The best part of these books are usually reserved for the last 20 pages. You're trying to read as fast as you can because you want to get to the end but you don't want to miss anything. It's like watching a movie in slow motion.
Sunday I took a trip to the library again and picked up three more books; one fiction and two works of non-fiction by Malika Oufkir. I remember hearing about her story a few yeas ago in the news. The books are Stolen Lives, written in 1999 and Freedom: The Story of My Second Life, written last year.
Here's the story from the book jacket:
While accounts of the unjust arrest and torture of political prisoners are by now common, we expect such victims to come with a just cause. Here, Oufkir tells of the 20-year imprisonment of her upper-class Moroccan family following a 1972 coup attempt against King Hassan II by her father, a close military aide. After her father's execution, Oufkir, her mother and five siblings were carted off to a series of desert barracks. At their first posting, they complained that they were short on butter and sweets. Over the years, subsequent placements brought isolation cells and inadequate, vermin-infested rations. Finally, starving and suicidal, the innocents realized they had been left to die. They dug a tunnel and escaped. Recapture led to another five years of various forms of imprisonment before the family was finally granted freedom.
20 years in captivity! From 1972 until 1992. Can you imagine being cut off from the rest of the world for 20 years? When she was arrested she was 19 and 39 when released. I devoured the book in a day and a half. It was an amazing read. The escape was the most thrilling part. Their reaction to the societal and technological changes around them after the escape were the most amusing. I would highly recommend the book. So would Oprah.
I started her second book today. It's mainly about her adjustments to civilization. She came over to the US to promote her book and Oprah got her to come on her show and talk about the whole ordeal. They booked her a hotel in New York and I leave you with a quote from that chapter and a big reason why I love my country:
"The valet delivers me and my luggage to the room, then wishes me a pleasant stay. America is the land where they wish you the most good things. A good time, a good trip, a good visit, good afternoon, good evening.....If a mere fraction of these wishes comes true, the United States must really be paradise on earth."
It's the closest you'll come to it. As Yakov would say "What a country!"
2 comments:
Oooooooooo thanks for the referral to a good one. Im almost bookless right now as the stack on my bedside table is almost exhausted. Ask Brad Reisinger to get you a copy of "THE LONG WALK". Similar in nature and amazing like this one sounds. xoox
Read books? Come on, Bro- you know we don't read books. Senseless movies-yes. Articles on politics-yes. Uplifting Christian articles or books-yes. Sports magazines-yes. But. Books, without pictures, small print and numerous characters- No!
You should know better.
Post a Comment