A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Great read!

I read this book and found Beah's experience quite amazing; I have come to realize that in every aspect of life, it depends on the next generation to preserve a healthy society, and the terrorists in Sierra-Lione or in any other place for that matter aren't making it any easier.

5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Child soldiers...

This book chronicles the childhood of young Ishmael in Sierra Leone. A fairly normal childhood until he is forced to run into the jungle as soldiers attack his village killing everyone they can catch and looting and burning the rest.

For a short while flanked by others his age in similar situations he survives life constantly on the run. Then he is captured by a group of soldiers and retrained to think right and to be a soldier in the conflict. Some of the 'retrainee' soldiers are only 8 or 9 years old! Are these rebels trying to overthrow the government? Or the army protecting the citizens? Turns out not to matter. Each side is equally brutal and vicious. There is no good guys, only bad. He learns to fight, shoot and kill as well as the real soldiers. And to help avoid any feelings or reflection on his activities he is given access to various drugs to 'amp' him up further.

By the grace of whatever higher power you choose to believe in, he gets selected for deprogramming and entry back into society. Not an easy task, but due to the incredible efforts of UNICEF and others it is finally done. Find out what has become of this young man and his new life. It is an unbelievable story.

If it all wasn't the truth. No punches spared. No letting himself off easy after his actions. Most poignantly the story is clearly written by a child.No ghostwriters to neaten it up. You get the whole horrible story from the raw emotional perspective of a 12 year old! I know I would not have survived as well as he has did. You can't help but cry as you turn the pages and confront one terror after another. Everyone should read this book!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

book review long way gone

A long way gone is an amazing story about a 12 year old boy named Ishmael Beah, who wants to be a rapper, living in a war torn country. He experience many hard ships through his life including graphic killings, horrific scenery, drug use, and lose of his family members. He is being chased by the ruthless rebels who want to take over the country and is backed into a corner. With hard times and with little combat training by the government he takes his gun and decides to fight back. His only options are kill or be killed.

This book was an amazing book. It opened my eyes to how real and horrible some countries are. Young kids not even teenagers being forced to fight, snort cocaine mixed with gun powder, and watch people they love die gruesome deaths on a regular basis is just mind blowing to me. This book is not your average fairy tale. It is a very graphic and real book but if you are looking for something to open your eyes to what is really going on out there, this is the book for you

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

shockingly true

This story was heartbreakingly sad and shockingly true in this memoir of war, seen through a child's eyes; not just seeing it and living it, but also killing in it. This brings a view of war to a totally different level. Of course, war is never "pretty", but shown from this 13 year old childs eyes, it caused this mom to shudder at what he had seen and lived through. I was also touched that a stranger here would also become this childs new mentor and parent. It renewed my hope in mankind, and drops me to me knees, praying for peace not only for children but for all of us. And to see what this young man has become... Awe-inspiring.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

SOOOOOOOOO SAD........

I highly recommend this book it was a touching and horrible-to-imagine-this-happens-to-people memoir. Read for yourself!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful

I cannot even begin to describe just how much i loved this book
I feel as though all people of all nations should read it

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommended. A must read!

Most teenage boys are busy getting good grades, growing up, and playing video games; not Ishmael Beah. In his memoir A Long Way Gone, Ishmael recounts his childhood in Sierra Leone. While still being a boy, he has to quickly evolve into a man, a painful and tragic transformation. With vivid description and flowing language, Beah powerfully describes how war changed his life.

When war reaches Ishmael's area of Sierre Leone, he and a group of surviving friends set out to find safety and their loved ones. After travelling the country, the small group of refugees find safety in a village occupied by the Government Army. Eventually he and his friends are recruited by the army to fight the rebels who had destroyed their homes. Beah expertly describes his experiences as a boy soldier and his transformations between being a civilian and a killer. After all Ishmael went through, it is amazing how he was able to write a book such as A Long Way Gone with little hatred or contempt. In fact, despite the story being subjective, the book contains little emotion. The lack of emotion can sometimes be confusing, as I found myself forgetting that the events actually happened to him. This would cause me to read a passage in a surreal-like state, and I would have to reread that section to grasp the actual meaning of the events.

