Book Review: A Long Way Gone-Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
December 10th 2009 12:46
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier
I read this book for my English class. I was asked to choose a biography and my teacher recommended this book. I'm glad that he did.
Ishmael Beah, the writer, was born in Sierra Leone. He lost his family and his childhood to the war, and this book heartbreakingly describes all that happened to him during the war time. I really enjoyed reading this book, not because it was a pleasant read, but because it was gripping, it was honest, and it was a look into an entirely different way of life. It spoke of a country in desparation, and it showed the horrors of war.
For anyone who writes about war, I really suggest reading this book. It shows all the pain of war, of killing, of losing family and friends.. in perhaps gruesome detail, but to take out those parts of it would be to lie. It would make war look like something it's not. And the bravery that is shown in the writer's honesty is astounding.
For me this book was not only an interesting if sad story, it gave me ideas. It made me want to do research on Sierra Leone. It made me want to research this person. It made me realize just how bad things really are in some places. And it showed me a different kind of war, one that I had never considered for use in my work.
I'll admit that while I've struggled with borderline poverty, bullying, and the deaths of several family members, in a lot of ways I have been sheltered. I have never starved, I have never killed someone, I have never seen a person get murdered, I have always had water and education. And while I knew that in other countries, especially in Africa, many children have none of these things guaranteed. Children starve, children have no access to clean water, no access to education-especially girls, this book really brought that idea home for me.
At times he is not the best writer, and at times the scenes are utterly terrible to imagine-and you see them very clearly in your head-but this book is really worth it. It has a message to tell and it really shows why war is such a terrible thing.
I really suggest you read this book. You can buy it here (clicky).
I read this book for my English class. I was asked to choose a biography and my teacher recommended this book. I'm glad that he did.
Ishmael Beah, the writer, was born in Sierra Leone. He lost his family and his childhood to the war, and this book heartbreakingly describes all that happened to him during the war time. I really enjoyed reading this book, not because it was a pleasant read, but because it was gripping, it was honest, and it was a look into an entirely different way of life. It spoke of a country in desparation, and it showed the horrors of war.
For anyone who writes about war, I really suggest reading this book. It shows all the pain of war, of killing, of losing family and friends.. in perhaps gruesome detail, but to take out those parts of it would be to lie. It would make war look like something it's not. And the bravery that is shown in the writer's honesty is astounding.
For me this book was not only an interesting if sad story, it gave me ideas. It made me want to do research on Sierra Leone. It made me want to research this person. It made me realize just how bad things really are in some places. And it showed me a different kind of war, one that I had never considered for use in my work.
I'll admit that while I've struggled with borderline poverty, bullying, and the deaths of several family members, in a lot of ways I have been sheltered. I have never starved, I have never killed someone, I have never seen a person get murdered, I have always had water and education. And while I knew that in other countries, especially in Africa, many children have none of these things guaranteed. Children starve, children have no access to clean water, no access to education-especially girls, this book really brought that idea home for me.
At times he is not the best writer, and at times the scenes are utterly terrible to imagine-and you see them very clearly in your head-but this book is really worth it. It has a message to tell and it really shows why war is such a terrible thing.
I really suggest you read this book. You can buy it here (clicky).
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Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I've read numerous sample portions of the book online, and found it to be a very moving account of a terribly sad period of this young man's life. I love that the story is told with such understated eloquence and simple honesty by an author who has seen and been forced to perpetrate more horrors than any person, young or old, should ever have to contend with yet who has happily managed to overcome the tragedies that life has thrust upon him.
Though I've only read disjointed portions of the story, I can tell by its tone and the insights shared by its author that it's a story of the triumph of the human spirit over hatred, violence, sorrow, and evil, which gives it a strangely exalted yet amazingly unassuming character. Loved the simple elegance of the metaphors I read, which did much to create that air of quiet nobility.
The only negatives I noticed in the parts I read were a few misplaced modifiers in some of the more complex sentences in which the sheer multiplicity of phrases/clauses made it difficult to rearrange them while still retaining all the information). Despite that small weakness, I think this book would be well worth the read!
Thanks again for the recommendation!
Jeanne
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
He is perhaps not the best of writers, but it is the story that he tells which keeps a person entranced. There were a couple points where I twitched a little at small things, but I kept reading. Ishmael was not chosen for his word eloquence or grammatical skill; he was chosen for his honesty and his story.
~Dianna
Morgan,
Interesting. It is a very grim story but in the end our world is full of gruesome stories. There wasn't any cannibalism in the book, but there was a point in time where they almost ate a dog-Ishmael and some traveling companions.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Dianna