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The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope
An unflinching look at the most urgent humanitarian crises around the globe, from one of the world’s most daring philosopher-reporters
“Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it.”—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
“Fierce and elegant, Lévy’s musings will be of profound interest to any reader of modern continental philosophy.”— Kirkus Reviews , starred review
Over the past fifty years, renowned public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy has reported extensively on human rights abuses around the world. This new book follows the intrepid Lévy into eight international hotspots—Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan—that have escaped global attention or active response.
In a deeply personal introduction, Lévy recounts the intellectual journey that led him to advocacy, arguing that a truly humanist philosophy must necessarily lead to action in defense of the most vulnerable. In the second section, he reports on the eight investigative trips he undertook just before or during the coronavirus pandemic, from the massacred Christian villages in Nigeria to a dangerously fragile Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban talks, from an anti-Semitic ambush in Libya to the overrun refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Part manifesto, part missives from the field, this new book is a stirring rebuke to indifference and an exhortation to level our gaze at those most hidden from us.
“Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it.”—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
“Fierce and elegant, Lévy’s musings will be of profound interest to any reader of modern continental philosophy.”— Kirkus Reviews , starred review
Over the past fifty years, renowned public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy has reported extensively on human rights abuses around the world. This new book follows the intrepid Lévy into eight international hotspots—Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan—that have escaped global attention or active response.
In a deeply personal introduction, Lévy recounts the intellectual journey that led him to advocacy, arguing that a truly humanist philosophy must necessarily lead to action in defense of the most vulnerable. In the second section, he reports on the eight investigative trips he undertook just before or during the coronavirus pandemic, from the massacred Christian villages in Nigeria to a dangerously fragile Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban talks, from an anti-Semitic ambush in Libya to the overrun refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Part manifesto, part missives from the field, this new book is a stirring rebuke to indifference and an exhortation to level our gaze at those most hidden from us.
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2021
38 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Bernard-Henri Lévy
111 books241 followersBernard-Henri Lévy is a philosopher, activist, filmmaker, and author of more than thirty books including The Genius of Judaism, American Vertigo, Barbarism with a Human Face, and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? His writing has appeared extensively in publications throughout Europe and the United States. His documentaries include Peshmerga, The Battle of Mosul, The Oath of Tobruk, and Bosna! Lévy is cofounder of the antiracist group SOS Racisme and has served on diplomatic missions for the French government.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 20, 2021
I was not sure what to think when I started The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope. I found the book when I missed the premiere of the documentary. As I read the first two chapters, I thought that it was one of the driest books that I had ever read. I started to fear that I might read the book and forget most of what I read because it did not resonate with me. However, it got better. Much better. Once Bernard-Henri Levy started to write about his visits to war zones and former war zones, the book came to life and I found it much more enjoyable.
For me, the two best chapters are Night of the Kurds and Donbass: Trench Warfare Lives On In Europe. I am especially interested in Rojava (Syria) where Night of the Kurds takes place. The description of General Mazloum sitting in the dark, talking on the phone with French President Macron, is an excellent metaphor for the entire situation in Rojava. Europe and America want to help the Kurds, but not enough to do it out in the open in daylight. Donbass is about Ukraine and the Russian meddling that keeps the situation tense and dangerous. I think most Americans are not aware of how bad things are in Ukraine and we probably should pay more attention. The chapter on Nigerian Christians is heart-wrenching and the one on Libya left me shaking my head.
The Will to See will definitely make you think. The saddest chapter is the Devil Made a Stop at Lesbos. The description of how a boy slowly lost his will to live in the horror of a refugee camp that seems more like something dreamed up by the Third Reich. The boy was from Idlib and he was actually happier there, with all the bombing. The camp sucked the life and hope out of him. Greece should be ashamed, but they aren't. Europe should be ashamed, but they aren't. If we all get lucky, everyone who reads The Will to Live will decide to take action on these areas and the people got in horrible situations. I suspect that won't happen, but I will hope because it is Christmas.
