Ok, I have to admit - the title caught my eye ;)
Turns out it is less about Emergency Sex and more about life in the war zone for civilian UN peacekeepers and aid workers. There are three characters (doctor, lawyer, aid worker), one of whom is from NZ. Their true story is written in the form of elongated journal entries over a 10 year period. It makes for an interesting process in developing an understanding of their characters. The book covers a wide variety of (less than) exotic locations: Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Liberia, Rwanda - all the expected places on the genocidal tourist map.
Turns out it is less about Emergency Sex and more about life in the war zone for civilian UN peacekeepers and aid workers. There are three characters (doctor, lawyer, aid worker), one of whom is from NZ. Their true story is written in the form of elongated journal entries over a 10 year period. It makes for an interesting process in developing an understanding of their characters. The book covers a wide variety of (less than) exotic locations: Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Liberia, Rwanda - all the expected places on the genocidal tourist map.Required reading for anyone idealistic enough to consider a career with the UN, it reveals a lot about the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of their humanitarian interventions - and mistakes which often mostly lives. Be warned - some passages about the horrors of war are rather graphic. At the same time, though, there are touches of black humour which are rather funny.
No comments:
Post a Comment