Diversity in All Forms! discussion

December 2020: Countries/Territories: Colombia

Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle
by Ingrid Betancourt

and/or

Delirium by Laura Restrepo, Natasha Wimmer (Translator)

Got it from Libby! Will start it soon.

My library has it so I'll pick it up tomorrow.

I don’t like Ingrid, but that is not the point. The book describes a horrific captivity I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Whatever the choices that were made or whatever the issues that came up between the captives, all the prisoners were victims who barely survived the brutality of the guerrillas or the jungle.

She described a lot of interactions between herself and the other prisoners and the guerrillas. Sometimes it cost her in a loss of food or a gain of a tarp, maybe she was chained to a tree in pouring rain for a night and forced to live in isolation for years, etc. However, while the prisoners and the guerrillas acted out their petty power games or surreptitious friendships, all of them had a common enemy - the jungle. It seemed to me it was the strength or weakness of their bodies which determined survival, not who hated whom. But it was the who hated whom that consumed their existence, so weird to me.

I never imagined that these people would have had the energy or desire to indulge in an environment of social interactions which, as described, were like those of any kindergarten or middle school. It really really struck me that many of the conversations were what I observed between many playground or sport team cliques.

Yet the jungle was the real boss of them. At least I think this. Wasn’t the ultimate ‘win’ for them all, guerrillas and prisoners, was getting out of the jungle?

Just got this from the library. Her writing is extremely captivating as is her ability to draw you into the moment and recall those small details of being there. What mental strength it must have taken to survive something like that.