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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
I enjoyed listening to this as an audiobook in the author's own voice. I think some of the emotion of the situation does not translate well into the piece of work that the author has produced. That being said its still a good book that provides excellent insight into the conflict that enveloped Sierra Leone in the '90s.
I read this because I saw the auther interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. And I finished it quite a while before trying to write this...
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War
LWG is a little disturbing, a little entertaining, and a lot interesting. It's not necessarily a great casual read, given the rather intense nature of the subject matter, but I'd still highly recommend it.
[b:A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] is the first book I've read that fully addresses what it's like to be a kid in a war, especially a Non-Western one. So often, war books are centered in Europe or the US, and there's a certain expectation to warfare that it's carried out in a "civil" (yes, I see the irony) or at least organized way. There are age limits and official training processes and soldiers sign up or are formally recruited through a process. [b:A Long Way Gone|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] opened my eyes to the brutalities of war far beyond what we've come to expect from a western perspective.
Memoirs are interesting because you get an author's lived experience, and when the author is an everyday person (as compared to a celebrity), the reader fully realizes the extent of the world that they don't know. There were so many instances reading this where I said, "a person can't be that unlucky, right?" or "how could that have happened that many times?" But the fact is that it did and it does, and these things are going on in the world, often without our knowledge. [b:A Long Way Gone|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] is such an eye-opening and important book to the crisis of child soldiers throughout the world. Alongside, there's a lot of information I would never have known about family structures, rehabilitation programs, and resources for internally displaced persons (IDPs). After all, it was this government-run IDP camp that turned young boys into soldiers when the war got bad. This is also a very eye-opening look at friendship through war, and how circumstances can make or break groups of people.
I will say that this book felt a little long, especially in the beginning. I might not have had that expectation if not for the title, "memoirs of a boy soldier." I thought it would be a lot sooner that [a:Ishmael Beah|24189|Ishmael Beah|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1294676154p2/24189.jpg] was forced into the war, and a lot more about the recovery process. While there was a lot about this, there was also a lot about the monotony and fear that came before everything. I understand that this is an important part of the war experience as well. Much of this beginning part reminded me of [b:A Long Walk to Water|7981456|A Long Walk to Water Based on a True Story|Linda Sue Park|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441975555l/7981456._SY75_.jpg|12409139], but the walking didn't make much sense in the context of [b:A Long Way Gone|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414]. While I realize all of the events detailed in this part were important, it felt removed from the main point of the memoir.
[b:A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] is one of many books I would never have read if it hadn't been free in the right place at the right time (in this case, when my high school library was culling their collection and giving away the withdrawn items in massive heaps - many of them went to me because I can never say no to free books). However, it's one that I'm definitely glad caught my eye when it did. I'm not sure I would reread it or even hang onto the physical copy, but I think it's a book that everyone should read at least once.
Memoirs are interesting because you get an author's lived experience, and when the author is an everyday person (as compared to a celebrity), the reader fully realizes the extent of the world that they don't know. There were so many instances reading this where I said, "a person can't be that unlucky, right?" or "how could that have happened that many times?" But the fact is that it did and it does, and these things are going on in the world, often without our knowledge. [b:A Long Way Gone|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] is such an eye-opening and important book to the crisis of child soldiers throughout the world. Alongside, there's a lot of information I would never have known about family structures, rehabilitation programs, and resources for internally displaced persons (IDPs). After all, it was this government-run IDP camp that turned young boys into soldiers when the war got bad. This is also a very eye-opening look at friendship through war, and how circumstances can make or break groups of people.
I will say that this book felt a little long, especially in the beginning. I might not have had that expectation if not for the title, "memoirs of a boy soldier." I thought it would be a lot sooner that [a:Ishmael Beah|24189|Ishmael Beah|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1294676154p2/24189.jpg] was forced into the war, and a lot more about the recovery process. While there was a lot about this, there was also a lot about the monotony and fear that came before everything. I understand that this is an important part of the war experience as well. Much of this beginning part reminded me of [b:A Long Walk to Water|7981456|A Long Walk to Water Based on a True Story|Linda Sue Park|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441975555l/7981456._SY75_.jpg|12409139], but the walking didn't make much sense in the context of [b:A Long Way Gone|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414]. While I realize all of the events detailed in this part were important, it felt removed from the main point of the memoir.
