Book Thoughts: Notes from My Travels by Angelina Jolie

I recently finished Angelina Jolie's journal from her travels to developing nations in 2001-2002. It was pretty much what you would expect. Basically you take a rich and famous movie star, plop her into a third world country, and tell her to write about what she sees. That's pretty much it. While it wasn't a total waste of time, there was nothing overwhelmingly spectacular about the book. It was not particularly well written, but I won't judge Jolie too harshly for that (after all she does warn us at the beginning that she is not a writer and was quite hesitant to publish her journals.) I was more astonished and appalled by Jolie's lack of research in preparation for her visits. For instance, when she arrived in Pakistan the UN contingent had to immediately find her some acceptable clothing. I mean really, Angelina, I'm sure UN workers have better things to be doing than taking you shopping for a burqa.

Another thing that bothers me about the book is that Jolie seems to grossly oversimplify the problems in the developing world. Basically, it comes down to the fact that we (the U.S? American citizens?) are not doing enough to help. We need to give more money. It keeps coming back to money. Money will fix all the world's problems. There is no appeal to the complicated and deep-seeded problems wrought by decades of colonialism (i.e. lack of industry, soaring population growth, environmental degradation, corrupt and incompetent leaders, tribal rivalries, etc). Jolie's lack of background knowledge about the places she's visiting leads her to the most simplistic answers. Quite frankly, she just sounds stupid.

Where, Angelina, should that money come from? Should we borrow money from China to donate to Africa? Or should it come from citizens? Perhaps if we all stopped going to movies we could make a significant dent in world hunger. And how exactly are you helping by traipsing around in a UN baseball cap? I'd venture to guess that the cost of your trips to "raise awareness" probably could have put a village full of kids into school for at least a year.

So, reader, if you want a truly worthwhile book on this topic let me suggest a few from people who have actually  LEARNED about the developing world, SACRIFICED a good deal of money and comfort and ACCOMPLISHED something tangible.

Probably my top recommendation would be Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. This book chronicles the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, a renown doctor who chose to invest his money and life into building up Partners in Health (PIH), an NGO bringing medical care to the  world's poorest countries. I read this book several years ago and it stuck with me. Dr. Farmer is an incredible man.

Second, try Three Cups of Tea. This is the story of mountain-climber-turned-humanitarian, Greg Mortenson. After getting lost while attempting to climb K2 Mortenson ended up in a small Pakistani mountain village. This experience changed his life. He went on to establish the Central Asia Institute (CAI) whose mission is to build schools in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Over the years Mortenson has risked his life to bring education to Afghani and Pakistani the boys and girls in some of Asia's most dangerous regions. Again, a truly remarkable and courageous figure.

Meanwhile Jolie is back in LA, having an expensive preventative surgery, followed by another expensive reconstructive surgery. All the while thousands of children are dying because they didn't have money for a simple vaccination. Nice work, Angelina. Enjoy those new boobs.