RELUCTANTLY KICKING KITTENS By Dan Pienaar (A tale of the Southern African Bush War) “ A journey into the soul of an accidental warrior.” A. Hoon “It’s like Asterix meets Shakespearean Tragedy” B.v.L. This powerful point-of-view book recounts Adam Black’s life-changing experiences during the Angolan Border War as a teenage conscript. Adam Black is a young boy/man on two epic juxtaposed and simultaneous journeys. War and first-hand battle experiences induce extreme stresses on its participants. Adam Black is a sensitive and reluctant soldier who is not immune to these extreme stresses. He finds himself not only at the epicentre of the battle but also wages a war between his head and heart, a conflict in which he is bound to be the loser. Adam shares his feelings regarding this war, some battles, and thoughts around the issues of an armed conflict. This is set in the rich context of the experiences of a child who left a Free State farm naively to fight the evils of Communism in the 1980’s. His understanding (and lack thereof) regarding the motives of battles and challenges in Angola and the subsequent outcomes are told in a series of first-person experiences, flashbacks, flash-forwards to the present and dream sequences. In stark contrast are the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder episodes, detailed fearlessly by the adult Adam. They recount the harrowing cost to the psyche of the man, trying to make sense of his world.