For me, the two best chapters are Night of the Kurds and Donbass: Trench Warfare Lives On In Europe. I am especially interested in Rojava (Syria) where Night of the Kurds takes place. The description of General Mazloum sitting in the dark, talking on the phone with French President Macron, is an excellent metaphor for the entire situation in Rojava. Europe and America want to help the Kurds, but not enough to do it out in the open in daylight. Donbass is about Ukraine and the Russian meddling that keeps the situation tense and dangerous. I think most Americans are not aware of how bad things are in Ukraine and we probably should pay more attention. The chapter on Nigerian Christians is heart-wrenching and the one on Libya left me shaking my head.
The Will to See will definitely make you think. The saddest chapter is the Devil Made a Stop at Lesbos. The description of how a boy slowly lost his will to live in the horror of a refugee camp that seems more like something dreamed up by the Third Reich. The boy was from Idlib and he was actually happier there, with all the bombing. The camp sucked the life and hope out of him. Greece should be ashamed, but they aren't. Europe should be ashamed, but they aren't. If we all get lucky, everyone who reads The Will to Live will decide to take action on these areas and the people got in horrible situations. I suspect that won't happen, but I will hope because it is Christmas.
April 20, 2022
The greater portion of the book is nonsense and name-dropping. The travel articles, while interesting and informative, are curiously brief considering the seriousness of the subject-matter and the efforts Levy took to make the trips. For someone with such literary and intellectual pretensions his writing is unremarkable.
May 29, 2022
Certainly an Insightful and benevolent presence. (I just felt the style meandered.)
November 30, 2023
Excelenta idee de a imparti cartea in doua parti: ´In ce cred’ si ‘Ce am vazut’. Desi destul de criticat pentru ‘cameleonism sau’ si multiplele fatete si roluri, Henri Levy este un personaj controversat (sau poate tocmai de aceea?). Cartea asta nu face exceptie de la acelasi melanj de politica, idealism, aventura, nebunie si luciditate.
March 28, 2024
Fascinating perspective from an interventionist journalist—had a philosophy of when you see bad to not just report as is, and be unbiased. Rather he advocated for a response, reaction, and/or solution.
May 15, 2023
I’ve seen Bernard-Henri Lévy on PBS, Amanpour, and Democracy Now over the last few months, and my middle daughter, who studied in France, gifted me this book. I soon learned that the author is a renowned public intellectual/philosopher who has reported on human rights abuses worldwide for over 50 years.
This book follows the intrepid Lévy into eight international hotspots—Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan—that have escaped global attention or active response.
He describes an “inner compass” as motivating him to travel and report on disastrous situations like this, “for indeed, it is this true inner heart whose beating unfailingly sets my mind and body in motion. Indeed, it is at the beckoning of this inner voice that I make my decisions and act on them.”
One of the most gruesome stories relates to “Nigeria’s Christians Are Under Siege.” According to the author, the Fulani are Islamic extremists of a “new stripe” linked to Boko Haram. “The Global Terrorism Index ranked them in 2015, among the four most deadly jihadist movements, right behind ISIS, the Taliban and Boko Haram….”
He goes on to say, “They torch houses. Kill her four children before her eyes. When her turn comes, and they notice she is pregnant, a discussion ensues: some do not want to see her belly slit, so they compromise by cutting up her arm with a machete, like butchers, starting with the fingers, then the hand, then the forearm, then the rest, after the last one of the group complains that he has not had his chance.”
In the Epilogue, the author describes the work of a writer,
And I believe that in a writer, a real one, one who works with his head and his hands, with his intelligence and his lungs, his wisdom and desire, one in whom body and soul contend, clash, and come to terms on a blank page, one who writes as if life and death depend on it, one who throws himself whole-hearted, with all his might, into the books he writes, one who sweats blood and water (and I do not know, when one writes like this, whether he sweats more in, whether he sweats more in doing the things or relating them)-I believe that, in such a writer in that “terrible worker”(Rimbaud again), singular chemistry is at work.
