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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
By what criteria should a memoir be reviewed? Should a memoir have an agenda? Make a point, make the right point? Draw a correct conclusion?
Recently I read a review for the book "Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front" by Gunter K. Koschorrek. The reviewer had given the book a remarkably low rating, which primarily stemmed from the reviewer's annoyance that the writer didn't have the final paradigm which they 'ought to have had'. I myself had also noticed that the writer of "Blood Red Snow" seemed not to understand the magnitude or reasons for such visceral anger on the part of the Russians and indeed the rest of the planet at the close of World War 2. I thought about this seeming disconnect and came to the conclusion that, if I attempted some critical thinking and at least tried to put myself into a young Koschorrek's boots at the close of what must have seemed like an apocalyptic nightmare for him and Germany, there were good reasons (which for the sake of brevity I omit) why he would not have fully understood the level of wrath that was forthcoming.
Now it could be said: Yes but "Blood Red Snow" was not published until decades later and a older, wiser, better informed Koschorrek, surely should have had the benefit of hindsight when he finally decided to write his book. He could have added all the proper Mea Culpas and editorialized in the appropriate levels of angst for Germany's atrocities (which obviously there is no doubt of or argument about, on my part nor should there be).
But, isn't it great that Koschorrek didn't do that? Isn't it amazing that he left us looking through the eyes of the young soldier, left us considering the unvarnished thoughts of the young man in a completely broken time and place, which he lived through and we did not? Isn't it wonderful and refreshing that we are allowed to use our own critical thinking and reconcile our world with that of someone else's raw experience?...to me the answer is yes.
So, in answer to my own questions and to bring this review back around to Beah's "A Long Way Gone"
here are some marks of a really good memoir;
The story opens a window into the world that I could not experience myself, one that amazes, shocks, horrifies, humbles, inspires, et al.
The story shows me a place and time through the eyes and thoughts of the writer in those finite moments.
The reader is allowed and expected to think about and even wrestle with things that they are shown without being told what to conclude.
The writer expresses their self naturally, according to his or her own character, nature and ability to do so.
The writer is allowed to feel however they authentically felt, but does not have to come to any conclusions and is not strapped with justifying anything.
In my opinion, the best memoirs are written by non writers.
Ishmael Beah's "A Long Way Gone" is the retelling of his own childhood experience of survival in the "hellscape" of the Sierra Leone civil war. The book is brief, the writing is largely unadorned, straightforward and stark. Unlike the writing 101 mantra of "show, don't tell" Mr. Beah does mostly tell and what he tells is horrifying.
A preteen Beah fights to stay alive and human after his village is over run by rebel troops who are callous and inhumane beyond what most of us can imagine and that is where this book is most impactful. Impact will not come from monumental writing. refreshingly it is written how you might expect a adolescent to write such a story. Occasionally there is an artful metaphor or well turn phrase but there are no deep dives into the psychology of his situation. there is no grand philosophy past living, killing and getting enough drugs, food and ammunition.
There is more of course, "A Long Way Gone" opens just before war comes to the author's village. The chilling but familiar denial of emanate calamity unfolds. This is a topic that I've noticed in other memoirs of this type. The idea of willful disbelief presented in this book is one that should give the reader pause for reflection.
With tenacity and luck , Beah is able to survive and for a time avoids being swept up in the fighting. Suddenly, however he finds himself with little choice, but to join the army in opposition to the rebels. almost immediately we see that the army is little better than the rebels they fight. The fighting grinds with seemingly no endgame other than continuing to fight.
I think an important point here is to again speak to the "matter of factness" with which the author describes his life and the acts committed by him and those around him during this time. Personally I choose to not say "the author should have explored and talked about the awfulness of the situation as opposed to just narrating. what was happening, but rather why and what does that say about the human condition? particularly his condition at the time.
To be short I wont say much more. This book is easily readable in a weekend but don't make the mistake of skipping the chronology at the end. Particularly at this time as we watch Afghanistan fall again to turmoil and terrorism after many decades of outside involvement by many different actors and then the seemingly inevitable abandoning of the country as a "project", read the timeline and maybe let it inform you as to why Sierra Leone and other unfortunate places come to these ends.
