Book Two: A Long Way Gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

If you're feeling a bit blue and want a nice, cheery read, this is not the book I would recomend. In the end, though, its inspiring, as the protagonist goes on to become the author. It takes place in Sierra Leone, and, as the title suggests, is the autobiography of a former child soldier.





Ishmael is a likable boy living in Africa, who loves his family and friends and rap music. He watches violent war movies, and finds them fascinating. At the beginning of the story, he describes how the war always seemed far away when he was a child, hearing the news. Like many Americans now, he knew his country was engaged in a war, but did not feel the effects. Any reader could relate to this state of mind, and that made it all the more shocking when his village was attacked and pillaged.



Ishmael made it out alive (I hope that's not a spoiler - as I said, though, the book's an autobiography, so he had to live long enough to write it), and traveled the countryside, just trying to survive with a group of friends. The war had created great fear among the people of Sierra Leone, and the boys were not welcomed in many of the places they went. Eventually, as the title implies, the Ishmael ends up being stuck in the army. This is not really a choice, and once he is in, the drugs, fear and violence change him into someone else entirely.



I won't go any further into the plot, as that would ruin the suspense. Overall, the book was well-written and eye-opening. Those of us in developed countries often see Africa (with the exclusion of maybe South Africa) as a dangerous and backward place, where terrible things can happen. What we forget is that people are people, and if people in Africa can do something, so can people in the US, or the UK, or Canada, or any other place we see as safe. There's a quote on my copy of this book that says "Everyone in the world should read this book... We should read it to learn about the world and about what it means to be human." I agree; if humans can force twelve-year-old boys to take serious drugs and kill innocent people, they can do it anywhere. And if a normal child, who once felt invincible, can lose everything, commit horrific crimes, and yet survive and live with himself, so can anyone.



Humanity's capacity for horrible things, for death and destruction and cruelty, is clearly depicted in this true story. So is the human ability to survive, to overcome, to forgive, and Ishmael Beah has seen both ends of the spectrum. This book makes the reader question the security of their life, their fragile sense of security. It's not a book for the faint of heart, but it is definitely worth reading.