Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Nov 23, 2008

Abigail rated it:

By turns disheartening and uplifting, this memoir of a young man who was caught up in Sierra Leone's civil war was recommended to me by my college roommate and dear friend Menna. Beah attended Oberlin with us, and although I didn't know him personally, he and Menna were friends through their involvement in the African Students Union.

This heartbreaking work follows Beah from the idyllic days of his childhood, through the horrors of war, to his eventual escape to the United States. Sep More...

3 comments like (17 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2008

steven rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

5 comments like (11 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2011

Praj rated it:

Dear Ms. Naomi Campbell,

I have always been an ardent aficionado of your work; from your heydays sashaying the YSL runaways along with Linda Evangelista to crooning in George Michael’s Freedom video. Your numerous sexual trysts with celebrated oligarchs and other questionable chaps were highly fascinating although not marvelous. But lately, you seem to forego your sadistic tantrums and suffer from a transient global amnesia. Is it due to those numerous chalky dust lines running throug More...

10 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2008

Chris rated it:

I will never. Never. Complain about my childhood again.

Okay, that's not true. I will. But when I let out a sad sigh of remorse that I didn't figure out exactly why I really wanted to be friends with that one guy in band in high school until it was way too late to do anything about it, I will at least think, "At least I wasn't killing people and snorting gunpowder."

Like most of you reading this, I knew absolutely nothing about what was happening in Sierra Leone i More...

2 comments like (19 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Bethany rated it:

The long and the short of things is that this book is phenomonal. Incredible. Horrifying. Beautiful. It's written in a very straightforward manner; its rather simple and in most places lacks any type of real depth. However, the story that those words are telling is one that I will never forget.

The story is set in Sierra Leone in the early 1990's. The author, Ishmael, is just a young boy of twelve when his village is attacked by rebel troops. Ishmael finds himself orphaned and More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Marc rated it:

Gut-wrenching and virtually unbelievable to a modern, Western-minded suburban sheltered life, this compelling first hand account of contemporary struggle and tragedy landed like a thud in my soul. I read the book in about three days, and unfortunately it tempered my view of the people around me, wondering what atrocities they were capable of committing, what sort of terror these faces or even my own hands could carry out under the right circumstances. In the end, though, it is a tale of indivi More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2008

James rated it:

I finally got around to reading the highly lauded A Long Way Gone.

“Africa breaks your heart.” That’s what David Denby of The New Yorker concluded at the very beginning of his review for “Blood Diamond,” drawing on the then recent releases of “Hotel Rwanda,” “The Constant Gardener,” “And The Last King of Scotland.”

I concur, having read Ishmael Beah’s memoir relatively close on the heels of Dave Eggers’ What is the What and Beasts of No Nation. I suppose I could complete the cy More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2008

Donna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Bill rated it:

It's amazing that this young man is alive and able to write about his life in war torn Sierra Leone. Like any war zone, Sierra Leone is the embodiment of chaos. War makes makes living second to second a random equation. The main character sees men, women, and children die horrible deaths before he's even 14 years old-way more than any hardcore adult soldier. He paints a very clear picture of a country destabilizing and it's frightening.

A first part of the book is pretty much about he More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2007

Kristine rated it:

Good book- short, simple, he describes his experience as a child soldier. Pretty amazing, bc you figure not that many of those child soldiers have the opportunity or inkling to write about it. I do wish the book had a clearer timeline and sense of the history and politics surrounding his personal experience in the conflict, but hey- the guy is not a historian, so I am not gonna bitch about that.

The topic of the Sierra Leone conflict though is FASCINATING, not to mention disgusting More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 27, 2007

Chelsea rated it:

It was one of the more incredible books I've ever read. The book is the true story of the author's life in Sierra-Leone, and the story of many other children swept up in the war there. When the author is 12-years-old his village is destroyed and his family lost. He wanders for years, sometimes with groups of other boys, sometimes alone, trying to avoid the rebels and to find a safe place to exist. Eventually swept into the war, hopped up on drugs and handed guns, the boys find themselves so More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2007

Lain rated it:

As an over-privileged white American, it can be tough to even begin to fathom the struggles and atrocities that Africans face. When I started reading this book, I wondered if the stories Ishmael Beah would tell would be so horrific that I couldn't continue to read, much less comprehend, them.

However, Meah tells his tale with a blend of humor, distance, and insight that took me right to the edge. Any further, and I think I would have shut down. Any less far, and I believe I wouldn't More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

Lucy rated it:

Heartbreaking. I can't believe people have life experiences like Ishmael Beah. Ishmael, a 27 year-old refugee from Sierra Leone now living in New York City, left his home with his brother and some friends to practice a new rap routine in a neighboring village. He was twelve years old. He never saw his home or his parents again. Rebel forces attacked his village, killing most, and causing the rest to flee.

Without a home to return to, he and his peers managed to spend several months wa More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2008

Amy (amyb2332) rated it:

I have a hard time rating memoirs because I feel like I can't possible "love" something that is clearly such a painful experience from someone else's past. So me giving this three stars doesn't mean I didn't like it, I truly did. It is a shocking and sad story and I feel like I have learned a lot from reading it.

I would have liked to see a bit more explanation towards what the conflict in Sierra Leone was about. I also would have liked to more about the author's life afte More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Kerry rated it:

It puts civil war into a concrete context. If you want to read behind the headlines...this story will give you an account that stays with you.

