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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This is a memoir of a former child soldier who fought for Sierra Leone government forces during the civil war in the late 1990s.
I enjoyed it quite a bit - Beah writes plainly but openly about a world I know nothing about. The memoir, however, spends much more time on his life and experience as a refugee, both before and after his two years of fighting, than it does on his time in the war, with only one full chapter and a half-dozen flashbacks containing actual war stories.
I am not complaining at all - the foreshadowing in the lead-up stories of his fleeing of violence is tense and engaging, and he is quite clear throughout the book, and especially as he tells the story of his rehabilitation, that he was so traumatized and drugged that he does not remember much of the battles. Even his stories give this effect to the reader, plainly stating how surrendering prisoners were summarily executed or how brutal close-quarters fighting was conducted without emotion or value judgement. As he explains his rehabilitation, he will tell another war story in a literary flashback, giving the reader a taste of the same jolting effect that Beah experienced as he worked through his PTSD.
The shroud of trauma and drugs, though, obscures the chance to give a clearer-eyed view of the real life of a child soldier. Beah does not owe us this view in the least - but the way in which this book is promoted and sold makes us expect it. Whether this is the fault of the western reader, the publisher, or both you will have to decide for yourself.
I recommend this for anyone interested in memoirs or refugee stories, with the paradoxical caveats that 1 it is not as heavy as some might expect on actual war stories from a former child soldier and 2 it is not for weak stomachs.
I enjoyed it quite a bit - Beah writes plainly but openly about a world I know nothing about. The memoir, however, spends much more time on his life and experience as a refugee, both before and after his two years of fighting, than it does on his time in the war, with only one full chapter and a half-dozen flashbacks containing actual war stories.
I am not complaining at all - the foreshadowing in the lead-up stories of his fleeing of violence is tense and engaging, and he is quite clear throughout the book, and especially as he tells the story of his rehabilitation, that he was so traumatized and drugged that he does not remember much of the battles. Even his stories give this effect to the reader, plainly stating how surrendering prisoners were summarily executed or how brutal close-quarters fighting was conducted without emotion or value judgement. As he explains his rehabilitation, he will tell another war story in a literary flashback, giving the reader a taste of the same jolting effect that Beah experienced as he worked through his PTSD.
The shroud of trauma and drugs, though, obscures the chance to give a clearer-eyed view of the real life of a child soldier. Beah does not owe us this view in the least - but the way in which this book is promoted and sold makes us expect it. Whether this is the fault of the western reader, the publisher, or both you will have to decide for yourself.
I recommend this for anyone interested in memoirs or refugee stories, with the paradoxical caveats that 1 it is not as heavy as some might expect on actual war stories from a former child soldier and 2 it is not for weak stomachs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War
Moderate: Rape
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
I think when I was finished with this book I more clearly understood how very, very lucky I am and also the amazing ability of the human spirit to overcome.
This is a hard read- if you want a light memoir don't pick it up. But if you want to more fully understand what happens in some less developed, more remote countries in your world then read it. And while revolutions in other countries may not have indentured children into slavery as soldiers and forced them to kill- each country's revolution has its stories of hardship, tragedy, death, and pain. Sometimes I think we need to stop and remember what people have gone through in our past to give us the ability to live the lives we have.
That Ishmael Beah made it through the events of his childhood to go on and study in America and then write this book shows that the human spirit can endure much.
It's a beautiful book.
This is a hard read- if you want a light memoir don't pick it up. But if you want to more fully understand what happens in some less developed, more remote countries in your world then read it. And while revolutions in other countries may not have indentured children into slavery as soldiers and forced them to kill- each country's revolution has its stories of hardship, tragedy, death, and pain. Sometimes I think we need to stop and remember what people have gone through in our past to give us the ability to live the lives we have.
That Ishmael Beah made it through the events of his childhood to go on and study in America and then write this book shows that the human spirit can endure much.
It's a beautiful book.
All the trigger warnings, but deeply profound. I’m so glad to have read it.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Ishamel Beah is someone I will always respect and admire for his ability to overcome and persevere in the face of such threatening circumstances. I hope he lives a long life full of joy and many victories for the causes he fights for. This is a massively moving story with beautiful descriptions that have continued to inspire me as whenever I remember this book.
An interesting memoir for plenty of reasons but I think what interests me most about the memoir itself is how flat and declarative the narration is.
This is a book about being a child soldier in Sierra Leone, but it mostly skips over the two years he spent as a soldier and all the atrocities he enacted and witnessed. It beings with him as a normal child with a love for american rap music and follows the terror and anxiety of being on the run from the revolutionary army. Even before he was a soldier, he sees the distrust that looms over him because he's an adolescent boy without a family traveling with other adolescent boys. Which is to say, everyone already assumes he's a soldier committed to murder and pillaging and chaos in general.
