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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Ishmael Beah

Discussion: 2014-Jan-Feb-Mar

Why we're reading this: January 8, 2014
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2014-Jan-Feb-Mar

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* March 2014
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 21 views

last updated Apr 02, 2014 01:05PM

* February 2014
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 24 views

last updated Mar 01, 2014 02:27PM

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What Members Thought

Dec 28, 2016 Liz Murray rated it it was amazing

Shelves: social-justice-themes, ya, africa, coming-of-age, west-africa, memoir-auto-biography

I put off reading this for a while as I didn't want to face the story being told. I read his first fictional novel a little while ago and I wrote this:

I haven't read Ishmael Beah's memoir yet, and I'm glad I started with this one. I'm not sure how he writes his memoir, and whether there is adherence to strict facts (not that I think that's a prerequisite, especially given the circumstances). I'm sure the events laid out in this book are based on factual occurrences but there is leeway to ascrib I put off reading this for a while as I didn't want to face the story being told. I read his first fictional novel a little while ago and I wrote this:

I haven't read Ishmael Beah's memoir yet, and I'm glad I started with this one. I'm not sure how he writes his memoir, and whether there is adherence to strict facts (not that I think that's a prerequisite, especially given the circumstances). I'm sure the events laid out in this book are based on factual occurrences but there is leeway to ascribe actions and thoughts to particular characters, for the purpose of exposition. It's dense but easy to read. It tells the story of people returning to their homes at the end of the Sierra Leone civil war. Beah's writing draws on storytelling techniques from his home, and these give the book a lyrical quality, in spite of the horrific events that occur. The war may have been officially over but that didn't stop people behaving in an appalling manner, and with no thought to human life (besides their own and their cronies). I look forward to reading more of Beah's fiction, whether set in West Africa or not.

And now to this book, it's hard to say you enjoy a book like this, but Beah writes well and has a powerful voice. This memoir incorporates storytelling explicitly and implicitly.

*spoilers*

As I was reading I was imagining he would be captured at some point, and the fact he and his friends are not taken by force, rather they end up in a village where the only choice is to join the 'army' and become a child soldier, makes it all the more insidious. He doesn't spare us the graphic horror but I didn't feel it was gratuitous at all. This is an incredible tale of survival. In the body of the story politics is only rarely brought in and Beah conveys his knowledge of the war at the time he was experiencing it. He isn't with the rebel forces but it's unclear who he actually is with, and both sides used child soldiers. Reading this gave me rare insight into the struggle and I'll go back to reading about the Truth and Reconciliation process employed in Sierra Leone after the war with new eyes. The image I'm left with after reading this isn't the horror and atrocities carried out by the child soldiers, but of Ishmael wandering with other children he meets along the way, after having to flee from his home village. He lives with tragedy from that moment on, and their journey appeared never ending no matter what they did. Hell is when they entered the village where they are taken to be child soldiers, and there appeared to be no clear way out of that either. We know that Ishmael makes it out, but his survival bucked the odds greatly. I feel that teenagers could read this book and if I'd read it as a teenager I don't think I would have been traumatised by the telling of this tale. This happened and we need to bring this to light to one day have no child soldiers left in the world. We also need this story to bring to light the rehabilitation that is possible; that these lost boys don't have to wander forever. ...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010, non-fiction, biography, history, audio-book

Listened to the audio-book, read by the author. I think this is an example of a book made better read aloud. It really drew me in, without being so complicated that it was hard to follow what was happening while I was working.

The Sierra Leone Civil War is an example of something that happened during my lifetime (I'm about the same age as Ishmael Beah) that I had no idea about at the time. I've been trying to fill in those historical gaps with my non-fiction selections this year. ...more

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Jan 03, 2008 Karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir

a great read about the author's experience as a boy soldier in africa. being the same age as the author really put things in a better perspective. at the age of 15 he was fighting for his life, i was going to see 311 in concert. its hard for me to imagine that these two worlds can co-exist, but they continue on today. i highly recommend this. ...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Stephanie Sundquist rated it it was amazing

Amazing story. Sad and disturbing, yet beautifully written. I highly recommend this book.

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Nov 10, 2018 Natalie marked it as to-read

Aunt Steph’s rec

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Mar 25, 2008 Taylor rated it it was amazing

Aug 15, 2008 Dinh marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2000s, non-fiction

Aug 19, 2008 Linda marked it as to-read

Aug 25, 2008 Marieke rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010, memoir, africa, united-states, military, children-in-war

Oct 16, 2008 Michael added it

Nov 07, 2008 Jose Silva rated it really liked it

Nov 18, 2008 Shane added it

Dec 28, 2008 Carol marked it as to-read

May 19, 2009 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: ridiculously-good-non-fiction

Jun 01, 2009 Tori marked it as to-read

Aug 25, 2009 Kathrina rated it liked it

Shelves: memoirs-bios, sierra-leone

Oct 12, 2009 Phyllis | Mocha Drop rated it liked it

Shelves: auto-biography-memoir, cross-cultural

Nov 21, 2009 Wesley rated it really liked it

May 25, 2010 Maureen marked it as to-read

Shelves: nyt-bestseller

Aug 16, 2010 Eric rated it liked it

Nov 02, 2010 Patrick Arbuckle added it

Shelves: war, africa

Nov 14, 2010 Deedee marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: coverx-feet, title-starts-with-a, year-2007, four-word-title, l2, srcs-spring-members-choices, srcs-fall-members-choices, memoirs, world-africa, 0t-war