[b:A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|43015|A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier|Ishmael Beah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636774035l/43015._SY75_.jpg|825414] is one of many books I would never have read if it hadn't been free in the right place at the right time (in this case, when my high school library was culling their collection and giving away the withdrawn items in massive heaps - many of them went to me because I can never say no to free books). However, it's one that I'm definitely glad caught my eye when it did. I'm not sure I would reread it or even hang onto the physical copy, but I think it's a book that everyone should read at least once.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
This book is a memoir and a firsthand look at how children are being exploited and forced to become child soldiers in civil wars around the world.
Beah was separated from his family when he was 12 and rebels attacked his village. He was forced to join the government's army and was brainwashed into believing he must kill to avenge his family's death and to stay alive himself.
His journey is heart-wrenching. How he was able to come out on top and work to help other children out of the similar situations is amazing. This book should be required reading for all young people in America.
Beah was separated from his family when he was 12 and rebels attacked his village. He was forced to join the government's army and was brainwashed into believing he must kill to avenge his family's death and to stay alive himself.
His journey is heart-wrenching. How he was able to come out on top and work to help other children out of the similar situations is amazing. This book should be required reading for all young people in America.
Earlier this year we picked up a couple of best sellers at Barnes and Noble for quite a good discount. Among them were a long time gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah and I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. You've probably already heard about Malala, she's a bright young woman who stood up against the Taliban's oppression of women, and took a bullet for it. I haven't yet read her book, but I have been intrigued by her since I first learned about her on The Daily Show with John Stewart. (Rest assured, I'll review that one soon.)
Ishmael's book caught my eye as I've heard a lot about boy soldiers, but never anything of substance, and especially not a first person account of what it's like or why they do it. So I dove in and I have to say, this book is a must read. It's right up there with Night as one of the best books that deals with the traumas of war and the hardship of being in the most difficult times and places.
The story begins with Ishmael living a normal life as kid in a they city. He and his friends have a band where they dance and rap, but then the rebels come and bring the fighting to his city. He and his friends run, in search of safety. But in a country ravished by child soldiers, he and his friends are feared as they enter town after town. They can find save haven for a couple days but often end up moving on in search of better, more stable places and in search of family.
Ishmael avoids several attempts for him to be recruited into the armies, but after a very long time on the run, he finds himself conscripted anyway. But the thing is, he does it willingly, since he believes he's working against the rebels who destroyed his village and raped the women of his town. After each battle the men give him drugs that heighten his senses and show him movies about great warriors (like Rambo), filling his head with notions of grandeur.
The book is an interesting and engaging story about a boy who lives a normal life but slides into a world he should never have known. It follows his dissent into violence and ultimately his freedom from that world. The twists and turns are real, and powerful.
To see more reviews check out my blog: This Sporadic Life
Ishmael's book caught my eye as I've heard a lot about boy soldiers, but never anything of substance, and especially not a first person account of what it's like or why they do it. So I dove in and I have to say, this book is a must read. It's right up there with Night as one of the best books that deals with the traumas of war and the hardship of being in the most difficult times and places.
The story begins with Ishmael living a normal life as kid in a they city. He and his friends have a band where they dance and rap, but then the rebels come and bring the fighting to his city. He and his friends run, in search of safety. But in a country ravished by child soldiers, he and his friends are feared as they enter town after town. They can find save haven for a couple days but often end up moving on in search of better, more stable places and in search of family.
Ishmael avoids several attempts for him to be recruited into the armies, but after a very long time on the run, he finds himself conscripted anyway. But the thing is, he does it willingly, since he believes he's working against the rebels who destroyed his village and raped the women of his town. After each battle the men give him drugs that heighten his senses and show him movies about great warriors (like Rambo), filling his head with notions of grandeur.
The book is an interesting and engaging story about a boy who lives a normal life but slides into a world he should never have known. It follows his dissent into violence and ultimately his freedom from that world. The twists and turns are real, and powerful.
To see more reviews check out my blog: This Sporadic Life