Poland

This was part of my October update post, but it got too long. It's too late to go through and make paragraphs - and really make any sense out of it - but I wanted to write down what I thought.
I read the novel "Poland" by James Michener - just finished it tonight. Ugh. I'm so emotionally exhausted. I'm sure this author knows everything there is to know about anything and he sits around discussing it with others in tweed jackets and turtlenecks while smoking a pipe. Here's one paragraph from the jacket: "Though the Poles were doomed to live in the battleground of eastern Europe and to fight in many historic conflicts, they were as robust and zestful in the pursuit of pleasure and grandeur as they were valiant in warfare. This vivid story abundantly shows them in their enjoyment of music, of dancing and feasting, of romance and intrigue, of the glamour of Warsaw and Vienna. It also suggests reasons - indefensible borders and ruthless neighbors, political and social intransigence - why such an admirable and talented people have seldom been able to achieve and sustain the freedom for which they have always so deeply yearned." He had a very sophisticated way of writing (and used a lot of big words that I could mostly mostlyinterpret from what was going on around them.) I appreciated him putting off a small pronunciation guide until the middle/last third of the book so I didn't feel like a complete idiot for the entire book for pronouncing the city of Lancut as "Lancut" rather than Wine-tzooth" or Przemysl is really pronounced "Shemish". Or how about Szczebrzeszyn? The English looks even worse than that! (And I thought Russian was bad! At least Russian has it's own alphabet with it's own sounds. "In my world" an L sounds like an L - not a W. Maybe my goal to learn Polish is more unrealistic than I thought!) Offensive language was mostly kept to a minimum except for 2 uncalled-for (and they're ALWAYS uncalled-for) f-words near the end in the concentration camp. Ugh. I had to take a break for a little cry when things were so descriptive - not distastefully, but in a way that made me wonder how it's possible that people can be so horrible to each other. The thing I decided from making it through that section is that I need to be more politically aware and active (ie, give a hoot and vote). I don't think - but mostly I hope not - that a crazed leader or political party will be allowed to march in & take over the government by force as in the cases of the Nazis and the Communists. But I think one can be voted in - either by true election or by no one voting against them. I think that's what scared me the most - feeling powerless against someone and something that's so destructive and de-humanizing. (I realize this still happens in different parts of the world and in different ways - by those who mean well, even - but it still makes me wonder how people can be so horrible to each other. Have we learned nothing from history?) But there was resistance movements, and the men and women who loved Poland secretly and openly fought for it. Would I be brave enough to lead or carry out secret resistance missions if our country was compromised? Or, under communist rule, would I work hard to try and benefit the whole of the country when I received very little in return? How would I behave in a concentration camp? Would self-preservation be my only motive and would I do anything to make sure I survived? Or would I teach and inspire and uplift others even if it meant that my life could end? Ugh. So many soul-searching questions. I've got a lot of thinking to do. My craze for knowledge about Poland has increased. I've been on the internet looking up Chopin, mazurkas, Matejko. A picture of Copernicus came up and I'm pretty sure he has the same mouth and chin as my grandpa.......ok, maybe not. This book was written in 1983 & it ends there - in "modern day" Poland. Communist Poland. Which didn't leave me very hopeful. But according to Wikipedia - I realize some view it as unreliable, but we just don't have room in our house for 45 real encyclopedias, aight? - "Poland's high-income economy is considered to be one of the healthiest of the post-communist countries and is currently one of the fastest growing within the EU." It hasn't been hit by the recession nearly as much as other European Nations, and it's citizens have some of the highest incomes in central Europe. Phew. It feels like something is finally going right for them. I am definitely grateful that my great-grandparents left when they did. Before the Nazis came and before Communism took over. It definitely made me wonder who in their families were left behind and what happened to them. I really did enjoyed the book. It's a lot to take in and contemplate, but the storyline is good and he guides you along and reminds you who's who, etc. quite a bit. This is by far the most "grown-up" book I've read, and I liked it. (Seeing as how I've read maybe 6 books in the last 7 years -4 or which were "Twighlight"- that's not saying a whole lot.)