What do you think?
Rate this book
THE CAPTIVE: My 204 days with the LRA rebels
At the age of 11-years, Olum Douglas was abducted and conscripted into the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel organisation. For about seven months, Olum witnessed his colleagues get killed. He was tortured, starved, forced to kill and narrowly survived death.The Captive is a first-hand account of the author's experience with the Joseph Kony led rebel organsation which terrorised northern Uganda for nearly two decades. Olum tells his story alongside those of many other children who suffered in the hands of the LRA, many of who died in captivity.
158 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2020
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Want to read
January 4, 2021A review of
THE CAPTIVE: My 204 days with the LRA rebels: Olum Douglas
By Enock Wanderema
The Captive is a recollection of memories told by Olum Douglas who, abducted as a child, spent 204 days with the LRA rebels. Being his debut piece, it is about 160 pages in e-version self-published on Amazon in December 2020. The one day read, is a memoir written by a professional journalist who at the moment is pursuing a Master’s program at Uganda Christian University. It is no doubt that his love for literature, writing and the journalism “holy spirit” of revealing societal evils lead him to this path.
Northern Uganda, Eastern Congo, and South Sudan know what it means to host God’s spokesperson, Joseph Rao Kony the founder of the Lord’s Resistance Army which famously survived between 1986-2009 using child soldiers to fight the government of Museveni. It is on this occasion that Olum, who was once a recruit in the army, gets the inspiration to pen down dreadful memories for the world to remember.
The book starts with 11-year-old Olum who was abducted in 1998 by the LRA where he served for about seven months all through torture, starvation, and close-shaving death. Olum who also believes less in prayers, it would be polite to say that he later got lucky and managed his way home, where if not for his return, he would have been celebrating death-days.
In The Captive, Olum attempts, with an average of 10-13 “I”s on a page, to “tell” readers events through vivid descriptions and childlike imageries. He at a point imagines himself “naked in the streets,” after participating in smashing a person’s head. Such employs what ironically I would rate as 60% humor in the book. That’s why children are known as innocent and warm- humor. On that very observation, by the way, Olum describes guns and deliberately tells time as though the nearly-clad, hungry, and greedy rebel masters could welcome him with a wristwatch gift implies a contemporary setting in the book. Also, he started writing the book in 2011 which affirms the setting.
The author expands on the publications of, I Am Evelyn Amony by Evelyn Amony, When The Walking Defeats You by Ledio Cakaj, and Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen by Lisa J. Shannon among others all of which tag the LRA, Joseph Kony, War, Child Soldiers, Abduction, Sex Slaves, Poverty, Death, Returnees, Family Reunion, Displacement, Northern Uganda among more others in 1st person narration.
However, if not for the humor, it would be a great turn off to some who are devoted, suspense readers. It is widely known that war is tension, and tension feeds on suspense. But what the writer chooses instead is to foreshadow every intensifying event which to a greater extent kills the vibe. For instance, if a recruit escapes from the rebel camp, he/she is hunted down and brought back for head smashing and the remaining obedient recruits are flogged with incalculable canes as a lesson. Olum decides to tell us that Ongaba has escaped before the author himself in the event realizes that he has escaped. Just chew on some popcorn as you wait for the forecast.
Other than the lack of suspense, by assuming the “all-knowing” position, The Captive, consolingly is Olum’s debut writing piece. No one can deny how his employment of humor in the memoir is subjective. It touches deep down on anyone who sees evil in child-militarization.
Reviewed by
Enock Wanderema
THE CAPTIVE: My 204 days with the LRA rebels: Olum Douglas
By Enock Wanderema
The Captive is a recollection of memories told by Olum Douglas who, abducted as a child, spent 204 days with the LRA rebels. Being his debut piece, it is about 160 pages in e-version self-published on Amazon in December 2020. The one day read, is a memoir written by a professional journalist who at the moment is pursuing a Master’s program at Uganda Christian University. It is no doubt that his love for literature, writing and the journalism “holy spirit” of revealing societal evils lead him to this path.
Northern Uganda, Eastern Congo, and South Sudan know what it means to host God’s spokesperson, Joseph Rao Kony the founder of the Lord’s Resistance Army which famously survived between 1986-2009 using child soldiers to fight the government of Museveni. It is on this occasion that Olum, who was once a recruit in the army, gets the inspiration to pen down dreadful memories for the world to remember.
The book starts with 11-year-old Olum who was abducted in 1998 by the LRA where he served for about seven months all through torture, starvation, and close-shaving death. Olum who also believes less in prayers, it would be polite to say that he later got lucky and managed his way home, where if not for his return, he would have been celebrating death-days.
In The Captive, Olum attempts, with an average of 10-13 “I”s on a page, to “tell” readers events through vivid descriptions and childlike imageries. He at a point imagines himself “naked in the streets,” after participating in smashing a person’s head. Such employs what ironically I would rate as 60% humor in the book. That’s why children are known as innocent and warm- humor. On that very observation, by the way, Olum describes guns and deliberately tells time as though the nearly-clad, hungry, and greedy rebel masters could welcome him with a wristwatch gift implies a contemporary setting in the book. Also, he started writing the book in 2011 which affirms the setting.
The author expands on the publications of, I Am Evelyn Amony by Evelyn Amony, When The Walking Defeats You by Ledio Cakaj, and Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen by Lisa J. Shannon among others all of which tag the LRA, Joseph Kony, War, Child Soldiers, Abduction, Sex Slaves, Poverty, Death, Returnees, Family Reunion, Displacement, Northern Uganda among more others in 1st person narration.
However, if not for the humor, it would be a great turn off to some who are devoted, suspense readers. It is widely known that war is tension, and tension feeds on suspense. But what the writer chooses instead is to foreshadow every intensifying event which to a greater extent kills the vibe. For instance, if a recruit escapes from the rebel camp, he/she is hunted down and brought back for head smashing and the remaining obedient recruits are flogged with incalculable canes as a lesson. Olum decides to tell us that Ongaba has escaped before the author himself in the event realizes that he has escaped. Just chew on some popcorn as you wait for the forecast.
Other than the lack of suspense, by assuming the “all-knowing” position, The Captive, consolingly is Olum’s debut writing piece. No one can deny how his employment of humor in the memoir is subjective. It touches deep down on anyone who sees evil in child-militarization.
Reviewed by
Enock Wanderema
Displaying 1 of 1 review