While this book tackles the heavy themes of child soldering, civil war and losing parents...it is told from a young adult's perspective looking back on his experiences. There is a directness and honesty in it that is simple. It is not preachy or overbearing. It is simply a boy's account of an extremely difficult and tumultuous period in More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Sarah rated it:

This is one of those uber-rare books that everyone in the world should be required to read. If I can cry while reading it on a train full of strangers and feel lifted up at the end of its conclusion, than I think it's touching in all the best ways. It is one of the most sincere books I've ever read in my life and contains chronicling of a type of human experience that I've never seen and find too easy to ignore, that of the child in a war state on the front lines. For those of you who love stori More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2008

Caddie rated it:

I cried for this boy throughout the book due to the gruesome nature of what he went through. It is a true story of a war I was unaware of during my life time. It opened my eyes to what is and has happened to young children around the world. I was horrified at the reality, but rejoiceful that one person could have so much courage to go through what seemed like never-ending trials. I left the book with my eyes and heart more opened. Whenever I hear of war, I'm sure I will related it to what w More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2009

Spencer rated it:

Ishmael Beah was a young boy living in the suburbs of Sierra Leon, a relatively small country in western africa where they are known for their diamonds. Ishmael Beah lived a somewhat normal life as a child. He had divorced parents and lived with his father and visited his mother on occasion. One day, he was going with his friends to listen to rap music in a nearby town. He was recruited by rebel soldiers at only the age of 13. This autobiography tells you about an important and modern issue in s More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2010

Jennifer (aka EM) rated it:

I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry for what I am about to do. It seems unbelievably curmudgeonly of me to judge this book harshly given its subject matter. But I can't let the deep empathy I feel for this former Sierra Leonean child soldier cloud my judgement of his memoir. I give him five stars - more! - for his courage, his honesty and the remarkable work he is doing to shed light on the life of child soldiers in Sierra Leone and elsewhere; to raise consciousness and motivate political action to pu More...

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2011

Osho rated it:

A searing memoir by a Sierra Leonean boy soldier. He writes clearly and directly about his horrific experiences, often in simple yet beautiful passages. I've read a reasonable number of memoirs by child war victims, but few by young people who, like Beah, actively participated as combatants. I highly recommend this memoir; I will teach with it as soon as I have a chance.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Jocelyn rated it:

Well, the rating says it all. It was amazing. I sort of feel guilty for enjoying the book since it's a memoir and that means all that horrible stuff happened to that guy. Critics who dislike it or want to say 'you can't remember all that stuff' need to shut up. Not only do I -know- people who have photographic memory, he actually addresses the fact that he has a photographic memory.
Yeah, rant, but that book was just amazing. The pathways all connected together and everything made sense. It More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2008

Heather rated it:

This is a powerfully written memoir of a boy who tried to avoid a war that wouldn't be ignored and his struggle to regain his childhood and stay rehabilitated. Although there are only a few brief pages describing the two years he was a boy soldier, there are quite a few details of the various attrocities committed by those who claimed to be fighting for freedom. It is obvious that the author could have listed many more details but includes just enough to help us understand the situation confro More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Vishal rated it:

Occasionally a book comes along that totally changes your world view and how you perceive things. 'A long way gone' is not the best written book. It would probably rank even less than average in writing style and linearity. Yet, I agree with the 'Washington Post' when they say 'Everyone in the world should read this book'. It makes up for all its lackings with tremendous heart and soul. It is the story of a child soldier in civil war torn Sierra Leone in his own words. He narrates his feelings, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 18, 2010

Glenn rated it:

I loved it. Very much a memoir in the true sense, it is by a young person who has written this book not because he is a writer, but because of the extraordinary nature of his experiences, but I find I find the the writing style engaging and the content riveting. Direct and real, the writer is mostly showing, and describing, without trying to convince, judge, generalize, or pitch an agenda. Self-aware but not self-conscious.
Kind of a more-modern, and less-literary, Painted Bird. This kid l More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 29, 2008

Ari rated it:

Ari Spiesberger
Ebarvia
World lit
290
A long way gone by Ishmael Beah is the story of a Sudanese boy soldier. The story, (A biography) shows the true nature of war, and how a boy survives it. Ishmael’s village is burned down and his family splits up, but he, his brother and a few friends remain together. Unfortunately they split up and Ishmael keeps moving from village to village away from the war until he ends up in a village controlled by the military. The military though More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Dede rated it:

The novel A Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah, is an autobiographical work describing the author’s experiences throughout the civil war that tore apart his native country of Sierra Leone in the 1990’s. Spanning the time from when Ishmael was 13 to when he was 16 years old, the war destroyed his world; he barely got out of it alive. He vividly describes his experiences from the time when the war was beginning, when he lost his family, to the time when he and his friends are forced to fight More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Mary rated it:

The autobiography A Long Way Gone , by Ishmael Beah, is an autobiography about Ishmael’s childhood, and the hardships he faced during Sierra Leone’s civil war. The book shows Ishmael’s determination to survive, both as a refugee and child soldier. Ishmael was fleeing after losing his family during an attack on his home village. He fled for months until he was captured and trained as a soldier by the anti-rebellionist troops. He was put into a United Nations rehab center until he found his uncle More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 16, 2009

Carla rated it:

Mr. Beah did visit my School on 3/6/2009 and I missed him (in NYC for a faculty recruiting event). He made quite an impact on the community and I believe that I got a taste of that through his memoir. My guess is that the story would come alive if hearing him tell it in person. I also believe that I would have been in awe of a young man who had traveled (literally and figuratively) so far in his lifetime. The book was well written -- a story of a child who was left with no choice but to fig More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2008

Sandi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2008

Andrew rated it:

A Long Way Gone is one of the most touching books I have read in a long time. It has been a week since I have finished, and I still think about it everyday. It is the autobiographical tale of Ishmael Beah, of Sierra Leone. And it tells of his horrific young life, caught in the vicious cycle of war.

His life starts off peacefully enough, living with his family in the countryside of Sierra Leone, intrigued with rap music and dance, he and his friends are high spirited kids. When he was More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

reviews