Thomas’s Reviews > Les Causes perdues > Status Update

Good?

I am not sure yet. I have an Ethiopian friend, so in the sense of 'reading about his homeland' it's proving to be. I don't know much about the Italian colonial expansion into Africa, so it's interesting in that sense. It is well written, as it should be given the author. I will keep you posted.

I enjoyed it. It's very much focussed on the interaction between the wealthy old Armenian man and the aid team. Given that it's written as a journal, this makes sense. He lives in Asmara, is well off, has servants and the like; so for him the famine, the death, and the wanton cruelty are simply peripheral issues.

His main interest is in Gregoire (the French dude in charge of the humanitarian aid) who reminds him of his long dead son, and the vitality that all the excitement has brought to is lonely life. I enjoyed the perspective and the fact that the famine was spoken of, without focussing on the supremely depressing nature of it.

You might enjoy it, especially if you go into it not expecting a detailed account of the horrors of the famine.