As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

"Walk Toward the Rising Sun" by Ger Duany

book review by Riley Burnham 3/16/2023

pretty solid; something different

audiobook read by the author [👍👍] this tells the story of Ger's childhood in [South] Sudan, where he is first initiated into manhood; raised; & becomes an AK-47-wielding child-soldier

through a variety of occurrences [his father & brother are both soldiers in the war taking place], Ger moves to the USA, where he goes to school, plays sports, gets into acting & modeling, & subsequently travels back to Sudan to see his mother & father -- this time decades later as an adult

some of my favorite moments were the initiation practice of cutting lines into the boys' foreheads [he explains this in detail], giving both a test of will & a sign of affiliation [scars]

the big takeaway here is that tragedy is a huge part of these peoples' lives, w/ death a very common occurrence

in the end, South Sudan becomes a country & the politics settle, for awhile