The basis of the story is Beah’s survival through war, a theme found in many other books. But what sets this book apart, is that it also shows his rehabilitation after his participation in the war. This reveals two sides to the war: why it was fought, and what happened afterwards. Having Beah’s rehabilitation incorporated into the story allows the reader to see a side of war that few know about. The reader sees that the two sides are different, but both are battlefields in their own right. Despite its unique content, the book is not designed to entertain the reader, more so, the book's main purpose is to show people what Beah went through as a boy soldier. Anyone who reads this book will gain a deeper understanding of what war is like, and how it changes a person. This makes the book even more special because it can correlate to, not just the war in Serria Leone, but to every war. It unveils the horror of battle and its painful changes thrust upon people, battle-hardened and civilian alike.

The story, as a whole flows very easily, which is a great aspect, despite the fact that some chapters are awkwardly placed. In this way, the story’s flow works against the book, because it causes some chapters to begin or end uncomfortably. This results in an occasional choppy read, as action parts are interrupted or slow parts suddenly jump into fast paced sections. On the other hand, the setting and characters reveal a good amount of Sierra Leone's culture, and the negative impact of the war. The description really helps the reader understand and feel for Ishmael's predicament, an aspect of the book that only a survivor could give. This also makes up for the lack of emotion mentioned before, as the reader unconventionally is required to make his or her own emotions to replace the author’s lack of. However, this book is not immune to criticism. One of the characteristics about the book that really bothered me was the fact that the story never stayed at the same pace. It is in chronological order, but one paragraph might span a few minutes, while the next paragraph happens a few months later. The uneven sp

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Possibly the single-most important book in capturing the war that took place in Sierra Leone about 20 years ago.

In Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, he presents the ideas of living in poverty in Sierra Leone, Africa, as well as finding a method to survive in times of hardship. Beah has an approach to the writing that leans toward expository, though he still crafts a well-written memoir. Beah’s purpose of writing this novel is to let us feel his emotion through the perilous events rather than having the emotion given to us.
A Long Way Gone is a memoir (pointed out in the novel’s subtitle Memoirs of a Boy Soldier), though the writing does not express a full rendition of a memoir. Beah often lingers off into expository writing, where he informs us of impactful situations instead of showing us true feelings about them. Even though Beah feels strong opposition towards the war, he approaches it in the calmest of ways when he writes. Of course, A Long Way Gone is not for the sensitive reader; it should appeal more to readers who have read a similar book about poverty or hardship in the past. For me personally, A Long Way Gone sends some mixed messages when it comes to reading a piece of writing revolving around war and the extreme efforts to survive through it. However, this novel has a powerful impact on the way I think of discrimination and the terrible lives of the crippled and poor.
As the author, Ishmael Beah’s premises for A Long Way Gone are wrapped around his amazement at how he managed to survive or transport to the United States alive. It was his willingness and urge to write about his experiences that gave us A Long Way Gone.
To sum it up, the story raises issues such as constant depression in the war, where people are forced to survive in harsh conditions while being savagely treated by their enemies. This is a common theme in the book. Quite accordingly, the author emphasizes this theme through the description of hard-to-bear situations such as not being fed, not being protected, and not being the hunter of the game, but the hunted.
The clearness of A Long Way Gone is good enough so that you can recognize characters and their personalities, as well as events, themes, patterns, and significant information. It is also clear enough to see that the book’s life-threatening situations are having an impact on Beah. If Beah’s ultimate goal in writing this book was to expose the injustice of the war and leave it exposed, then I’d say he achieved that goal.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This Book Was Mediocre

I felt that Ishmael Beah could have written this book with alot more style and uniquness. When I was reading, the book seemed to linger and drag on through chapters at a time, and made it feel more like a fact sheet than a novel. I enjoyed learnign his tale and the events that occured during this horrible time, I just feel he could have presented it in a more creative way, which in turn would make the book alot more interesting. The book however, did pass on waves of emmotion to the reader. Moments where this occurred were such when Ishmael and Junior were torn from eachother, never to be reunited, or when the children were forced to walk on the burning sand with out the slippers.

If were to recomend this book I would selected my choices carfully. I would recomend this to English teachers because it would give them a good topic to discuss with the class, and I would also recomend it to history teachers. I believe history teachers would find this book useful because it tells a tale of a certain countries hardships, and also is easily relatable to topics discussed in the class, such as the American revolutionary war. Overall i give this book a rating of 2 stars out of 5 because of its lack of interest, and its lagging nature.

