The Fear

I've read a few memoirs by Godwin, each with their own pacing and tone. This one was the hardest, possibly too much raw emotion you the point where it was hard for me to follow.Regardless, is recommend to read this, albeit in small chunks and over a prolonged period, to understand the debauchery of this era of Zimbabwean history.

As a fellow Zimbabwean living on foreign shores, having read Peter Godwin's The Fear I am at a loss for words. Partly because the subject matter is so bitterly painful, there is no coherent way to respond to the way the grip of power has squeezed out such a horrendous toll of human suffering, but also, no doubt, by the manner in which, despite harrowing detail, all of which he chronicles with a poignant deftness, the author still manages to transport me, with yearning, to this beautiful land. Despite the political savagery that has taken a similar toll on the wildlife, trees, rivers and mountains, Zimbabwe's haggard remnants are still proudly bursting forth. So much so that my childhood memories are keenly awakened and I feel a solid lump of sorrow for Zim's fateful journey. And I, who live in relative luxury many miles away, aware of the hard times being faced by family and friends, have imagined a subtler version of Godwin's account, probably to quieten my own fear of what has become of my home.They call people like me, one of multitudes of Zimbabweans who live abroad, the diaspora. I knew we were of some assistance to those at home in a way by sending foreign currency and goods from time to time, but reading this book, I fear we have grossly underestimated the conditions faced by our compatriots and our absence and failure to participate is perhaps an indictment against us? I ask myself why haven't we, as a people, well educated, talented, inherently dignified, though of humble bearing, and here I speak not for myself, but the many Zimbabweans I have encountered in my life, why have we not prevented the outrage that is modern day Zim? This has troubled me over the years as I have gone about raising my children and the daily grind of my comfortable western life. But the answer is really not that complicated, it is black and white as documented in this book. The insane trajectory that took my home from it's sunny post- independence to these dark and treacherous days, is one founded on a bedrockof fear. A groove as deep and ugly as those left by the marauding clear cutters and miners who rob Zimbabwe of its abundant fauna and tear the pristine countryside apart at its seams. I don't despair for Zimbabwe yet. I still have hope. But The Fear hasreminded me to re-examine my good fortune and consider what it is I can do to make this world a better place. This is, I think,what any good book should do. For some lighter reading on Zimbabwe, go to:  The Summoner: (The Dominic Grey Novels) (Volume 1)

Peter Godwin is not just a writer who got his facts from visiting or touring as a journalist. He was born and grew up in Zimbabwe and since leaving the country to attend university in England after serving his mandatory service in the BSA Police in a remote rural area, he has returned time and time again, first to care for his aging parents in Harare and to write about what he has seen and experienced personally, and also for the news media who employed him as a journalist.The Fear gives truthful and graphic personal recountings of what it is like to survive (if you're lucky) in the Zimbabwe of today, if you oppose the Mugabe government.The horrific 33-year nightmare rule of Robert Mugabe has plundered the assets and ruined the vibrant economy inherited from the White government of Prime Minister Ian Smith. Mugabe has overseen the systematic slaughter of over 20 thousand plus of the Ndebele people in the south of the country, and caused the starvation of thousands more of the entire population by removing the farms of the very people who grew the food, the white farming community. White farmers who had developed thriving farms over decades, were robbed of them literally overnight and many of them brutally beaten or murdered in the takeover. The farms were divided up and redistributed in plots to blacks who claimed to be "war vets" (many of them who weren't even born during the conflict of the 70's) and today the majority of that land stands fallow and unproductive with subsistent farming, the buildings burnt out or destroyed. Still many more thousands of Zimbabweans have fled the country for jobs in South Africa, and those who remain have been subject to unbelievably cruel tortures, vicious beatings, and murder in Mugabe's dictatorial determination to retain his maniacal rule.

I've read Godwin's other book, "When a Chrocodile Eats the Sun" as well as several other books on Zimbabwe and this is the most powerful of all. Graphic and heart-wrenching, it documents how Mugabe stole his country's hopes for peace as he once again maintained control of "HIS COUNTRY" during the 2008 elections. He has crippled his country and betrayed their trust with endless abuses of his power. The abuse that politicians, activists, officials, and reporters endure is well-documented and chillingly described. At times, this is a tough read because you cannot believe that people on this earth are capable of the inhuman treatment of others described. But this is Zimbabwe, this is not a stable country like the U.S. where we have some freedoms to be happy with, using checks and balances on our own system. Mugabe sends a smokescreen of psychological warfare during every election he has had in the last 12 years to keep his people in check and voting for him. Zanu supporters receive beer, food, money in exchange for votes. Torture, hunger, disease, and questions of what happened belong to everyone else. Mugabe of course, takes no responsibility for the bad, only the good, all the while questioning his people's allegience to their country. Apparently, he believes that he single-handedly saved Zim from white rule during their indepencence in 1980 and the people owe him by re-electing him. Anything else would be unpatriotic. What's more, he EXPECTS the west (white rule) to help with loans and business, while spitting on us, blaming the problems of Zimbabwe solely on our targeted sanctions. In 2013 history will repeat itself once again when Mugabe comes up for re-election. The west will once again look the other way, too busy with our own problems to care........I will look for another of Peter Godwin's books then.

I have read two other books by Peter Godwin - "Mukiwa" and "When a Crocodile swallows the Sun". These were brilliant, telling a powerful story each time, and being beautifully written also. This book is more like a fleshed out chronicle or diary so its style is less appealing, although it does convey very powerfully the nightmare of opposition to Mugabe's rule in Zimbabwe. It helps the reader to understand the appalling situation in that benighted country which is what I wanted it for. It is perhaps possible to write an "entertaining" account of a ghastly dictatorship, but that would be to pull the punches. Godwin relates the bald facts here in a journalistic straight delivery, whose very matter-of-factedness makes the horror seem all the more surreal. I would recommend this book, but would add the proviso that it is neither a pleasant nor an easy read.

good study of this dictator

I found it hard to believe the author writes for a living. Most of the time it felt I was reading a high-schooler's work. I pushed through in hopes of finding a resolution to the terrible ordeal the people of Zimbabwe were put through but the book ends with everything still going on.