Book-A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

A Long Way Gone is one of the most touching books I have read in a long time. It has been a week since I have finished, and I still think about it everyday. It is the autobiographical tale of Ishmael Beah, of Sierra Leone. And it tells of his horrific young life, caught in the vicious cycle of war.

His life starts off peacefully enough, living with his family in the countryside of Sierra Leone, intrigued with rap music and dance, he and his friends are high spirited kids. When he was 11 years old, all that changed as rebels fighting to topple the government in Sierra Leone, destroyed his village, scattered his family and sent him, with his young friends, on the run to somewhere, anywhere that was safe.

But there were few places that were safe for him. And those did not stay safe for long. Finally in one village he thought he had found safety, but the rebels attack again, and he is recruited into the army to fight the rebels that killed his family. Using simple brainwashing techniques and ample drugs, the army turn this 13 year old boy into a ruthless killer.

Beah is finally taken out of the army by UNICEF and the UN. But his story does not end there. His rehabilitation and the continued civil war in Sierra Leone continue his journey, and his ultimate redemption.

Beah tells his story, not sparing the details of his own actions. It is told in a voice that must keep some distance and objectively, but also allows us to see with his eyes how it all looked, and more importantly, how it all felt to this young teenager. It is prose that is spare, but despite (or maybe because of) that, makes us feel the otherworldliness of what was happening to this child, and thousands of others like him.

This book is devastating. It makes us all responsible. It makes us see what war does to a country, not to the professional military, but to the people. There is little noble about war, especially when it comes into contact with children. Death and destruction are its output. If not of the body, then of the psyche. That Ishmael Beah was able to retain his life, and regain his mind, and have the fortitude to write about it---that is a minor miracle.