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is a personal narrative about his experience in Sierra Leone's civil war. He tries to escape the rebels, is taken in as a boy soldier, and is rehabilitated by UNICEF. The book has a strong message about the child fighting in Africa.
Beah hives accurate descriptions of his day to day life. Some of the events are horrific and scar him for life, such as seeing dead bodies all over invaded and burning villages. His personal feelings and his psychological troubles that are told provide great insight into the effects of the turmoil continuously happening in African countries. While some of the story seems repetitive and drawn out, it is the truth as it happened and as people need to know it.
Most people know of at least some of the things that take place in these hostile environments, but they often do not realize the full impact the battles and killings have on the people, especially the children. This book gives an accurate, well done description of what it is like, and while things like this have to be experienced to understand all of the fear and anger; it reveals some of the truths and horrors to try to stop the injustices.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't Waste Your Money

I am very disappointed in this book. The characters seem to be fictitious/unbelievable. The writer is extremly corney. The book is more like a novel than a memoir. Here are some examples: My hips were gyrating to the music!? One lonely cricket tried to sing but none of it's companions joined in!? I can go on and on and on and on. What west african child soldier writes like this. Fool me once!

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

outstanding.

This book is one of the most mesmerizing books that I have picked up in quite a while. The author's shocking descriptions and vivid imagery can only contribute to this wonderfully narrated and expertly crafted novel. Anyone looking for a good, thought-provoking read--whether interested in the socioeconomic state in Africa or not--will undoubtedly find this book enjoyable. I did!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Call To Renew Our Commitment To the Human Race

I have not read the book I just bought it and I will read it as soon as it arrives. I saw the young man on John Stewart's show, 'The Daily Show' and was immediately a taken by his story. I am a believer in his story before I even read the book because I too grew up in a war torn country and I could immediately relate. Everything he said, about living in a war state and still come out whole is true. I was born and raised in South Africa during apartheid. In the 80s I was a child who saw death with her own eyes. People ask me how I survived the traumatic experience of seeing a person who has been burned beyong recognition and is lying on the street in front of me. I tell them, simply, I was a child who simply grew up and never looked back. His story is remarkable. I will make sure my children read this book so they can see what other children in third world countries live like. My children are fortunate because they grow up in a first world country, and they cannot begin to understand what their parents went through, and hopefully it will empower them to work for the human race, to be better adults and understand the people on the receiving end of wars.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good book

Good book i reccomend it cuz its a good book and i like the story thats yi rated it so yu should read it and leave a review if yu liked it or not thanks leave a period if yu liked it and leave a comma if yu didnt like it

Amazing read

Must read story

Amazing!

It will truly make you appreciate life.

“A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah is a story of love

“A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah is a story of love, hate, war, and a bit of hope. Beah was just 13 years old when he was “recruited” into the army and given an AK-47. He had lost his entire family to brutal killings by rebel soldiers. They were burned alive, locked in their huts just a short time before Ishmael was to reunite with them. His only hope for survival was the army. Hopped up on cocaine and other stimulants, Ishmael saw and did unimaginable things during that war. For someone with an interest in Africa and what is going on outside the US, I would strongly recommend this book as it brings up a lot of material regarding boys and teenagers in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have been deprived of their childhoods. The perseverance of the boys is what stood out most, and it is rather admirable. It takes a special person to be able to make it through times of war and battle. Ismael Beah did a great job of keeping the mood better than it seemed. “A Long Way Gone” is a compelling read and a big reason why I prefer non-fiction to fiction. It was well written and I recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t mind violence in healthy doses.

This book changed my life.

my all time favorite book. It gave me a new outlook on life.

Jonathon

Im a loser

An Amazing Book!

This book is about a young 12 year old boy who is separated from his family and forced to hide alone. He witnesses men, women, and children of all ages being murdered. Ishmael Beah was on his way to Kambia, one of the safest places during the attack of the rebels. After separating from his brother, Junior, he was forced to join an army unit. When he was 16, UNICEF removed him from this army unit and put him in a foster care home. He had been kind of reckless for the first few months, nearly almost killed a kid, but then he realized he had to forgive himself for all of the people he had killed. After being in the foster care system for awhile, his Uncle Tommy is his foster parent. Ishmael lives with him and his family in Freetown. He goes to New York to share his experience as a boy soldier to other kids. His Uncle dies in Freetown, and Laura Simms is his new foster mother. A major message in this book to me is, don't be greedy or complain because there are people in this world that have it way worse than us. I really liked how it explained his whole experience and how he used a lot of details. I didn't like the parts when he explained how the people died, it was just to gross for me. You shouldn't read this if you're not a fan of gross detail deaths. You should read this if you are interested in other peoples experiences in other countries.