Bibliofreakblog

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

I remember learning in my high school International Relations class about Sierra Leone.  We, suburban kids of various backgrounds, were shocked when we heard that not only do they chop people’s limbs off, but they conscript children to do it by forcing them into the army getting them addicted to “brown brown”, which is cocaine mixed with whatever else the army had (usually gunpowder).  

That year I represented Uganda during a class Model U.N. (oh yes, I went to Model U.N. conferences and all that.  Purple hair I may have had, but I am still that much of a nerd), so I was familiar with genocide, drugs, even child soldiers.  In fact, we did a whole unit on Africa (I used to be able to fill in the names of all of the countries in Africa on a blank map…I also used to know all of the bones of the body and do quadratic equations…), so we were all pretty familiar with the particular brand of terror that seems to come with African wars.

But it was the limb-chopping that we couldn’t get over.

And then for years I still heard little to nothing about what was going on over there in the news or in entertainment.  There were no celebrities representing this cause.  It seemed that what my mother had said a decade and a half ago about the genocide in Rwanda/Uganda was true: No one cares about Black Africa.

I did once meet a man selling toys to raise money for a soccer league in Sierra Leone for people who’d lost limbs.  You might think that soccer would be the perfect sport for someone without hands, but these particular players had lost legs.  He had pictures of them “running” after the ball on crutches.  I am not making this up.

So it was with great enthusiasm, if not joy, that I read Ishmael Beah’s memoir.  Beah’s village was destroyed in ‘91 when he was 13.  In order to survive–quite literally, like join or we shoot you–he joined the army.  And it was just like I learned in IR: brown brown, killing, limb-hacking.  Fortunately for Beah, he not only survived, but made it to America, and not only made it to America, he got the word out.  

There has been some controversy over whether or not all of Beah’s claims really happened.  A newspaper said last year that none of it could have happened to one person and that there was a discrepancy about his dates.  Beah stands by his story, and you know what?  So do I.  Just because it seems unimaginable doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

If you like this book/author, you might like:

Infidel (CNF) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Three Cups of Tea (CNF) by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Poisonwood Bible (F) by Barbara Kingsolver
Heart of Darkness (F) by Joseph Conrad
Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children (CNF) by Faith H.J. McDonnell and Grace Akallo
What Is the What (F) by Dave Eggars
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (CNF) by Philip Gourevitch
Night (CNF) by Elie Wiesel
Things Fall Apart (F) by Chinua Achebe
Half of a Yellow Sun (F) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan (CNF) by Benjamin Ajak,  Benson Deng, Aleponsian Deng, and Judy Bernstein
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done about It (NF) by Paul Collier
Say You’re One of Them (F) by Uwem Akpan 
Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones (NF) by Greg Campbell
The Road of Lost Innocence: As a Young Girl She Was Sold Into Sexual Slavery but Now She Rescues Others: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine (CNF) by Somaly Mam
How De Body? One Man’s Terrifying Journey Through an African War (CNF) by Teun Voeten
Ancestor Stones (F) by Aminata Forna
The Graves: Srebenica and Vukovar (NF) by Eric Stover and Gilles Peress 

Other works by Ishmael Beah:

None

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