Once he's captured, we get a glimpse into the training and some of the brutality he carried out in the name of the Sierra Leone army against the revolutionary forces, but we largely skip over his two years as a soldier. I imagine there are a billion reasons for this but it does sort of mean that you're not getting what you probably want from this book. I mean, that sounds cold, but the reason I picked this book up is because I wanted a deep look into the life of a child soldier because extreme behavior holds a bit of fascination for me.
Anyrate, we pick up when he's sent from the army to rehabilitation. This is actually quite interesting since we see the kind boy he was before his days of soldiering and then are immediately thrust into this drug addicted, violent young man. So we see how transformative his soldiering was. This may be the most interesting part of the book since we do get some juxtaposed scenes of extreme violence and serenity.
However, the memoir largely holds us at an arm's length. Like I said, it's a very declarative book with little emotion in it. It reminds me of Hemingway, which may or may not be a good sign for you, depending on your preferences. For me, it wasn't a great reading experience, interesting as the story was.
Your enjoyment of this book will largely depend on how you react to the somewhat emotionless narration of extreme events. The book also manages to not really fill out the context of what's happening in Sierra Leone. And since that's the kind of stuff I like to know about, it left me wanting there as well.
So I did not love this book. I probably didn't even like it.
At the same time, it's hard to criticize someone who went through this for not making their story a pleasant read. I imagine it was quite uncomfortable for him to recount the events of his early life. I imagine that's why he skipped over the bulk of his days as a soldier.
But, yeah, it's just not what I wanted out of the book, which is really not the book's fault.
This is a book about being a child soldier in Sierra Leone, but it mostly skips over the two years he spent as a soldier and all the atrocities he enacted and witnessed. It beings with him as a normal child with a love for american rap music and follows the terror and anxiety of being on the run from the revolutionary army. Even before he was a soldier, he sees the distrust that looms over him because he's an adolescent boy without a family traveling with other adolescent boys. Which is to say, everyone already assumes he's a soldier committed to murder and pillaging and chaos in general.
Once he's captured, we get a glimpse into the training and some of the brutality he carried out in the name of the Sierra Leone army against the revolutionary forces, but we largely skip over his two years as a soldier. I imagine there are a billion reasons for this but it does sort of mean that you're not getting what you probably want from this book. I mean, that sounds cold, but the reason I picked this book up is because I wanted a deep look into the life of a child soldier because extreme behavior holds a bit of fascination for me.
Anyrate, we pick up when he's sent from the army to rehabilitation. This is actually quite interesting since we see the kind boy he was before his days of soldiering and then are immediately thrust into this drug addicted, violent young man. So we see how transformative his soldiering was. This may be the most interesting part of the book since we do get some juxtaposed scenes of extreme violence and serenity.
However, the memoir largely holds us at an arm's length. Like I said, it's a very declarative book with little emotion in it. It reminds me of Hemingway, which may or may not be a good sign for you, depending on your preferences. For me, it wasn't a great reading experience, interesting as the story was.
Your enjoyment of this book will largely depend on how you react to the somewhat emotionless narration of extreme events. The book also manages to not really fill out the context of what's happening in Sierra Leone. And since that's the kind of stuff I like to know about, it left me wanting there as well.
So I did not love this book. I probably didn't even like it.
At the same time, it's hard to criticize someone who went through this for not making their story a pleasant read. I imagine it was quite uncomfortable for him to recount the events of his early life. I imagine that's why he skipped over the bulk of his days as a soldier.
But, yeah, it's just not what I wanted out of the book, which is really not the book's fault.
I need a hug. How in the world did I just get around to reading this book?
Ishmael's story is so upsetting, and it breaks my heart to know just how many more there are like him. This book is so powerful. From fleeing the rebels to being caught to be rehabilitated, my heart broke for him and I rooted for him every step of the way.
It's not often that I am left speechless, but after reading this book, there are truly no words I have to describe it.
Plenty of disturbing content, even more disturbing since it is all real. I knew child soldiers were brainwashed into doing truly terrible things, but I had no idea the extent of the killing, the drug use, and the fighting. Awful.
Ishmael's story is so upsetting, and it breaks my heart to know just how many more there are like him. This book is so powerful. From fleeing the rebels to being caught to be rehabilitated, my heart broke for him and I rooted for him every step of the way.
It's not often that I am left speechless, but after reading this book, there are truly no words I have to describe it.
Plenty of disturbing content, even more disturbing since it is all real. I knew child soldiers were brainwashed into doing truly terrible things, but I had no idea the extent of the killing, the drug use, and the fighting. Awful.