A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ishmael BeahEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-05
ISBN: 0374531269
Number of pages: 229
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780374531263
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Book Review: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. By Ishmael Beah. Reviewed By: Lisa Panetta-Sawaya, MA, Michigan, USA
Summary: 4 Stars
A Long Way Gone is a an auto biographical novel of Ishmael Beah. It is his personal story of war in the Sierra Leone. It all starts in 1993, when Ishmael is 12 years old. He recounts that the war broke out in his village Mogbwemo when he was away with Junior and Talloi, learning rap music, at his grandmother's village. Ishmael sees a Volkswagen pull up to his grandmothers house. First, a man, vomits blood, then a woman, and bloody children in the back. They had tried to escape when the rebels opened fire on them. That night, he dreams that he is shot. He wakes up and checks the side where he dreamt he was shot, confused about what was real and what was a dream. "I woke up and hesitantly touched my side, I became afraid, since I could no longer tell the difference between dream and reality."(15) Ishmael deals with the tragedies of this war in many ways. He tries to sing rap songs, memorizing more and more lyrics in order to block out the sounds of war. He also guides his thoughts back to his childhood, to happier days in his village, so that he can have good memories of these places that are now war torn. He remembers a man that used to tell him to be like the moon. His grandmother explained that the sun is sometimes to hot, and the rain is not always good, but the moon gives much happiness-therefore we should always try to be good to others, as the moon is. "A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines. These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon..." (17) "Whenever I get the chance to observe the moon now, I will see those images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me."(17)
Throughout the book, Ishmael uses stream of consciousness to go back and forth between his new life in New York City, his life during the war, and his childhood, before the war. "A shudder racked my body, and I tried to think about my new life in New York City, where I had been for over a month,. But my mind wandered across the Atlantic Ocean back to Sierra Leone." (19) "We opened fire until the last living being in the group fell to the ground. We walked toward the dead bodies, giving each other high fives. The group had also consisted of young boys like us, but we didn't care about them. We took their ammunition, sat on their bodies, and started eating the cooked food they had been carrying. All around us, fresh blood leaked from the bullet holes in their bodies."(19) "I stayed awake all night, anxiously waiting for daylight, so that I could fully return to my new life, to rediscover the happiness I had known as a child, the joy that had stayed alive inside me even through times when being alive itself became a burden. These days I live in three worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past."(20) He shares another painful memory of the rebels coming to their village, and the sick twisting of meaning and symbols during the war. "One of the messengers was a young men. They had carved their initials, RUF, on his body with a hot bayonet and chopped off all of his fingers with the exception of his thumbs. The rebels called this mutilation "one love." Before the war, people raised a thumb to say "One love" to each other, an expression popularized by the love and influence of reggae music." (21) After many years of war, Ishmael goes back to his uncle's home and meets Mr. Kamura. Mr. Kamura works for the UN in the CAW program (Children Associated with the War). He announces to Ishmael, that he has been chosen to go to the UN in New York City, to talk to people about the war. This is how Ishmael comes to the United States. He is among 57 children among 23 countries who have gathered to tell their stories at the United Nations First International Children's Parliament. Relationships are made and Ishmael goes back to Sierra Leone with great hope. There is peace for a time and then, another democratically chosen government is overthrown, bringing another war. Ishmael doesn't know if he can make it this time. "The entire nation crumbled into a state of lawlessness. I hated what was happening. I couldn't return to my previous life. I didn't think I could make it out alive this time."(203)
Though his life has been filled with tragedy, the author finds wisdom and joy in the memories of his childhood. The author uses stream of consciousness and tribal story-telling to weave his novel and share his heart wrenching war-torn life in Sierra Leone. His tale is a real account of modern-day war and a call for the world to wake up and work to put an end to it. Ishmael also communicates the complexities of the war. He ends the novel by sharing an old riddle told to the children of Siera Leone once a year. The story goes that a hunter is hunting a monkey. The monkey speaks: "If you shoot me, your mother will die, and if you don't, your father will die..."(217) The children are asked, "What would you do if you were the hunter." Ishmael ends the novel by sharing his answer. "When I was seven I had an answer to this question that made sense to me. I never discussed it with anyone, though, for fear of how my mother would feel. I concluded to myself that if I were the hunter, I would shoot the monkey so that it would no longer have the chance to put other hunters in the same predicament."(218)
Summary of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.
In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
"My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
'Why did you leave Sierra Leone?'
'Because there is a war.'
'You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?'
'Yes, all the time.'
'Cool.'
I smile a little.
'You should tell us about it sometime.'
'Yes, sometime.'"
"My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
'Why did you leave Sierra Leone?'
'Because there is a war.'
'You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?'
'Yes, all the time.'
'Cool.'
I smile a little.
'You should tell us about it sometime.'
'Yes, sometime.'"
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