Indignity |
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13 February 2026 - Erlenbach
Lea Ypi's autobiographical look into her family starts off with a photo posted by someone else and mislabeled as being in Switzerland. Her grandparents actually honeymooned in Cortina, Italy where the Olympics are currently going on. And yet Indignity does not include a copy of said photo. Here it is:
Reading Churchill's History of English Speaking Peoples as a teenager and his references to famous Marlboroughs I resolved to write about my own family's involvement when writing history. Alas, I have still not written a history of Norway that could include Hallvard Graatop's rebellion against the Danes. And yet here is Lea Ypi writing about her grandmother having drinks with Enver Hoxha (Albania's 20th century communist dictator). Ypi has communist nostalgia that was evident in her last book, but being in the library researching your family's past that you don't fully understand and may never is where we meet eye to eye. All I have left of Grandpa and Pop is what they wrote and their pictures. I was only almost a teenager when they both died, so I couldn't ever have the adult conversations I and they probably would have wanted. Ypi's grandfather was locked up in prison. Her grandmother wasn't though, and I talked to my grandma this week. She's 99.
Ypi's Indignity isn't just about the photograph though. The 20th century's surveillence states destroyed lives and mangled history, but also provide an incredible record. And the surveillence of all of us now is a thousand thousand times greater. What a great record our grandchildren will have! If we have grandchildren...