However, you’ll want to keep your dictionary close by while reading this book. The author uses a lot of French and refers to authors and books only the French would know. The author’s English or translation is not flawless, but it’s worth the read.
“This is a book born out of an extraordinary life, much of it spent plunging into the world’s most troubled and crucial places, a life committed to an internationalism that is not owned by the powerful, and to visions of France, Europe, and liberty that can’t be understood by bureaucrats. A passionate, engaged book that combines philosophy, war reportage, and autobiography to explore the creation of a brilliant and brave mind.”—Salman Rushdie
“Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it.” Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
About the Author
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a philosopher, filmmaker, activist, and author of over thirty books, including The Virus in the Age of Madness. He is regarded as one of the West’s most important public intellectuals. Often referred to as BHL in France, he led the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political activism, and publications have also been the subject of several controversies over the years.
This book follows the intrepid Lévy into eight international hotspots—Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan—that have escaped global attention or active response.
He describes an “inner compass” as motivating him to travel and report on disastrous situations like this, “for indeed, it is this true inner heart whose beating unfailingly sets my mind and body in motion. Indeed, it is at the beckoning of this inner voice that I make my decisions and act on them.”
One of the most gruesome stories relates to “Nigeria’s Christians Are Under Siege.” According to the author, the Fulani are Islamic extremists of a “new stripe” linked to Boko Haram. “The Global Terrorism Index ranked them in 2015, among the four most deadly jihadist movements, right behind ISIS, the Taliban and Boko Haram….”
He goes on to say, “They torch houses. Kill her four children before her eyes. When her turn comes, and they notice she is pregnant, a discussion ensues: some do not want to see her belly slit, so they compromise by cutting up her arm with a machete, like butchers, starting with the fingers, then the hand, then the forearm, then the rest, after the last one of the group complains that he has not had his chance.”
In the Epilogue, the author describes the work of a writer,
And I believe that in a writer, a real one, one who works with his head and his hands, with his intelligence and his lungs, his wisdom and desire, one in whom body and soul contend, clash, and come to terms on a blank page, one who writes as if life and death depend on it, one who throws himself whole-hearted, with all his might, into the books he writes, one who sweats blood and water (and I do not know, when one writes like this, whether he sweats more in, whether he sweats more in doing the things or relating them)-I believe that, in such a writer in that “terrible worker”(Rimbaud again), singular chemistry is at work.
However, you’ll want to keep your dictionary close by while reading this book. The author uses a lot of French and refers to authors and books only the French would know. The author’s English or translation is not flawless, but it’s worth the read.
“This is a book born out of an extraordinary life, much of it spent plunging into the world’s most troubled and crucial places, a life committed to an internationalism that is not owned by the powerful, and to visions of France, Europe, and liberty that can’t be understood by bureaucrats. A passionate, engaged book that combines philosophy, war reportage, and autobiography to explore the creation of a brilliant and brave mind.”—Salman Rushdie
“Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it.” Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
About the Author
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a philosopher, filmmaker, activist, and author of over thirty books, including The Virus in the Age of Madness. He is regarded as one of the West’s most important public intellectuals. Often referred to as BHL in France, he led the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political activism, and publications have also been the subject of several controversies over the years.
February 17, 2022
The author, a well-known correspondent reporting from conflict zone, details his experiences of traveling to places like Karachi, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya etc. in the second part of the book. He brings to light vividly the chaos and the extent of human suffering as also the role played by various actors contributing to the conflict. In Part I of the book, he dwells at considerable length on his motivation for undertaking such journeys - an account which, I found esoteric and heavy to comprehend.
July 25, 2022
The will to see and care
Levy does a good job describing his own outlook, though lengthy and heady, does touch our common thoughts and feelings. His dispatches are a powerful reminder that there is more to see than there is will to see it.
Levy does a good job describing his own outlook, though lengthy and heady, does touch our common thoughts and feelings. His dispatches are a powerful reminder that there is more to see than there is will to see it.
February 28, 2022
Libro difficile da leggere ma soprattutto da digerire
May 30, 2022
Quite a story of the authors life and exploits. Very interesting!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews