I Have Seen The World Begin

This is a beautiful, evocative account of one mans journey through South-East Asia during the 1990s. Danish political columnist Carsten Jensen travelled through China, Cambodia and Vietnam in an attempt to come to grips with the scars these nations sustained during the latter part of the 20th century. The Tiananmen Square massacre, the terror of the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnam War are uppermost in his mind in his encounters; still, the book is not a political history tract. Jensens approach is more philosophical, and poetic. His descriptions capture the sights, the smells, the feel of a place. He contemplates the vast history of these countries, their varying cultures, and clashes through the centuries. He is not afraid to admit his own ignorance as an observer in China, or to re-evaluate his preconceived notions. The heart of the book are his personal encounters with the people who are interested in engaging with him. Local people invite him to their private homes; many are eager to practise their English, and give him the opportunity to ask some awkward questions about their attitudes to some of the horrific events that have taken place in their countries. Jensens quest is, in a sense, an endeavour to portray his impression of the souls of these three nations, and to explore human morality. The most powerful section of his travelogue is his contemplation of the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Mans capacity for unbelievable cruelty is an uneasy subject, as Jensen says: 'Those actions which we cannot understand...we label inhuman, thus implying that evil is something foreign to us and that in practising evil we do not realise ourselves, but something else. Is that the truth of it? Or is this where we go fundamentally wrong?' Yet his journey does not leave the reader despondent over the state of humanity, but rather with an appreciation of the tenacity of endurance and hope, and the beauty of the world we live in. (Kirkus UK)