does discuss this, but it is not the main focus of the book.  He spends most of his time looking how this all came about, with background on the great European colonial period in Africa, on the situation and character of Leopold himself, and on the mechanics of organizing and carrying out such a horror.  Hochschild also chronicles in detail the slow rise of international pressure to end this cruel exploitation.

I think this may actually be the most horrific massacre of the 20th century.  Certainly the numbers justify this.  But one other thing:  this massacre was not undertaken for some bizarre ideological reason (Hitler, Pol Pot) or grandiose economic plan (Stalin)  In the Congo it went of for 25 years purely as an act of individual greed on the part of King Leopold.  This was not Belgium's colony - Belgian politicians wanted nothing to do with colonies.  It was his personal cash cow - the only justification for the deaths and abuse was his desire for an endless supply of money.

The political manoeuvring around this exploitation is also interesting.  The abuse was on the world radar for many years, but Leopold was a master at all the techniques that have become standard fare in the 20th C - buying off the press, starting your own publishing companies to pump out positive articles and studies (fake news), bribing politicians with money and shares, spreading disinformation, character assassination, framing the story in favourable ways, bringing business on board through special deals, offering show tours to journalists and investigators, starting your own human rights organization, buying off opponents.  The only thing added by Hitler, Stalin, the U.S. et all seems to be political assassination...  I wonder if he invented all this?

Oh, and of course, Leopold had one perversion - sex with underage girls....

Hochschild has also included an afterword touching on several related points.  First, he points out that the nature of most colonialism is in fact slave labour.  Funny I've never seen this stated so explicitly before - unfair taxation, theft of resources, oppression, exploitation, yes, but never the actual statement "slave labour".  

He also discusses the curious fact that Leopold's scheme became such a focus when other countries - France, England, Germany - were exploiting their African colonies in exactly the same way.  Why him, and not them?  Also, irony in this as far as England is concerned, with their reputation of being a great anti-slavery nation.

Lastly, he touches on the continued sorry state of the Congo today.  As if the colonial period was the model for civil society and "government"  and the model has continued up to today, but with different players at the top - mining corporations and corrupt local strongmen.

A Great Reckoning - Louise Penny

Penny just keeps getting better.  This book brings in many threads and characters from past books.  This time the focus is on corruption and coercion in the police training system.  She uses some great "out there" characters in this book.

A Question of Blood - Ian Rankin

Another good Ian Rankin read.  Focus on post-traumatic stress in the military, and social nihilism in the young.