![]() A ferocious and desolate account of how ordinary children were turned into professional killers. It's a truly riveting memoir.Įxtraordinary. It’s a high price to pay, but it’s worth it.Ī breathtaking and unselfpitying account of how a gentle spirit survives a childhood from which all innocence has suddenly been sucked out. "A Long Way Gone" transports us into the lives of thousands of children whose lives have been altered by war, and it does so with a genuine and disarmingly emotional force.īeah is a gifted writer. In place of a text that has every right to be a diatribe against Sierra Leone, globalization or even himself, Beah has produced a book of such self-effacing humanity that refugees, political fronts and even death squads resolve themselves back into the faces of mothers, fathers and siblings. Beah's story, with its clear-eyed reporting and literate particularity-whether he's dancing to rap, eating a coconut or running toward the burning village where his family is trapped-demands to be read. His honesty is exacting, and a testament to the ability of children “to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.ĭeeply moving, even uplifting. That makes A Long Way Gone all the more gripping. When Beah is finally approached about the possibility of serving as a spokesperson on the issue of child soldiers, he knows exactly what he wants to tell the world: “I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” “Others may make the same assertions, but Beah has the advantage of stating them in the first person. Those seeking to understand the human consequences of war, its brutal and brutalizing costs, would be wise to reflect on Ishmael Beah's story. That he has written this unforgettable firsthand account of his odyssey is harder still to grasp. It would have been enough if Ishmael Beah had merely survived the horrors described in A Long Way Gone. What Beah saw and did during has haunted him ever since, and if you read his stunning and unflinching memoir, you'll be haunted, too. ![]() A Long Way Gone is a clear-eyed, undeniably compelling look at wartime violence.īeah speaks in a distinctive voice, and he tells an important story. ![]()
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