Another Day of Life by Ryszard Kapuscinski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another Day of Life is beautiful, surreal, and tragic reportage from Angola at the bloody birth of that nation that is also imbued with a non-grating sense of something close to whimsy. The country dropped as a colony by the fleeing Portuguese is torn between three armies and their allies fighting a proxy war (Cuba, Zaire(now DRC,), South Africa.) Filled with wonderful described moments and written with sense of atmosphere and perfect details. The fine moments are almost too many to point out and cruel spoilage for future readers to describe, but the crate city, the migratory pack of forgotten dogs, the culture of checkpoints, the survival of city depending on the one man who knows how to repair the water pumps, and the discussions on what constitutes a “front” in the war are some of particular favorite ones of mine. This reads closer to a novel or poetry (some people question Kapuscinski’s truth) than war reportage, and it earns comparison to Hemingway, Calvino, Kafka, Hunter s Thompson, and Robert Stone. That disparate list should showcase the beauty, power, and uniqueness of Kapuscinski’s vision and style. Truth of not, Another Day of Life is a powerful piece on a forgotten war and a forgotten country.

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