What did they want? Why did they shout, ‘freedom, democracy, freedom, democracy’? What did it mean?
I had never given much thought to freedom. There was no need to. We had plenty of freedom. I felt so free that I often perceived my freedom as a burden and, occasionally, like on that day, as a threat.
My exact rating: 4.75⭐
I had high expectations going into this book and Lea Ypi did not disappoint. The best book I have read so far in 2023.
In the first part of her memoir, Ypi recounts how it was growing up and coming of age in communist Albania under a regime that was slowly crumbling. The second part of the book deals with the reforms and changes which came hand in hand with the country’s transformation to a capitalist economy, the last few chapters depict the Albanian civil war.
Free is a thoughtful and deep memoir dealing with (family) relationships, societal systems, socialism and capitalism. As the title suggests ‘freedom’ is a reoccurring theme that provoked many thoughts in me.
What is freedom? Does capitalism offer freedom? When are we free?
What I also liked about this book is the way it discusses socialism and capitalism, how they both have their benefits and faults – especially we in the west tend to praise capitalism, willing to overlook that it is not as perfect as we think it is - and how both systems don’t offer full freedom. (Freedom seems to be always limited).
I was impressed by Ypi’s writing, however, the structure within the chapters was sometimes a little bit confusing, because she went back and forth in time, so you never really knew how old she was at that point.
This was the first book I have read about Albania and it was fascinating and interesting to learn about a part of this country’s history.
I can only recommend to read Lea Ypi’s memoir!
