Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books (2006), Paperback, 192 pages
Description
A world premiere based on the astonishing bookEmperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by legendary journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski about the decline and fall of Haile Selassie's regime in Ethiopia. A mesmerising cast of characters-- all servants to a despotic ruler on the brink of downfall--tell this extraordinary fable of corruption, avarice and the collapse of absolute power.
User reviews
LibraryThing member kidzdoc
Haile Selassie (1892-1975) served as the head of the Ethiopian government for nearly 60 years, first as regent and chief administrator under Empress Zewditu from 1916-1930, and then as Emperor, after he won a power struggle with Zewditu, from 1930-1974, when he was deposed by a committee of
Selassie was bestowed several dozen official titles by his people and other world leaders, and was widely referred to as "The King of Kings" and "The Lion of Judah" by his people. He was treated as a god by his subjects, as citizens and even his closest advisers did not dare to look him in the eye when addressing him.
Selassie was deeply religious, soft-spoken and introspective, but ruthless with those who opposed or questioned him. He commanded absolute power, and the advisers that were most loyal to him were rewarded handsomely, regardless of how competent they were. As a result, his court was dominated by yes men, who were only interested in self preservation and the attainment of personal wealth, and Selassie was shielded from the extreme poverty that plagued his people and resulted in millions of deaths in years of famine, which ultimately led to popular uprisings and his eventual overthrow.
The acclaimed travel writer Ryszard Kapuściński interviewed several people who served in Selassie's court after the military takeover, to provide an insiders' view of this complicated man and the inner workings of his government. The book consists of the accounts of these men, who ranged from close advisers to petty servants, with occasional brief comments by Kapuściński to provide a contextual background to these stories. The book covers two notable events, the failed coup in 1960 when Selassie attended a meeting in Brazil, and the successful overthrow in 1974, along with the events that led to it. We are also provided with the routine daily operations of the court, which were tightly structured and filled with hourly themed meetings, such as the Hour of the Cashbox, when officials would line up to request funding for projects, which they would use to line their own wallets, and the Hour of the Ministers, which was supposedly dedicated to Imperial matters but became another opportunity for Selassie's trusted advisers to receive favors. The author does not judge or criticize Selassie or his advisers, which makes this a more effective, damning and compelling account of the corruption and depravity of this revered leader. Strongly recommended.
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military leaders that slowly infiltrated and controlled the Selassie government. Selassie was bestowed several dozen official titles by his people and other world leaders, and was widely referred to as "The King of Kings" and "The Lion of Judah" by his people. He was treated as a god by his subjects, as citizens and even his closest advisers did not dare to look him in the eye when addressing him.
Selassie was deeply religious, soft-spoken and introspective, but ruthless with those who opposed or questioned him. He commanded absolute power, and the advisers that were most loyal to him were rewarded handsomely, regardless of how competent they were. As a result, his court was dominated by yes men, who were only interested in self preservation and the attainment of personal wealth, and Selassie was shielded from the extreme poverty that plagued his people and resulted in millions of deaths in years of famine, which ultimately led to popular uprisings and his eventual overthrow.
The acclaimed travel writer Ryszard Kapuściński interviewed several people who served in Selassie's court after the military takeover, to provide an insiders' view of this complicated man and the inner workings of his government. The book consists of the accounts of these men, who ranged from close advisers to petty servants, with occasional brief comments by Kapuściński to provide a contextual background to these stories. The book covers two notable events, the failed coup in 1960 when Selassie attended a meeting in Brazil, and the successful overthrow in 1974, along with the events that led to it. We are also provided with the routine daily operations of the court, which were tightly structured and filled with hourly themed meetings, such as the Hour of the Cashbox, when officials would line up to request funding for projects, which they would use to line their own wallets, and the Hour of the Ministers, which was supposedly dedicated to Imperial matters but became another opportunity for Selassie's trusted advisers to receive favors. The author does not judge or criticize Selassie or his advisers, which makes this a more effective, damning and compelling account of the corruption and depravity of this revered leader. Strongly recommended.
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LibraryThing member charbutton
This is the first book by Polish foreign correspondent Kapuściński of what would have been a trilogy of works about absolute power (Shah of Shahs was published in the 1980s; the third book about Idi Amin is unfinished).
The Emperor recounts a series of interviews Kapuściński conducted with
I particularly enjoyed the details of the Emperor's daily routine - the early morning walks when ministers submitted reports to Selaisse while he fed his lions; the Hour of Assignments when he gave out promotions, prizes and demotions; the Hour of the Cashbox during which subjects would line up to put their case for money to the emperor.
