The Age of Villages by Alfredo Toro Hardy
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 By: Alan Large
British educationalist Alan Large writes: In the autumn of 2002 I traveled to London with three students from the school where I teach in Lincolnshire, England. William, Hafiza and Toni were about to become the “Britkidz” whose visit to Venezuela was to be a feature in VHeadline.com some weeks later. We were to meet the Venezuelan Ambassador to the UK, Alfredo Toro-Hardy ... the embassy was an elegant, though slightly jaded, house of Georgian origins that stared across the busy road to the Natural History Museum in West London.
Our entry into the embassy and brief wait set the scene for the meeting with the Ambassador. We were greeted in a warm and slightly informal manner and sat in comfy leather sofas as we waited for our meeting with the Ambassador. I had only met one Ambassador before this ... an American who was trying to balance his official duties with a natural flair for taking an interest in those whom he encountered. The result was a paradox, someone who you could engage with, but not enough time to make it worthwhile ... he moved on to the next engagement having barely scratched to surface of the first.
We were shown into the Ambassador’s study. “Good morning, sir” (I’m not comfortable with official titles, and “Your Excellency” didn’t seem to fit the building or the room which was both business-like and friendly at the same time). Just for a second, I thought my family doctor had a new post as Venezuelan Ambassador, but perhaps it was just his long-lost older brother. Having overcome the surprise of the visual, I found the man and the embassy were one and the same: business-like and friendly. For about fifty minutes we had the undivided attention of an obviously intelligent and educated man who has a deep-rooted commitment to his country and who has the communication skills to ensure his “mixed ability” audience (of a disengaged student, one with a bubbly personality, a would-be sophisticate and a balding teacher) were both entertained and educated about his homeland and his role as Ambassador.
So why this long introduction?
Simply that it sets in context the man and his book: Reading Alfredo Toro Hardy’s book “The Age of Villages” was a similar experience, and was no surprise to me. The book covers a vast range of modern issues, it puts across its message quietly and effectively, and provides that same experience I had in visiting the Ambassador in London ... I came away from the embassy (and the book) better informed than before either encounter. I had not been force-fed in either encounter but gently and persuasively led along new paths.
At university, more years ago than I am prepared to admit, I was lectured by those who had masses of facts to impart and others who knew their facts but could paint the bigger picture. Sometimes it is easy to get lost in the facts but in “The Age of Villages” Alfredo Toro Hardy navigates his way through these with the astuteness of one who has not only educational pedigree but also the experience of world events at the sharp-end. Undergraduates will welcome the clarity of clearly defined hierarchies (… ”in first place … at the regional level…”). The references to other authorities, briefly quoted to add weight to the smooth-flowing commentary, but students will need to read this book fully as there is no index by which specific issues can be pin-pointed.
“The Age of Villages” is a comfortable read ... it may be my own prejudices which create this “comfort zone” but I found myself both agreeing with much (and feeling a little smug, “that’s what I thought”). The carefully constructed line of argument has a smooth logic which, to readers such as myself, who have too little time to keep up with everyday demands, let alone read about world events, will find satisfying as we are led through a maze of different influences which are shaping the world around us.
Toro Hardy allows the reader to get to grips with the contradictory forces of globalization and increasing local pre-occupations.
As I see and experience the impact of refugees moving in greater numbers into my home town, through reading this book I gain greater insight into why this is happening ... and possibly more importantly ... why I and many friends feel the way we do about such issues.
I would struggle to explain this to a wider audience ... Toro Hardy does this by bringing together a multitude of factors, each clearly explained. These build up into as full a picture as non-specialists such as myself can cope with, and yet make the reader feel they are not ignorant of the wider world. To achieve this broadening of horizons whilst staying within a “comfort-zone” is to be applauded.
In conclusion “The Age of Villages” seems a very good read, but there are a few issues to take up. In providing the reader with clarity and order Toro Hardy could be criticized for taking away the need to think and judge for one’s self. The nature of the subject matter means the book was out-of-date before it was published ... we now know the USA’s response to Saddam’s Iraq and the outcome of that war. Perhaps some editor with an eye to quality commentary and comment on the “big world picture” will entice the author to contribute to a regular column ... students of current affairs and those who seek a thoughtful perspective on our fast-changing world would be well-served by more of Alfredo Toro Hardy’s gentle but incisive writings.
Alan Large Alan.Large@queen-eleanor.lincs.sch.uk