A British de-miner is kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge.
He escapes injury and makes his way to Mozambique,
where he loses two limbs to a landmine. He teaches
his shattered body to walk, then run, and goes on to
complete the London Marathon.
This book is a moving story of superhuman courage,
a tale of a hero whose strength of character enables
him to achieve his goals. In addition, Chris Moon's
wonderful autobiography is replete with all the
humour, irreverence and honesty of its very human
author.
The central theme is that character can triumph
over circumstance, rather than vice-versa.
Moon's character is the common thread uniting the
three disparate sections of the book: the Moon who
cheerfully endures hardships on an English farm or in
the British Army is the same man who, years later,
faces down Khmer Rouge killers (who later kidnapped
and executed British de-miner Christopher Howes), and
the same man who painfully re-learns to walk minus an
arm and a leg.
As a farmhand, Khmer Rouge hostage, or amputee,
Moon refuses to give in to despair, self-pity or
bitterness.
Other aspects of Moon's personality - humour,
compassion and honesty - add a crucial dimension to
his writing. In moments of infinite sadness, Moon
buoys himself, and the reader, with jokes. Watching a
Khmer Rouge commander napping during what could
easily have been Moon's final hours, he wonders if
'kidnapping people is as tiring as being kidnapped'.
While lying in the supposedly cleared area of an
African minefield with a missing leg and mangled
hand, Moon jokes that 'if one of my blokes missed a
mine I wanted to be the first to know and I am, so I
can't complain!' But Moon's jokes cannot hide his
deep compassion. He never questions his commitment to
de-mining and his journeys to Cambodia and
Mozambique, both of which nearly killed him. Moon
says of the minefield that blasted him, 'I chose to
be there. Most mine victims don't have the luxury of
choice.' Whether sparing a sympathetic thought for
the uneducated Khmer Rouge guarding him or
encouraging fellow runners in a marathon, Moon's
compassion is as inspirational as his determination.
What gives the book its ultimate power, however,
is Moon's honesty.
While the final destination is triumph, Moon does
not spare the reader any details of the pain and
humiliation along the way. He describes bowel
movements under Khmer Rouge rifles and surgeons'
scalpels. His accounts of the physical pain of his
injury and recovery are harrowing.
He does not shy away from describing his
humiliation as an amputee swimming for the first time
in a public pool or falling down the stairs of a
London pub.
Lapses in character are also recounted: He is
tempted to avenge his kidnapping by overpowering the
Khmer Rouge privates who escort him to safety. Moon's
revelations of agony and hopelessness only make his
triumphs even sweeter.
And yet, in some ways our hero is too heroic.
Moon's humour and down-to-earth writing cannot
hide the fact he is a truly exceptional person.
His uncommon valour makes the book worth reading,
but it also leaves him a touch inaccessible. This
unavoidable paradox and a few unfortunate
typographical errors are the only (minor) faults of a
remarkable book.
One Step Beyond by Chris Moon
Macmillan $290