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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
I'm not sure how to review this book. The subject matter is so important, and Beah's courage and honesty in telling his story so significant, that it seems the book should get five stars based on those factors alone. It is remarkable enough that Beah should have survived his ordeals as a child soldier, let alone healed to the point where he felt able to write about those experiences; it seems unreasonable to also hold his memoir to a literary standard that it does not quite meet. Suggesting that this memoir might have been written differently also feels uncomfortably like trying to tell Beah how he should respond to his own trauma, something I have neither the right nor the desire to do.
And yet, and yet....
For all the courage on display here (and Beah's tremendous personal courage really does shine through in this narrative), it feels like this book could have and should have done more. I wish I had felt more deeply drawn into the story, viscerally involved, implicated in the horror. The emotions aroused by a story like this should be complex, powerful, and difficult. Instead, this book allowed me to stand on the sidelines, shaking my head and saying, "Oh, how terrible!"
Beah's story can be divided into three sections. In the first, he flees and hides from both the Sierra Leone Army and the rebel forces, either of which might kill him or force him to fight. The second section covers the period after he has been forced into the army at age thirteen, and spends his days in a haze of violence and drugs. The third section, describing his rehabilitation and eventual flight from Sierra Leone, is the most effective part of the book. Beah shares more of his inner life during this period, and vividly evokes his struggle to return to normal life. Somehow, seeing the difficulty of recovering from his experiences in the army made the true nature of his ordeal feel more real than when he described the experiences themselves.
There can be no doubt that this is a memoir of deep trauma. It seems that describes his life as a soldier in simplistic, matter-of-fact language because he is not able to relive that time any more deeply than that. I would have liked a depiction of Beah's childhood before it was destroyed by the civil war, but it seems clear that he can hardly bring himself to remember that part of his life and measure the true extent of his loss. As a human, I can understand and respect why he is unwilling and unable to dig down into this material. But in literary terms, I think the book needed him to go there.
And yet, and yet....
For all the courage on display here (and Beah's tremendous personal courage really does shine through in this narrative), it feels like this book could have and should have done more. I wish I had felt more deeply drawn into the story, viscerally involved, implicated in the horror. The emotions aroused by a story like this should be complex, powerful, and difficult. Instead, this book allowed me to stand on the sidelines, shaking my head and saying, "Oh, how terrible!"
Beah's story can be divided into three sections. In the first, he flees and hides from both the Sierra Leone Army and the rebel forces, either of which might kill him or force him to fight. The second section covers the period after he has been forced into the army at age thirteen, and spends his days in a haze of violence and drugs. The third section, describing his rehabilitation and eventual flight from Sierra Leone, is the most effective part of the book. Beah shares more of his inner life during this period, and vividly evokes his struggle to return to normal life. Somehow, seeing the difficulty of recovering from his experiences in the army made the true nature of his ordeal feel more real than when he described the experiences themselves.
There can be no doubt that this is a memoir of deep trauma. It seems that describes his life as a soldier in simplistic, matter-of-fact language because he is not able to relive that time any more deeply than that. I would have liked a depiction of Beah's childhood before it was destroyed by the civil war, but it seems clear that he can hardly bring himself to remember that part of his life and measure the true extent of his loss. As a human, I can understand and respect why he is unwilling and unable to dig down into this material. But in literary terms, I think the book needed him to go there.
I don’t typically read non-fiction, but this book was great. Many parts were very heavy reads, but an amazing story to learn about.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Wow!! I feel for this young man. I felt like I was on this journey with him. I wanted to reach out and hug him but all I could do was just sit and hurt with him. He did and saw things that would mess up adult men for a long time. He did/does have PTSD from his past but having the resilience of a teenager, he was able to rehabilitate faster than an adult. I almost feel like I have PTSD from this book. It was very graphic but I'm glad he didn't tone it down. He needed to get his point across about everything he went through.
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Mass/school shootings
Heart breaking, informative, eye opening. It was certainly a hard book to read, the atrocities described made me sick to my stomach at times, but I believe it is an important book for my generation to read.
had to read for school, but his story was not only important, but his narration was done so well that i was able to feel the emotions he was trying to convey, and it was able to keep my intrest, which says a lot because i had to read it for school.
Horrific detailing of Sierra Leone child soldiers during the wars and chaotic unrest. Also the story of one child's escape from the country and path back to a "normal" life. Hard read but an important perspective.