the autumn of the Patriarch

the autumn of the Patriarch
by Troneg
10-Feb-2011
 

Over the weekend the vultures got into the presidential palace by pecking through the screens on the balcony windows and the flapping of their wings stirred up the stagnant time inside, and at dawn on Monday the city awoke out of its lethargy of centuries with the warm, soft breeze of a great man dead and rotting grandeur. -- The Autumn of the Patriarch opening lines

I don't know about you, these days all events remind me Gabriel García Márquez one of best books The Autumn of the Patriarch. For those who haven't yet read it, it is time to read it.

//www.amazon.com

//en.wikipedia.org

//www.allgreatquotes.com

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vildemose

 Who hasn’t heard

by vildemose on Thu Feb 10, 2011 03:44 PM PST

 

Who hasn’t heard of ”bread and circuses”?

Robert Fisk, writing of the exit of Hosni Mubarak, says of dictatorial governance:

  ""For the first essential task of a dictator is to “infantilise” his people, to transform them into political six-year-olds, obedient to a patriarchal headmaster.""  

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Ryszard Antolak

One of the greatest books ever written

by Ryszard Antolak on Thu Feb 10, 2011 01:07 PM PST

Hated by the critics and ignored for years by the public, I think this is one of the greatest books ever written about dictatorship.

Admitedly, it is not an easy read, the sentences often going on for pages and pages without a full stop (reflecting the determination of the Patriarch to prolong his term of office indefinitely). But for an exasperating insight into the mind of a dictator, I think this is about as good as it gets.

And I, too, was many times reminded of this book when viewing the events in Cairo.

Ryszard


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