Beast of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala

I have not finish this book yet, but I thought I talk about what I have learned from reading it. Iweala's disturbing tale of Agu, this young boy, it seems who came across an army that was not his choosing to join up to fight this war against an enemy I have yet came across. Agu's journey, if you will, is one of hopelessness. He is a boy who had nothing due to this war and in a country where there is only a few options to survive, leave or fight, he had no choice. Again, I go back to 100 Years and I see a pattern of violence and how it can destroy a country and a community. What I gather from the reading thus far, is a sense of madness, not from isolation like in Sheep or 100 Years, but from war. Agu was not wanting to kill, but was force to and once he did kill, he became accustomed to it. He was brainwashed by all he had seen and without anyone to tell him otherwise, he kept on doing what he had to to survive. The only authority figure he had was one who wish the fighting to continue, the Commandant. There is a lot more I want to touch on, but that will have to be without a post since this is the last one. One note, nationalism, is this war for country or for greed? Is there a reason other than survival to fight? Is that how it is today in Africa with Darfur? This problem needs to be address to stop the cycle. Iweala's "Beast" shines a light into this violent nd disturbing reality in Africa. I look forward to finishing this book to help me know more about how this happens and why, if possible.