I am not sure what to say about this book. In sum, a man recounts his experiences as a child soldier and his subsequent rehabilitation in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. I just felt bad for him the whole time - he seemed to have so many run-ins with death, he came so close to getting out successfully so many times, and he just narrowly missed it. I'll go ahead and spoil one part of the book for everyone, since I'm sure no one is going to read it: he had been wandering around in the jungle for months, being hunted down by RUF (rebel) soldiers, being shot at, getting wounded, searching desperately for his family (and wondering if they were even alive), and when he finally gets word that they are in the next village, he misses seeing them by minutes, literally. They are killed in an attack just minutes before he finds them. Shit.
His prose is stripped down and he presents the facts without any emotion, without trying to justify his actions, and without blaming anyone. After reading the book, I can't believe he was able to get out of Sierra Leone, get back into society, function as a normal person, and then write a book depicting all of these horrible things he experienced as a 12 year old. Without losing his mind.
Currently Reading:
Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, by Gerd Gigerenzer
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ah, bullshit - wait'll you write your memoirs, it'll curdle the blood of real men.
ReplyDeleteRemember that time you had the paper cut when putting together the poster in sixth grade - hey, good stuff, coulda been life threatening - that is if she didn't give you the A.
You've got me reading the Kite Runner. It appears that there is a different world from ours. Being chased by people whose goal is only to kill you might be a bit different from, oh, say, making sure that burger is done properly.