The cult of personality that reigned is also really interesting. The courtiers interviewed continued to call Selaisse 'His Merciful Highness', 'His Benevolent Majesty', 'His August Majesty' and many other extravagant titles after his downfall. The country's constitution stated that the emperor was a direct descendant of Solomon. There is a strong sense from those interviewed of shock that anyone could challenge the authority of a man who tried so hard to help his country.
While this is a work of non-fiction, the extreme and ridiculous aspects of the regime mean that the story of Selaisse's court often reads like a satire of absolute rule.
The Emperor recounts a series of interviews Kapuściński conducted with
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members of Haile Selassie's Ethiopian court after its fall in 1974, interspersed with some observations from Kapuściński. It provides a fascinating insight not only into the absurdities of the regime and the amazing levels of manipulation and misinformation that were required to keep it going, but also into the approaching downfall of the monarchy and the reaction/inaction of the emperor and his courtiers.I particularly enjoyed the details of the Emperor's daily routine - the early morning walks when ministers submitted reports to Selaisse while he fed his lions; the Hour of Assignments when he gave out promotions, prizes and demotions; the Hour of the Cashbox during which subjects would line up to put their case for money to the emperor.
The cult of personality that reigned is also really interesting. The courtiers interviewed continued to call Selaisse 'His Merciful Highness', 'His Benevolent Majesty', 'His August Majesty' and many other extravagant titles after his downfall. The country's constitution stated that the emperor was a direct descendant of Solomon. There is a strong sense from those interviewed of shock that anyone could challenge the authority of a man who tried so hard to help his country.
While this is a work of non-fiction, the extreme and ridiculous aspects of the regime mean that the story of Selaisse's court often reads like a satire of absolute rule.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Muscogulus
Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia for more than 40 years, was overthrown by the army in 1974. Ryszard Kapuściński, a Polish journalist, was there, and he wrote about it. It became a book titled Cesarz (The Emperor).
The story is presented as an oral history, in the words of Ethiopians who
They caution me again, needlessly: no addresses, no names, don’t say that he’s tall, that he’s short, that he’s skinny, that his forehead this or his hands that. Or that his eyes, or that his legs, or that his knees . . . There’s nobody left to get down on your knees for.
This English translation was published in 1983, after Solidarity had become a household word and Poland was actually holding the attention of the U.S. news media. This book even made it into the pages of Time and Newsweek, where reviewers insisted that the author wasn’t just writing about Haile Selassie; he was really taking a subtle swipe at Communism.
Those remarks seemed absurd to me at the time, typical Cold War point scoring. Since then, I've become convinced that Kapuściński probably did have two regimes in mind at once, Ethiopia's and Poland's. The book is not journalism. It's more of a composite portrait of absolute rule.
The story is presented as an oral history, in the words of Ethiopians who
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agreed to speak to the foreign journalist, but were anxious not to be identified: They caution me again, needlessly: no addresses, no names, don’t say that he’s tall, that he’s short, that he’s skinny, that his forehead this or his hands that. Or that his eyes, or that his legs, or that his knees . . . There’s nobody left to get down on your knees for.
This English translation was published in 1983, after Solidarity had become a household word and Poland was actually holding the attention of the U.S. news media. This book even made it into the pages of Time and Newsweek, where reviewers insisted that the author wasn’t just writing about Haile Selassie; he was really taking a subtle swipe at Communism.
Those remarks seemed absurd to me at the time, typical Cold War point scoring. Since then, I've become convinced that Kapuściński probably did have two regimes in mind at once, Ethiopia's and Poland's. The book is not journalism. It's more of a composite portrait of absolute rule.
Show Less
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
Ryszard Kapuściński (1932 – 2007) was a Polish journalist and writer. He published many works on history and politics, based on his journalistic work, and was considered an authority particularly with regard to African nations. The German journalist Claus Christian Malzahn described
The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a literary work describing the final years of the reign of Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, and the revolution that deposed him. Despite the fact that Kapuściński had earned the epithet of being a most credible journalist, readers would be ill advised to take the content of the book at face value. Many peculiar statements in the book rather suggest that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a fictionalized account of the events, and should perhaps rather be read as a piece of fiction, rather than non-fiction. Although the book is presented as a veritable account of the decline and fall or the empire, it has been suggested that the book makes little more sense than Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Instead of journalistics writing, the account has characteristics of an allegory.
