https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-return-of-eva-peron-with-the-killings-in-tri...

It consists of four essays from the Nobel Laureate; it is notable that although the first and the longest of the pieces is about Trinidad, it is Eva Perón who is given top billing in the book’s title and cover. It’s an important book and I will describe each of the four essays briefly.

“Michael X and the Black Power Killings in Trinidad”:

I was not familiar with this grim story: Michael X, a political activist and effectively a cult leader who had ended up back in his native Trinidad after developing his activist career in London, had two of his followers brutally killed in 1971, and was eventually arrested, convicted and executed for the crimes. Naipaul goes into the rhetoric of Michael X’s particular version of Black Power in detail, which helps us understand why his followers (and others including John Lennon) took him so seriously. Naipaul doesn’t make the connection with Charles Manson, but I must say that I also saw similarities with other homicidal cult leaders before and since.

“The Return of Eva Perón”:

This is a lyrical and detailed essay about the extraordinary story of Juan and Eva Perón, and how Argentina (and Uruguay) descended into economic and political hell despite being blessed with natural resources and reasonably skilled populations. From the mid-1970s, when Naipaul was writing, it did all look pretty awful; now things look a bit better, but still fragile. He makes the point that Eva Perón would only have been in her fifties, and presumably still dominating the country’s politics, if she still been alive in 1977. He pulls in fellow writer Jorge Luis Borges for some interesting and disturbing observations.

The last two essays are both about the country then known as Zaire and now as the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first, “A New King for the Congo: Mobutu and the Nihilism of Africa”, is about the Mobutu regime, which had then been in power for over a decade and had another twenty years to go. The Mobutu regime eventually collapsed in a war that drew in all nine of the neighbouring countries at one time or another, and in the meantime other African regimes had followed it down the path of brutality and corruption. Naipaul’s analysis of the weaponisation of the cult of personality and the meagre but sufficient resources of state power is brief and forensic.

The final essay, “Conrad’s Darkness”, looks at Conrad’s work as a whole, but at Heart of Darkness in particular. Naipaul spent a lot more time thinking about Conrad than I have, but comes out in the same place: Heart of Darkness is a masterpiece and the rest of his work is remarkably good. ( )

Szeretem az efféle fúziós esszéket: tanulmány a XX. századi Argentínáról, belefőzött Borgessel, és körítve egy kis Uruguay-jal. Ha Borges felől közelítjük meg, olyan irodalmi tanulmánynak láthatjuk, ami a lehető legtágabb kontextusba van helyezve. Ha viszont társadalomtudományi oldalról indulunk el, Borges az arisztokratikus magába zártságával egyfajta illusztrációja az argentin problémának – ami nyilván irodalmi értelemben mit se változtat zsenialitásán. Naipaul finoman fest meg egy Argentínát, ami talán minden más országnál jobban belemerült a „régen-minden-jobb-volt” nosztalgiába. Ha megnézzük Buenos Airest, egy lüktető európai nagyvárost látunk – ám a látszólagos gazdagság csak múzeumi díszlet, a századforduló, a Belle Epoque maradványa, egy olyan időszaké, amikor ez az ország gazdagabb volt Nagy-Britanniánál is, hála a mezőgazdasági termékek magas világpiaci árának. Ám ez az idő elmúlt, az állam lejtőre került*, inflációk és hiperinflációk követték egymást, és mára a dicsőség emléke csak valamiféle melankolikus hangulat, vagy értelmetlen melldöngetés. Naipaul verziójában a Perón házaspár (különösen Eva) végső soron esszenciája az argentin életérzésnek – abszurd (és eleve kudarcra ítélt) módon helyezi beléjük bizalmát az istenadta nép, mert saját akaratának kifejeződését látja bennük. Csakhogy ez az akarat köszönő viszonyban sincs a realitásokkal, így a bukás is borítékolható – mondja ez a velős és okos kötet, én pedig hiszek neki. Nem csak azoknak ajánlható, akik Dél-Amerika vagy Borges iránt érdeklődnek, Naipaul fejtegetései ugyanis olyan jelenséget érintenek, ami nem korlátozódik az óceán egyik vagy másik partjára.

* Az utóbbi időben két olvasmányom is kiemelten foglalkozott az argentin gazdasági összeomlás folyamatával (Niall Ferguson: A pénz felemelkedése, Acemoglu-Robinson: Miért buknak el a nemzetek?), úgyhogy momentán nagyon ki vagyok művelve latin-amerikai krízisekből. Ezeknek fényében is ki lehet jelenteni, hogy Naipaul, ha természetesen mélyre ható gazdasági elemzésekre nem is vállalkozik, de rendkívül érzékenyen és pontosan ragadja meg az eseményt. ( )

A collection of three narratives, each one a improvement over the other. It seems as if the author had subjected each to critique thus resulting in a better sequel. The first one is a needlessly rambling account of a series of killings in Trinidad. What could have been easily narrated in abt 30 pages is stretched to a almost 100, like the script of a modern hindi pot broiler.

The second is a more readable account of Argentina under the Perons and the third, the rapid freefall of that country called Zaire under the extremely lunatic Mobutu whose clone is now running Zimbabwe to the ground.

A collection of three narratives, each one a improvement over the other. It seems as if the author had subjected each to critique thus resulting in a better sequel. The first one is a needlessly rambling account of a series of killings in Trinidad. What could have been easily narrated in abt 30 pages is stretched to a almost 100, like the script of a modern hindi pot broiler.

The second is a more readable account of Argentina under the Perons and the third, the rapid freefall of that country called Zaire under the extremely lunatic Mobutu whose clone is now running Zimbabwe to the ground.

Although the names have been heard so many times in the media I knew little about the individuals and didn't learn much from this book. I can't say I like Naipaul's writing style much. I didn't expect a sensational story, but there was an absence of emotion or passion in a story about someone who must surely evoke those sentiments. This was my first experience reading Naipaul and makes me wonder how he achieved his stellar reputation. I found it dreary reading. ( )