I read this and then
Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungleto get a broader picture after seeing her on Oprah. Here's the ups and downs of this one for me:
DOWNSIDES:
Much of the time, I was frustrated and annoyed with Betancourt. Despite her being in a REALLY horrific situation, she generally comes across as incredibly arrogant, self-entitled and many times as bratty and foolish. At some points, I almost felt like the FARC would have happily given her back just to be rid of her if she hadn't been so politically important to them.
- She displays a pattern of making reckless decisions, failing to choose her battles with care, not thinking through consequences and deliberately antagonizing her captors. Ultimately, these result in probably much worse treatment for her and others dragged into her sphere.
- She neither details nor takes responsibility for any of her own selfish behaviour, justifying it as things everyone did on occasion given the circumstances. I believe this. But, then she throws Rojas, her initial captive companion, as well as others under the bus about their behaviour in petty detail.
UPSIDES:
Still, here's the thing - it's a fascinating story of survival. She's an exceptionally gifted writer. And, she's incredibly courageous even if sometimes her actions seem misguided or not well thought out.
- I can't imagine a place worse than the Amazon jungle to be held captive - forced marches of days through jungle and swamps, little decent food, bugs, diseases, chains, etc. The FARC are evil. But, she delivers some major inner strength against the challenges she faces, and her survival instincts and behaviour get honed and moderated over time.
- The fact that she is "Daddy's Little Princess" that grew up with everything handed to her on a silver plate, is used to always getting her own way, and is completely ill-equipped to be in this situation and survive it - is what in many ways make's her courage, and strength in dealing with the psychological torture of the situation so remarkable.
SIDENOTE:
I liked her better and had more insight into the situation after reading the other book by the three American prisoners in which one tries to slam her.
- Until then I didn't really piece together as well that "Lucho" was her lover, and that there were a lot of jealousies and politics being played by both guards and prisoners that were working against her as she worked to adapt to the situation. Getting three other perspectives on her and the hostage life is interesting even where they conflict.
- I also found that the one American that mostly tries to throw her under the bus in
Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle is out of line. It seems to be largely a case of "oil and water" being thrown into a really small confinement together. Strong, alpha-male, status-concsious, conservative ex-marine with no respect for strong women gets tossed in with opinionated, image conscious, socialist politician, queen bee, who obviously has some major strength. The results are immediate dislike for each other that guards and prisoners fan the flames upon. After reading both - it's pretty clear they're both strong personalities and survivors that end up taking some cheap potshots at one another.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a fascinating tale of survival. Yes, she comes across as arrogant and self-entitled many times. But, she also displays the major inner strength that allowed her to survive what can only be described as a horrific six years.