Explanations for the allegorical, fictional nature of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat can be sought in two areas, namely the political and the literary. During the 1970s, when Ryszard Kapuściński was active as a reporter in Africa, foreign travel for people from socalled "East-block" countries was not at all self-evident. Most people from East-European communist countries could not travel to foreign countries other than those encompassed within the sphere of countries under communist rule, such as the Soviet Union or other "red" East-European countries. It has been suggested that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat has meaning at a deeper level, and that it can be read as a criticism of the Communist leadership of Poland at that time. However, this interpretation, 25 years after the end of communism in Europe and the end of the Cold War is obscure, and unlikely to be part of the reception of contemporary readers. The edition of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat published in 2006, in the series of Penguin Modern Classics, is preceded by a introduction, written by Neal Ascherson, who is an expert on Poland. However, the introduction does convincingly support this interpretation.
On the other hand, the author seems to have given in to working the material in such a way to create a wholly new genre of writing, within the domain of literary fiction. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could well be read as a piece of creative non-fiction or fictionalized realism. In 1994, the term magic journalism was coined, as a pendant to magic realism. Narrative technique, including absurdism, distortion, exaggeration and hyperbole would then feature in a narrative account that relates the history of the reign of an emperor in a faraway country. It has been pointed out, also see above, that Polish readers had very little exposure to the outside world and even less experience of travelling, themselves. As a piece of fiction, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could offer Polish readers an escape into an exotic realm. The absurdistics character of the description of Haile Selassie's despotism, with all the typical characteristics of feudalism or an arbitrary, absolute monarch would much appeal to readers with a firm Marxist indoctrination. (NB.: feudalism here in the marxist interpretation.) The story would then carry all kinds of connotations to readers with a firm background in Marxism, such as the backwardness of a Western country, the wickedness of an aristocratic society, headed by a monarch. In the literary sense, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characterists with Evelyn Waugh's novel Black Mischief.
Ryszard Kapuściński was admired by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda, who, writing in the same style of magic realism, accorded him the title "Maestro". In fact, the narrative style of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characteristics with the baroque style of the great novels of the magic realism of these Latin-American authors. To write the book, Kapuściński claimed to have relied on informers, who were former servants or officials at the imperial court. To protect their identity, their names are concealed, and only their initials are given. Doubt has been cast on whether all these informers truly existed. Thoughout the book, Kapuściński makes various claims and statements which can be proved to be untrue, for example that the emperor did not read. The honorific titles, used to refer to the emperor are almost certainly invented, and offices and positions described as the court never actually existed. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is de facto a mixture of fact and fiction.
The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a relatively short book, at 164 pages, divided into three sections: "The Throne", describing the court of Haile Selassie I, "It's Coming, It's Coming" describing the beginnings of unrest and a first attempted coup in the 1960s, and part 3, "The Collapse" which describes the revolution and the aftermath.
Ryszard Kapuściński died in 2007. The Penguin Modern Classics edition reprints the original 1983 translation of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat. The introduction in this edition, written by Neal Ascherson is of little use. For a better understanding of the African works of Kapuściński, I would suggest to read the Review of Kapuściński by John Ryle for the Times Literary Supplement (27 July 2001): "At play in the bush of ghosts: Tales of Mythical Africa" Extended with post publication note, 2001 and 2007.
The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is an ambivalent work of literature. Whether it should be read as a piece of literary non-fiction, or fictionalized journalism, and to which genre or sub-genre it belongs is undecided. Clearly, the literary reception of the book can benefit from further analysis. This could perhaps best be achieved with a new translation, and comprehensive annotation by experts or a critical reading of the Polish edition. Till then, readers in English have free reign to explore and appreciate this highly curious work of prose.
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Kapuściński as "one of the most credible journalists the world has ever seen", and he has been attributed with a "penetrating intelligence" and a "crystallised descriptive" writing style. Kapuściński was a serious contender for the Nobel Prize.The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a literary work describing the final years of the reign of Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, and the revolution that deposed him. Despite the fact that Kapuściński had earned the epithet of being a most credible journalist, readers would be ill advised to take the content of the book at face value. Many peculiar statements in the book rather suggest that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a fictionalized account of the events, and should perhaps rather be read as a piece of fiction, rather than non-fiction. Although the book is presented as a veritable account of the decline and fall or the empire, it has been suggested that the book makes little more sense than Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Instead of journalistics writing, the account has characteristics of an allegory.
