29 - Charlie Johnson in the Flames, by Michael Ignatieff, 179 pages, Grove Press, 2003
WHY I PICKED IT: I wanted to try something by Ignatieff
ELAPSED TIME: <1 day.
RATING: Very Good.
Medecins Sans Frontieres has a secondary purpose beyond humanitarian medical relief, to bear witness. This story, of a reporter who has spent a career in conflict zones, tells of the awful impact of that objective. Bearing witness requires an engagement of that outsider, to see what is happening and take that story to the world... despite the fact that most of the world won't truly feel it.
In this story, Charlie Johnson is an American reporter who watches a Serbian Colonel set a woman on fire, who jumps on her to put out the flames, and gets her to a hospital. It's the story of how this seasoned reporter's "innocent" view of the world is shattered when he witnesses something so cold and brutal, he simply could not cope, and so seeks out vengeance.
Although this book was very well written and engaging, but I don't think I could ever actually recommend it to anybody.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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