Recently I read a review for the book "Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front" by Gunter K. Koschorrek. The reviewer had given the book a remarkably low rating, which primarily stemmed from the reviewer's annoyance that the writer didn't have the final paradigm which they 'ought to have had'. I myself had also noticed that the writer of "Blood Red Snow" seemed not to understand the magnitude or reasons for such visceral anger on the part of the Russians and indeed the rest of the planet at the close of World War 2. I thought about this seeming disconnect and came to the conclusion that, if I attempted some critical thinking and at least tried to put myself into a young Koschorrek's boots at the close of what must have seemed like an apocalyptic nightmare for him and Germany, there were good reasons (which for the sake of brevity I omit) why he would not have fully understood the level of wrath that was forthcoming.
Now it could be said: Yes but "Blood Red Snow" was not published until decades later and a older, wiser, better informed Koschorrek, surely should have had the benefit of hindsight when he finally decided to write his book. He could have added all the proper Mea Culpas and editorialized in the appropriate levels of angst for Germany's atrocities (which obviously there is no doubt of or argument about, on my part nor should there be).
But, isn't it great that Koschorrek didn't do that? Isn't it amazing that he left us looking through the eyes of the young soldier, left us considering the unvarnished thoughts of the young man in a completely broken time and place, which he lived through and we did not? Isn't it wonderful and refreshing that we are allowed to use our own critical thinking and reconcile our world with that of someone else's raw experience?...to me the answer is yes.
So, in answer to my own questions and to bring this review back around to Beah's "A Long Way Gone"
here are some marks of a really good memoir;
The story opens a window into the world that I could not experience myself, one that amazes, shocks, horrifies, humbles, inspires, et al.
The story shows me a place and time through the eyes and thoughts of the writer in those finite moments.
The reader is allowed and expected to think about and even wrestle with things that they are shown without being told what to conclude.
The writer expresses their self naturally, according to his or her own character, nature and ability to do so.
The writer is allowed to feel however they authentically felt, but does not have to come to any conclusions and is not strapped with justifying anything.
In my opinion, the best memoirs are written by non writers.
Ishmael Beah's "A Long Way Gone" is the retelling of his own childhood experience of survival in the "hellscape" of the Sierra Leone civil war. The book is brief, the writing is largely unadorned, straightforward and stark. Unlike the writing 101 mantra of "show, don't tell" Mr. Beah does mostly tell and what he tells is horrifying.
A preteen Beah fights to stay alive and human after his village is over run by rebel troops who are callous and inhumane beyond what most of us can imagine and that is where this book is most impactful. Impact will not come from monumental writing. refreshingly it is written how you might expect a adolescent to write such a story. Occasionally there is an artful metaphor or well turn phrase but there are no deep dives into the psychology of his situation. there is no grand philosophy past living, killing and getting enough drugs, food and ammunition.
There is more of course, "A Long Way Gone" opens just before war comes to the author's village. The chilling but familiar denial of emanate calamity unfolds. This is a topic that I've noticed in other memoirs of this type. The idea of willful disbelief presented in this book is one that should give the reader pause for reflection.
With tenacity and luck , Beah is able to survive and for a time avoids being swept up in the fighting. Suddenly, however he finds himself with little choice, but to join the army in opposition to the rebels. almost immediately we see that the army is little better than the rebels they fight. The fighting grinds with seemingly no endgame other than continuing to fight.
I think an important point here is to again speak to the "matter of factness" with which the author describes his life and the acts committed by him and those around him during this time. Personally I choose to not say "the author should have explored and talked about the awfulness of the situation as opposed to just narrating. what was happening, but rather why and what does that say about the human condition? particularly his condition at the time.
To be short I wont say much more. This book is easily readable in a weekend but don't make the mistake of skipping the chronology at the end. Particularly at this time as we watch Afghanistan fall again to turmoil and terrorism after many decades of outside involvement by many different actors and then the seemingly inevitable abandoning of the country as a "project", read the timeline and maybe let it inform you as to why Sierra Leone and other unfortunate places come to these ends.
Heartbreaking, important, haunting, inspirational. A book I feel more people should be exposed to. We don't talk about these issues, and therefore remain ignorant to these issues. Yet it can be equally easy to keep the whole of Africa in a third-world, terrifying box thinking these things happen all the time. Beah does a marvelous job at giving you hope for his country even after all of the hard things he experienced.