Explanations for the allegorical, fictional nature of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat can be sought in two areas, namely the political and the literary. During the 1970s, when Ryszard Kapuściński was active as a reporter in Africa, foreign travel for people from socalled "East-block" countries was not at all self-evident. Most people from East-European communist countries could not travel to foreign countries other than those encompassed within the sphere of countries under communist rule, such as the Soviet Union or other "red" East-European countries. It has been suggested that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat has meaning at a deeper level, and that it can be read as a criticism of the Communist leadership of Poland at that time. However, this interpretation, 25 years after the end of communism in Europe and the end of the Cold War is obscure, and unlikely to be part of the reception of contemporary readers. The edition of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat published in 2006, in the series of Penguin Modern Classics, is preceded by a introduction, written by Neal Ascherson, who is an expert on Poland. However, the introduction does convincingly support this interpretation.
On the other hand, the author seems to have given in to working the material in such a way to create a wholly new genre of writing, within the domain of literary fiction. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could well be read as a piece of creative non-fiction or fictionalized realism. In 1994, the term magic journalism was coined, as a pendant to magic realism. Narrative technique, including absurdism, distortion, exaggeration and hyperbole would then feature in a narrative account that relates the history of the reign of an emperor in a faraway country. It has been pointed out, also see above, that Polish readers had very little exposure to the outside world and even less experience of travelling, themselves. As a piece of fiction, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could offer Polish readers an escape into an exotic realm. The absurdistics character of the description of Haile Selassie's despotism, with all the typical characteristics of feudalism or an arbitrary, absolute monarch would much appeal to readers with a firm Marxist indoctrination. (NB.: feudalism here in the marxist interpretation.) The story would then carry all kinds of connotations to readers with a firm background in Marxism, such as the backwardness of a Western country, the wickedness of an aristocratic society, headed by a monarch. In the literary sense, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characterists with Evelyn Waugh's novel Black Mischief.
Ryszard Kapuściński was admired by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda, who, writing in the same style of magic realism, accorded him the title "Maestro". In fact, the narrative style of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characteristics with the baroque style of the great novels of the magic realism of these Latin-American authors. To write the book, Kapuściński claimed to have relied on informers, who were former servants or officials at the imperial court. To protect their identity, their names are concealed, and only their initials are given. Doubt has been cast on whether all these informers truly existed. Thoughout the book, Kapuściński makes various claims and statements which can be proved to be untrue, for example that the emperor did not read. The honorific titles, used to refer to the emperor are almost certainly invented, and offices and positions described as the court never actually existed. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is de facto a mixture of fact and fiction.
The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a relatively short book, at 164 pages, divided into three sections: "The Throne", describing the court of Haile Selassie I, "It's Coming, It's Coming" describing the beginnings of unrest and a first attempted coup in the 1960s, and part 3, "The Collapse" which describes the revolution and the aftermath.
Ryszard Kapuściński died in 2007. The Penguin Modern Classics edition reprints the original 1983 translation of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat. The introduction in this edition, written by Neal Ascherson is of little use. For a better understanding of the African works of Kapuściński, I would suggest to read the Review of Kapuściński by John Ryle for the Times Literary Supplement (27 July 2001): "At play in the bush of ghosts: Tales of Mythical Africa" Extended with post publication note, 2001 and 2007.
The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is an ambivalent work of literature. Whether it should be read as a piece of literary non-fiction, or fictionalized journalism, and to which genre or sub-genre it belongs is undecided. Clearly, the literary reception of the book can benefit from further analysis. This could perhaps best be achieved with a new translation, and comprehensive annotation by experts or a critical reading of the Polish edition. Till then, readers in English have free reign to explore and appreciate this highly curious work of prose.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
This is an insiders account of the downfall of Haile Selassie. Not one of Kapuscinsky's best books.
