Thursday, August 21, 2008

Prague - freedom - spring

The past three posts very probably would not have been written if - being on my way to become 15 - there had not been Alexander Dubček, the Prague Spring, and its end on August 21 1968, when as Václav Havel later put it, the ("brother"-) state(s) behaved like a girl blaming the mirror for being ugly, and therefore smashed it.

It have been those few months twelve years after the Hungarian Revolution, the photographs of Josef Koudelka, the later Magnum photographer, and the reaction of the western governments that let me start becoming a political thinking human being.

Fourty years have 'flown by' since, and still
I do remember these events as vividly as I do remember the tongue of the girl who happened to become the first girl ever to whisper words of love into my ears ... :)

2 comments:

  1. These last three posts have been such a delight to read.

    I particularly like the Magnum photographer’s essays, which you directed us to. I will visit and browse his site more often.

    Amazing how you can take such a tortured and troubled period in history and finish your post with such a lovely and sentimental last paragraph. It puts a balance to life … that some things are worth remembering more than others.

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  2. Ardent,
    if one day I am to suffer from megalomania, it will be due to your lovely compliments. :)

    Glad you enjoyed visiting the site of the magnum photographers. There are great artists to discover.

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