Immagine dell'autore.

Moritz Thomsen (1915–1991)

Autore di Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle

6 opere 265 membri 7 recensioni 1 preferito

Sull'Autore

Fonte dell'immagine: Moritz Thomsen

Opere di Moritz Thomsen

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Data di nascita
1915-08-03
Data di morte
1991
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
USA
Luogo di nascita
Seattle, Washington, USA
Luogo di morte
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Causa della morte
cholera
Organizzazioni
Peace Corps
Breve biografia
Thomsen was born in 1915 into a wealthy American family in Seattle. His namesake was after his grandfather a powerful Washington businessman. Charlie, his father was President of Centennial Mills (Krusteaz Brand) and a multi-millionaire at the turn of the 20th century. As detailed in his memoirs, his relationship with his father was extremely strained, with Thomsen describing the man as "tyrannical."

During World War II, Thomsen served as a B-17 Flying Fortress bombardier in the Eighth Air Force. At age 44 he was working as a farmer in California when he decided to join the Peace Corps. In 1964, at 48 years old, Thomsen came to Ecuador as one of the first volunteers of the Peace Corps . Upon arrival, and after many wanderings, he was assigned on condition of agricultural expert to the small fishing town of Green River, north of the province of Esmeraldas . Thomsen lived for four years in that village, and a total of 35 years in Ecuador. After serving as a volunteer for four years, he remained in Ecuador. He died in 1991 of cholera. (Wikipedia, 2020-05-31)

Utenti

Recensioni

When we catch up to Martin Moritz Thomsen Titus in The Saddest Pleasure he is now sixty-three years old. Depending on which review you read, Thomsen either was asked to leave the Ecuadorian farm he co-owned with partner, Ramon, or he just up and left. Either way, in the beginning of The Saddest Pleasure he sets out to travel to Amazonian Brazil via two rivers. Along his journey he tries to reconcile difficult memories of a contentious relationship with his father, while wrangling with the effects of aging and mourning the loss of the farm he shared with Ramon. He seems sarcastically obsessed with being a farmer and very reluctant to admit he is a writer because farming seems the more noble profession. In fact, in my opinion, the entire book is more of a look back at the should haves, could haves, and would haves of his life. A lot of cantankerous regret is interspersed in the memory. He calls travel the saddest pleasure, but I would say the saddest pleasure was reading this book.… (altro)
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Segnalato
SeriousGrace | Dec 31, 2019 |
Je mets une très bonne appréciation bien que je n'ai retrouvé la pépite littéraire qui ma été vendue. Par contre j'ai découvert un homme.
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Segnalato
Nikoz | Jun 2, 2019 |
This is a brave and interesting book. And more than being about one man's venture into farming, or even into Ecuador, it is about poverty, about clashing cultures, and about coming to grips with one's own delusions and prejudices. And, at the same time, it is beautiful, horrifying, and humorous--in many cases, all in the same moment.

Although Thomsen's voice might sometimes cause readers to cringe at his nonchalant admissions of prejudice and expectation, the book is both a product of its times and all the more worthwhile because of these same moments. The author's struggle to not only survive in Ecuador as a farmer, but to enmesh himself in the surrounding culture and to understand the poverty and people surrounding him, is a study in identity and helplessness--and ultimately, it's a window into the difficulty of reconciling clashing cultures, totally divergent backgrounds, and separate value systems.

The reader who is first brought to the book by adventure and the beauty of Ecuador's landscape will appreciate it for these things, but find themselves tortured along with Thomsen by the heartbreaking poverty and, even more so, the men and women trapped within it. And yet, then, there is the beauty of the appreciation for a single moment--because the present and any joy it can bring is so much more valuable than what is certain to be a painful future--and this single-minded focus, this ability to focus on what Is good in a world that seems mostly bad, allows for a book which is itself split between optimism and cynicism, and which is all the more worthwhile because of it.

Absolutely recommended.
… (altro)
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Segnalato
whitewavedarling | 1 altra recensione | Dec 30, 2016 |
Split into four sections chronicling the years 1965, 1966, 1967 & 1968 Living Poor starts at the most logical place, Thomsen's application. His expertise as a pig farmer made him the perfect match for helping Ecuadorian farmers raise chickens and pigs and grow vegetable gardens. His first assignment, La Union was short lived due to a lung infection that sent him back to the States. His second "tour" landed him in Rio Verde. I have to wonder what the natives of La Union thought of his departure after he took so long to fit in with them. It was no different in Rio Verde. The community, poverty stricken and on the brink of starvation, is suspicious of Thomsen. Every effort he makes to better their environment is met with stonewalling and infighting. When he does create relationships with key members of the community everyone else is jealous and tries to sabotage their efforts. While Thomsen is humorous in parts, for the most part his retelling of his experience is bleak and seemingly hopeless.… (altro)
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Segnalato
SeriousGrace | 2 altre recensioni | Oct 31, 2016 |

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Statistiche

Opere
6
Utenti
265
Popolarità
#86,991
Voto
4.1
Recensioni
7
ISBN
18
Lingue
1
Preferito da
1

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