He struggles through his life being misunderstood, depressed, weak, lonely and afraid. His devotion to his work was often a means to escape the dark feelings that haunted him. If we were his contemporaries, we would surely criticize him for being a workaholic and unable to appreciate the important things in life. The book was also not a captivating story, it was pretty dry and boring, at least saved by the controversial letters from Alfred to his mistress of twenty years. I trudged through (for the sake of the challenge, mostly), and ultimately I’m glad I did because it has made me think about a few things more deeply.
In our obsession with enjoying life to the fullest, traveling, exploring and staying connected, do we forget that there were men and women throughout history that had to invent these things that we so casually enjoy? When we travel with ease across countries and borders, do we stop to appreciate the millions of people that have done something to make that possible? Alfred Nobel’s dynamite gave a huge advantage to the travel industry by greatly reducing the time to construct railways. Can I condemn him for creating something so destructive while enjoying the obvious benefits of it? I have often sat at airports, gazing out the window as the planes are taxied, bags are loaded and passengers accommodated. So many people have to work hard at their jobs day in and day out to make my choice of life possible. This goes for almost everything I enjoy - the food I eat, the clothes I wear and even the books that I read. With all of the social strife that is raging today, maybe we should all stop and think about how the people that we judge, accuse and hate, might play an integral role behind the scenes of our daily lives and the luxuries we enjoy. Are we contributing to the future or just enjoying the fruit of other people’s past labors? I wonder what Alfred Nobel would have thought if he had lived to see the twentieth century, the most barbaric and deadly of all time. His last will and testament, which established the Nobel Peace Prize, was not just a last ditch attempt to make up for devoting his life to destruction. He actually had a keen desire for peace all of his life, and his greatest ambition was to create something so destructive and deadly that nations would be forced to live peacefully. As anti-social as he was, he had a deep concern for world peace that we would do well to emulate, first and foremost in our daily interactions with one another.
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JulieLuke and I are married and have five little munchkins that travel the world with us. I blog about living overseas, travel, kids, homeschooling and graphic design. Archives
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