I wasn't in the mood for serious during my summer off, but as an AP Human Geography teacher, I had heard raves about this book, and boy, did it leave a lasting impression. I'm so thankful I read it. When I just set the book down I said aloud, "Incredible." Ishmael's account of his years as a teen in Sierra Leone, being forced from his family and being forced into a life as an unwilling child soldier, how can I possibly grasp the horror? I had the same feelings that stirred when I read Wiesel's Night and that book still haunts me to this day. Beah writes this book in the same frank, matter-of-fact account that Wiesel did, and that's what made this book move me. It didn't need embellishment or refinement. It was a truth, and that truth was raw, horrifying and at the same time, a redemption in the making. It's the kind of story that I can never really relate to, that I can never possibly understand, but it's a story I feel that needs to be told to others. The story is much the same throughout Africa, yet in the U.S. we turn a blind eye whether knowingly or because our country doesn't put these atrocities in the spotlight. I'm just thankful Beah told this story and that I had the pleasure to read it. I might add this to our reading list this year.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
? stars
Everything felt like a tragedy, and it was beyond scary to see all of the bad endings that Ishmael barely missed himself, which he didn't miss at all, in a sense, because they still happened... And, there was also how Mambu went back to the front lines after coming to the rehabilitation camp, which was piercing because it was its own little and insignificant tragedy. That was Ishmael's sadder ending--all of the dead friends and family and strangers.
And that line in the beginning/middle-ish part of the book, when Ishmael says how that was the last time he ever saw Junior, I felt this kind of numbing, bone-deep exhaustion. And my English teacher made this comment, which I wish I remembered better, while we were all reading our different books, about like how the people who become the movers, the shakers of the world, the ones that bring it forward, or prod it awake, are the ones that have, essentially, come from the worst places and have had to struggle- they're who have actually gone and and actively fought for their life, because when you have everything, you don't have the drive--which I just found a really scary idea to have confirmed.
And, it seemed like the people in either side’s army--RUF and government soldier alike--didn't realize that their only difference was that they were part of two different armies and sides of an argument and that these armies did the exact same thing as the other did, which is their main motivation for fighting and killing the other side, right? Both armies tortured and killed people brutally and mercilessly, burned the villages of civilians, manipulated and used children as young as six or seven as soldiers, took drugs and gave them to the children, killed the innocent, and more. So, essentially, weren't the soldiers themselves fighting the enemies because of their hatred of the enemies for doing exactly what they did? As Ishmael saw it, it was mainly revenge which resulted in another attempt from the other side to get revenge--rather than fighting for the larger cause of either side, which was lost in the soldiers.
Also, (I could be completely wrong and there's definitely a large hole in my understanding of it somewhere), wasn't it the larger cause of the rebels that led to them forming and taking action in order to push back against the government they believed to be corrupt, which they did with force because it would not give up its power? But then, the government, similarly, fought against the rebels because they believed the rebels were corrupt, and were as a result obviously threatened by this powerful group that wanted to take the power for themselves. So, basically, they were fighting for the same cause, which was for a fair, effective, and stable government for Sierra Leon, right? And on the whole, if not out of personal revenge, did they get caught so easily in the idea of the greater good that they were willing to do anything, like manipulate innocent children or burn down the villages of civilians and slaughter people--which they realize is immoral, right?--for their own cause, which would then essentially just contradict it?
so interesting to learn about what's been happening in Seirra Leon through the eyes of a young person who lived the tragedy...
This was heavy, but not as bad or gory as it could have been. Very accessible for a book club.
This was heavy, but not as bad or gory as it could have been. Very accessible for a book club.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence
Moderate: Rape
Evocative, enlightening and, above all, sad. The very last paragraph in particular really got me.
Beah’s story is his own: unlike fiction, I can’t suggest omissions or inclusions. There were drawn-out parts and parts that I wanted more of his experience. Regardless, his writing and feelings were raw. While speaking at the United Nations First International Children’s Parliament, he actually had to say these words: “I have been rehabilitated now, so don’t be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child.”
My only complaint: I wanted Beah’s story to come full-circle. I wanted his short exchange in the Prologue to be followed up later in the book, and he didn’t get back there. However, the fable he used as his ending was powerful, and since it is non-fiction, we CAN get the rest of the story.
Overall, this is an imperative read. We are so sheltered. I have been able to take a renewed look at what stresses me out as a mother, wife, and teacher. What I think is stressful, is a blessing. Awareness is important!
My only complaint: I wanted Beah’s story to come full-circle. I wanted his short exchange in the Prologue to be followed up later in the book, and he didn’t get back there. However, the fable he used as his ending was powerful, and since it is non-fiction, we CAN get the rest of the story.
Overall, this is an imperative read. We are so sheltered. I have been able to take a renewed look at what stresses me out as a mother, wife, and teacher. What I think is stressful, is a blessing. Awareness is important!
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
loved analyzing this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War