Upon returning from Idodi yesterday I read the last two chapters in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, published just last year. It is one of the most gripping, horrifying accounts of war I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Africa. I shudder to think that I was barely aware of situations like Sierra Leone and Rwanda when I was in high school; people my age trying to survive in those countries were exposed to the absolute worst of human nature, while I was afforded the privilege of a safe suburban upbringing.
Is it the accident of birth, as my grandmother used to say, that determines who experiences what in this world? To a certain degree I believe this to be true, which is why it is so important to travel – in books, on foot, in movies, or by dalla-dalla – and get a sense of what other people’s lives are like. Here are some other books I’ve read this year that have given me insights into the African experience:
When Victims Become Killers (Rwanda) – Mahmood Mamdani
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (historical) – Walter Rodney
Into Africa (Livingstone & Stanley) – Martin Dugard
The Zanzibar Chest (Ethiopia, Somalia, etc.) – Aidan Hartley
The Africa House (Zambia) – Christina Lamb
Dark Star Safari (Cairo to Cape Town) – Paul Theroux
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