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"Galeano takes us on a dark tour through the rabbit hole at the End of History. Like the revolutionary printmaker Posada, he unmasks the belle epoque of the bourgeoisie as a danse macabre of the masses. No one has focused greater moral clarity on the inhuman conditions and radical inequalities that sustain the mirage of the New Economy."--Mike Davis, author of" Ecology of Fear"
"This catalog of crimes and absurdities has both the acidity of Jonathan Swift and his dark humor. Who else can make the skeletons dance the way Galeano does?"--"The New Yorker "
"Galeano blends memoir with political analysis, tale-telling with cultural critique . . . He makes the world feel larger. Galeano puts the New Economy on trial, condemning those who accept a 'reality' that rejects the poor, and would allow globalization to reduce culture to entertainment, life to a spectacle, and news to advertising . . . the blend of fictional forms, autobiography, and radical social critique remains fresh for readers who yearn to find literary works with a political compass."--Lenora Todaro, " The Village Voice"
"He keeps the radical faith with dry wit, endless curiosity, and an unceasing appetite for absurdity. "Upside Down," rife with subversive aphorisms and revealing statistics--to catch 100 criminals a year, Mexico City requires 1,295 police officers, while London makes do with 18--
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We have accepted a "reality" we should reject, he writes, one where poverty kills, people are hungry, machines are more precious than humans, and children work from dark to dark. In the North, we are fed on a diet of artificial need and all made the same by things we own; the South is the galley slave enabling our greed.
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Customer Reviews
I doubt if Galeano has ever been accused of beating around the bush -as with all his previous work, he tells it like it is. If you are not acquainted with this Uruguayan author, get ready for a shock. If you are content -as I was- living in ignorance, indifferent to the truth about this upside down, back to front, world, choose another book, and another author. However, if you are even a little curious about the idea that our world society is based on a lie, read away...
To open this book is to open your eyes. If the tone was not set by the title, it is now made transparent with the "program of study" which includes lessons on incommunication, impunity, injustice, racism, sexism, and ethics. At this point, there really should be a warning to the effect of: "Caution! To read on is to change your opinion of yourself." But, as it does not exist, we are all destined to critically reflect on our selfish and ignorant way of life.
'Upside Down' has a knack of conveying many home truths that are often never questioned, such as the fact that the UN Security Council is controlled by the five powers that benefit the most from weapons sales. And who could deny the observation that "if men gave birth, abortion would be legal" [page 114], or not be dismayed by statistics that show that three quarters of the black population of Washington D.C. have been arrested one or more times?
On the subject of government and/or multinational corporations, we are advised that "the world economy is the most efficient expression of organized crime" [page 6], and that 'globalisation' was once termed 'imperialism'. The book maintains that the vast inequality that exists between rich and poor in this world is regarded as a benefit by big business: the developing world offers a source of labour that can be paid a tiny fraction of the wages demanded by western markets, and is in no position to complain about the violation of a few basic human rights.
The author attempts to communicate that there should be more to life than consumerism and materialism. He has a tendency to make his point by demonstrating the stupidity of the contrary, often through humour, like his tale about a man who survives a serious car crash and cries out not for the loss of his arm, but for the demise of his Rolex wristwatch. The message is that we are all so obsessed by capitalist values, that we fail to question their true worth. Television does not emerge unscathed either, nor does the society that is no longer capable of making its own entertainment, but rather needs to be entertained.
The language used provides added depth to a book that already has immense profundity. Perhaps the greatest wisdom is the absence of any solutions and the scarcity of too much advice. The effect is that the reader acknowledges that, in reality, he/she was already aware of the problems, and that advice is unnecessary as the solutions are obvious. We all know that ignorance is bliss, so, with society's encouragement, we have chosen to feign ignorance.
Happily, for all its cynicism, the book ends on an optimistic note that suggests that we're not finished yet. If, after reading the book, you do not feel the need to bin your TV and change your career, you have not really read the book!
Have you got a car? Or a well paid job in the North (west) of our planet? Have you ever taken drugs, bought anything at all that is on offer in our consumer culture? If yes then you should definetely read this.
Galeano brings together everything you already know, and a lot you probably don't know about the injustice and inequality of our world, writes it down as a poetic polemic and leaves the reader to make his or her own judgement on the facts laid before them. Fearless and provocative it is also accessible and undemanding considering the subject matter.
This man is an actual genius and I will be reading more of his work as soon as I can inbetween boring my friends rigid talking about this one!
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