A Long Way Gone is a book that took me way too long to read. I finished the first chapter right before moving to Lubbock, and my life had been to busy too pick it back up again. I also was slightly disturbed by the first chapter, and I knew that to finish the book I would need to be in a good state of mind.
In A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and, finally, to heal.
This is an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
This story is gripping to say the least. I mentioned it earlier in the week, but the actions of both the army and the rebels in this book are disgusting, and they tend to make me ashamed of being a human being. I’m actually embarrassed on two levels. I’m embarrassed that we as humans have the propensity to act like savage animals and ignore our conscience in so many ways. I’m also embarrassed that I was so unaware of what was happening in that part of the world at the time. I was in college when this story takes place, and this is really the first time I’ve heard of these things. I mean, I knew that there were terrible things happening in Africa, but never knew the details. It’s sad that I spent years in High School and college, and never once was informed of current events in the world I was being educated in. Seems that the OJ Simpson trial took preeminence on the news at that time.
A Long Way Gone is an excellent read! It is one of those books that will stick with me for the rest of my life. The stories are so vividly told, and the writing is superb for such a young first time author. It’s an A++, and the littlepastor highly recommends it!
