Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years in Captivity in the Colombian Jungle
Author: Ingrid Betancourt
Source: My friend Ali B
Days to Read: 10
Ali and I frequently exchange books and I am always excited to read a book that has been recommended by a fellow reader. When I began reading Even Silence Has an End, I was immediately interested. The book is a true story of a woman's experience as a hostage of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in Colombia. Prior to her kidnapping and six and a half years spent in captivity, Ingrid Betancourt was a Colombian presidential candidate. Knowing practically nothing of politics in Colombia the initial back story of Ingrid's life was easy to follow. Her description of life in the jungle is chilling. The conditions of how she lived and how she was treated are appalling. However there were instances throughout the book when a small kindness was shown to her by a fellow hostage or she was able to establish a human connection with one of the guards, and these infrequent happenings resonated loudly against the many pages of depressing details.
However after about half way through the book, I became frustrated with the circle of events; prepare for escape, talk about escape, escape, get captured, repeat. I am sure Ms. Betancourt wanted to include everything that she went through and to really drive home how awful being a hostage was but I feel that the point was clearly made and then dragged on and as a result, lost its impact.
Overall I give this book a 6.
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