Book Review: A Country of Ghosts

by Bailey Riley / Earth First! Newswire

Recommended for anarcho-idealists, for all of the siblings you wish to indoctrinate, those who once reveled in crimethic rhetoric, and those, less-sappy, who recognize that revolution doesn’t come without bloodshed.

While admittedly of both the former and latter-most categories, I found this book to be a terribly good manifestation of the imagination of many with non-hierarchal politics. Margaret does an almost overwhelmingly good job of adorning certain dialogue with fanciful an decadent rhetoric, all while remaining concise. Full-fledged, starry-eyed revolutionaries living humble poetry. We often imagine this world of guerrilla war within capitalism, and Hron, the country in which literally translates into “country of ghosts,” is a decentralized band of autonomous zones which are under threat of usurpation by monarchs from neighboring nations. The story follows the Free Company of the Mountain Heather, a guerrilla band of anarchists, and a journalist through which all political ideology is funneled for the reader.

When I think of this book, mostly I think of it as a story of love. I say this because a general theme throughout the book attempts to emphasize that love is the driving force between much of what those in Hron do, as is explained to Dimos, the protagonist. This book delves into topics often left out of general dialogue in regards to anarchism in the mainstream such as freedom, mutual-aid, or, you know, the real shit at the root of why all of us are actually anarchistically-inclined.

I think the author attempts to outline a realistic (albeit fictional) scenario, recognizing that none of this is utopian, and does a pretty decent job battling this too frequent critique.

You find yourself attached to these characters throughout the novel, as many of them are relaying their stories about who they are, and which experiences aided in molding them, something oftentimes lacking in circles (which can definitely create walls and hide away humanity) of leftists.

Overall, I think the this story humanizes the struggle, and makes you remember, because sometimes we lose sight, that that’s what anarchy is in the first place: humanity.

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