This piece starts with a news-feature sort of lead, a focusing-in on one boy that is well-wrought and moving. Then comes a long, sweeping history, then a section of first-person reporting. We would have liked a reworking of structure—more of Jasper, perhaps compression of the section of history and either elimination of the “I” or its inclusion earlier.
Still, this is an important piece in its clear reporting on horrendous events in a remote and often ignored part of the world. The voice is authentic, the writing substantive.
Read “The Lord Hath No Mercy,” by Matt Kettmann