LibraryThing member piefuchs
Part of Kapuscinski's brillant trilogy on absolute power, The Emperor provides a personal glimpse into the undoing of the strange world of Hallie Selassie. After you read this book you want to stop all the hipsters in their Hallie Selassie t-shirts and question their attire. His conversations with
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the members of the inner sanctum are particularly engrossing. Show Less
LibraryThing member seoman
Execllent expose on the decline and fall of an aging autocrat. Reportage at its very best
LibraryThing member myfanwy
This is a remarkable book. The Emperor is nonfiction, and is an attempt to describe the reign and fall of Ethiopea's last emperor, Haile Selassie, dethroned in 1974. To capture life in the Imperial realm, Kapuschinski interviewed dozens of palace workers from the doorman up to the various
It is difficult to describe this book. The voices of those interviewed treat the Emperor with great reverence. He is the divinely chosen leader. He can do no wrong. When he sets his ministers against one another in intense palace intrigue, it is only right. The imperial machinery is also at work in unexpected ways. Of course, when the Emperor visits other parts of the country, they must erect buildings, clothe the poor, instruct them on how to address the Emperor. And the greed of the poor is incomprehensible to these men. They swarm around the car when the Emperor throws alms to them. Invariably they have to be beaten back by the police.
It is strange to read these descriptions, and then it gets worse. The people starving, the granaries full. State money is spent on building airports and major structures. Why spend it on something as ephemoral as feeding the famished? People die every year from hunger. It is natural, not a cause for alarm. ... and all this while hundreds of thousands die of starvation.
The brilliance of this book is that it allows you to enter for a moment into the minds of the corrupt, to see their (il)logic, and to wonder how you can ever change such things. When Selassie was deposed he had somewhere between hundreds of millions and a few billion dollars sequestered in a Swiss Bank account. And yet with so much going wrong still people thought, "What will we do without the Emperor. All appointments, all promotions, all decisions come from him."
It's a bizarre world, and a bit of history I knew nothing about. Merely a snapshot really, and yet telling. It makes me want to learn more about countries with great inequalities. It makes me wonder just how far people wait before a revolution. I mean, hundreds of thousands starving? We started a revolution because we didn't want to have taxes raised after the British beat back the Indians for us! As one of the interviewees said, it's not those who have nothing you have to worry about. They have not the time for anything but bare survival. It's those who have a bit, just enough to whet the appetite, that you have to worry about. What a strange strange world.
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ministers, at least those that remained alive after the military coup. It is difficult to describe this book. The voices of those interviewed treat the Emperor with great reverence. He is the divinely chosen leader. He can do no wrong. When he sets his ministers against one another in intense palace intrigue, it is only right. The imperial machinery is also at work in unexpected ways. Of course, when the Emperor visits other parts of the country, they must erect buildings, clothe the poor, instruct them on how to address the Emperor. And the greed of the poor is incomprehensible to these men. They swarm around the car when the Emperor throws alms to them. Invariably they have to be beaten back by the police.
It is strange to read these descriptions, and then it gets worse. The people starving, the granaries full. State money is spent on building airports and major structures. Why spend it on something as ephemoral as feeding the famished? People die every year from hunger. It is natural, not a cause for alarm. ... and all this while hundreds of thousands die of starvation.
The brilliance of this book is that it allows you to enter for a moment into the minds of the corrupt, to see their (il)logic, and to wonder how you can ever change such things. When Selassie was deposed he had somewhere between hundreds of millions and a few billion dollars sequestered in a Swiss Bank account. And yet with so much going wrong still people thought, "What will we do without the Emperor. All appointments, all promotions, all decisions come from him."
It's a bizarre world, and a bit of history I knew nothing about. Merely a snapshot really, and yet telling. It makes me want to learn more about countries with great inequalities. It makes me wonder just how far people wait before a revolution. I mean, hundreds of thousands starving? We started a revolution because we didn't want to have taxes raised after the British beat back the Indians for us! As one of the interviewees said, it's not those who have nothing you have to worry about. They have not the time for anything but bare survival. It's those who have a bit, just enough to whet the appetite, that you have to worry about. What a strange strange world.
Show Less
LibraryThing member untraveller
Superb and terribly insightful. Background and downfall told through the eyes of the palace elite with commentary by Kapuscinski.
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Not only about the end of Haile Selassie, but also about the decline of Communism in Poland. A clever, satirical text that works on multiple levels.
LibraryThing member kaitanya64
Kapuscinski alleges that these are transcripts of former members of Haile Selassie's court, but I wonder why they all seem to speak in the same manner and I also wonder why they all seem to utter stereotypical old chestnuts. I didn't finish the book because as elegant and entertaining as the
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writer's style was, the book felt like an exploitation. It's creative fiction, not creative non-fiction. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Deutscher Hörbuchpreis (2003)
Language
Original language
Polish
Original publication date
1978
Physical description
192 p.
ISBN
0141188030 / 9780141188034