Ryszard Kapuscinski

We are told in the about-the-author section of The Shadow Of The Sun (2001) that he witnessed 27 coups and revolutions and was sentenced to death four times during his expansive career. He also traveled extensively to India, China, Africa and Latin America (another enviable career trait) writing newspaper pieces and ultimately books about the political climates of these countries. Kapuscinski covered everything from Haile Selassie’s rule over Ethiopia in The Emperor (1978) to the 1979 Iranian revolution in Shah of Shahs (1982). But despite being filtered through his astute and worldly style, none of his previous books offered any personal insight of note into the legendary journalist cum author who passed away in January 2007.

Kapuscinski rose to fame in the West in the early 80’s, when The Emperor was translated into the English language - three decades after he first crossed Poland’s borders to begin filing dispatches. Since then he has garnered a devoted following of fans – and rumors of a Nobel Prize that never came - all of whom have pieced together a persona for Kapuscinski by reading between the lines of his engaging, if distant, body of work. But leave it to the man himself not to keep us in the dark about his personal side for too long. His last dispatch, published posthumously comes to us by way of a memoir with the cryptic and compelling title of Travels with Herodotus. Translated from the Polish by Klara Glowczewska, it chronicles the journalist’s career by tracing his assignments in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Part travelogue, part autobiography and part obsessive character study, Travels with Herodotus is an unconventional, yet extremely moving narrative that weaves together two seemingly singular, but ultimately connected lives: that of Polish literary figure Ryszard Kapuscinski and a little known 5th century BC Greek historian called Herodotus.

We first meet Kapuscinski fresh out of journalism school, working for a small paper in Warsaw, Sztandar Mlodych (The Banner of Youth), and desperately wanting to cross the border. It isn’t that he wants to flee Poland, Kapuscinski explains, simply that now that the opportunity is presented to him, he could imagine no better way to experience Poland’s new found freedom than to step outside its until now, highly restricted and controlled boundaries. Czechoslovakia would suffice he claims, but instead he gets sent to India. Not knowing the language or even really having a concept of where and what India is, he nonetheless goes willingly and falls in love with the landscape, the people and most importantly, with the act of discovery. As a going away gift, his editor presents him with a copy of The Histories by Herodotus. This book becomes Kapuscinski’s faithful traveling companion and in turn, Herodotus becomes a mentor and guide for our literary hero. So much so that the object of Kapuscinski’s “downright fancy” became the focal point for his life story. Wherever Kapuscinski goes he takes The Histories and soon Herodotus’ path becomes the physical route Kapuscinksi desires to travel and Herodotus’ approach, “to check, to compare, to clarify” becomes Kapuscinski’s methodology.

Herodotus became such an integral part of Kapuscinski’s career in fact, that huge sections of his memoir are devoted to rehashing passages from the Greek’s tome. Readers get as much of a lesson in Greek history as they do in foreign correspondence in the late 20th century. But all this has a purpose, as do the sections Kapuscinski devotes to pondering the life of his esteemed guide, whom he affectionately refers to as “our Greek.” Early on Kapuscinski wonders about “The parents of Herodotus? His sibling? His house?” and spends much time lamenting the fact that not a lot is known about him. Yet Kapuscinski in his desperate need to know more about his literary hero never takes the time to tell us about his own parents, siblings and house. Is it an act of humility one has to wonder, or a grave over-sight?

One gravitates instinctively therefore to the autobiographical moments in the book when we are present with Kapuscinski as he sets eyes on the Great Wall of China or drives through the Ethiopian countryside with his charismatic guide Negusi, whose only knowledge of English consists of ‘Problem” and “No Problem.” It’s natural for us to assume that these are the moments that will answer our question: “Who was Ryszard Kapuscinski?” The reason for this book in the first place. And to an extent they are, Kapuscinski comes off as curious, unwavering and undeniably charismatic. But he is more than the sum of his experiences, he is also a writer and Travels with Herodotus is ultimately a book about what it means to write history, filtered through two men who devoted their lives to doing so.

The ease with which Kapuscinski segues from one trip to another, glossing over the trauma of being trapped in a country without a ticket home or seeking shelter in a nation on the verge of complete political meltdown mirrors Herodotus’ writing on Greek history. “Once again Herodotus treats these catastrophic events in a most offhanded fashion,” Kapuscinski writes after recounting Herodotus’ story of the fall of Babylon at the hands of the Persians. Readers of Travels with Herodotus will also note that catastrophic events are treated offhandedly by Kapuscinski himself. But there is more than stylistic similarities that links these two authors. Kapuscinski views Herodotus as an esteemed writing mentor and in the moments when he gushes at Herodotus’ approach or ponders his vital statistics it’s as if he is wondering how someone could step up to the task of properly writing down history. It’s here that we witness Kapuscinski’s humility and awe at his assignment, to bring the world to his readers.

“Man is culture,” Kapuscinski states in Travels with Herodotus and keeping that in mind, he sets out to examine his contribution to the culture of journalism. As Kapuscinski unravels his fascination with Herodotus and the type of writer he was, one can’t help but wonder if Kapuscinski is reflecting on his own life and the type of writer he hoped he was. While he trekked around the globe Kapuscinski revisited The Histories and his frequent reading contributed to his notions on Herodotus in the same way that revisiting Travels with Herodotus will grant readers a layered and intriguing insight in to the life of this literary figure. “What set him in motion? Made him act? Compelled him to undertake the hardships of travel…?” Kapuscinski asks about Herodotus, knowing full well that readers will want to know the same about him. “I think it was simply curiosity about the world,” he answers us. “The desire to be there, to see it at any cost, to experience it no matter what.”