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| A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier | 
 enlarge | Author: Ishmael Beah
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $0.74
You Save: $21.26 (97%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.74
Avg. Customer Rating:  (420 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6719
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 0374105235
Dewey Decimal Number: 966.404
EAN: 9780374105235
ASIN: 0374105235
Publication Date: February 13, 2007
Release Date: February 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amazing story. Too bad I don't believe it. October 31, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ishmael Beah's story about a boy who fled his village, was on the run for several months, and then ended up as a boy soldier for more than two years before being rescued by UNICEF workers is too incredible to be real... which is exactly why I didn't buy it at all when I read it.
I realize there are child soldiers out there in war torn developing countries. It's tragic, and it's also a good thing that someone shed light on the situation. However, A Long Way Gone reads less like a memoir, and more like a Hollywood movie. Everything in the book happens as though it were written on a script. He barely missed reuniting with his entire family because he got to their new village just moments after rebels attacked. He just happened to overhear their conversation about "it was a good attack because no one survived. We got them all!" As someone else mentioned, the cassettes in his pockets just happened to fall out of his pocket, miraculously, in the nick of time to save his life... TWICE. He was nearly stabbed by a rebel boy, but his friend stabbed the boy in the back... just in the nick of time, again.
The book is also bursting with inaccuracies and contradictions. Ishmael claims his was forced to flee his village in 1993. Because of my initial distrust of the details in his memoir, I decided to google the book. I had no idea so many people had done extensive investigations into the claims he makes in his story. Apparently, Ishmeal is the only person from his village that seems to think the attacks in his village happened in 1993. Everyone else there knows they started in 1995. They've even backed this up with school documents showing that he was in school, when Ishmael claims he was on his own running for his life. This means that if he was in the army, at most it could have only been for a few months (which is still more than any 15 year old boy should have to deal with). Also, despite the fact that several UNICEF workers at that time in Sierra Leon were interviewed and had said that an uprising at one of their camps, which resulted in six killed, would have been a major ordeal in the country, not a single one of them can recall that ever happening.
The contradictions I mentioned could simply be the result of bad editing. This is one of the worst edited books I've ever read. As Ishmael is not a native English speaker, the blame for that should be his editor's. For example, in one chapter he talks about a town where him and his friends (the second group he encounters before he's taken into the army) were captured and taken before a village chief who would decide whether they lived or died. In the very next village, the same thing happened (this is where his cassettes saves him for the second time). He then remarked on how this had happened to him a lot. He wondered whether or not it was the first time for his other friends. Except, he JUST SAID IT DID! Ugh!
In addition to all this fun stuff, there are all kinds of typos. Like I said, this book is so poorly edited, the editors should rethink their career path. Things such as "reasons" being printed where it's obvious the word meant was "seasons". It was something obvious like "the change of reasons". Then there's also redundancies all over the place. Stuff similar to "I'm going to America to speak at a conference in New York in America. It's a conference for child humanitarian issues in America." You would think the editor would weed these things out to improve the flow.
Despite all this, non-fiction or fiction, I still think it's an interesting story and an important one to tell. If the editing was better, it would have been so painful to read, but it did hold my interest mostly. I wish it was billed as "based on true events" or something like that. Instead the author claims it is 100% factual... which it is not.
 A Boy's Innocence Destroyed by War October 28, 2008
A Long Way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Solider is a book that exposes the horrors of war from a child's perspective. Yet, unlike the account of an observer, this power book is the story of a boy who fought in the Sierra Leon Civil War. As a reader, it is impossible to be emotionally callous when immersing oneself in this book's pages, since its author presents a picturesque, emotive, and humane narration of his three years as a boy solider.
Beah's writing style makes it difficult for the reader to put-down this book once it has been picked-up. The language is simple yet descriptive and informative. Likewise, the author's timeline layout of the book provides a realistic approach to the telling of his story, since all chapters are rationally connected.
There are many times in the book that I was moved to tears by the heinous actions that Ishmael had to endure as a boy solider. Whether it was the death of his family, seeing his friends die in the frontline, or having to drug himself to make sense of his world, I was able to empathize with Beah's feelings of frustration, confusion, despondency, and fear.
I strongly recommend this book to everybody. As a work which speaks of the draconian reality of war -a human invention-, I feel there is no person who will not benefit from reading it. This book will make the reader reflect on his/her own life, and how tragedy, perseverance, and faith -non/religious- can drastically change ones life.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too October 25, 2008
Imagine, you live in a village; you know, the ones without electricity and plumbing? You get water from the river for your mother so she can cook dinner but, when you come back, the village is ablaze and everyone is running. Not just running in one direction but everywhere; screaming, yelling, falling down dead.
This is what causes Ishmael Beah's childhood to be lost.
Beah starts out as a quiet, peace-loving boy who suddenly is on the run from all the destruction and terror with his older brother, Junior, and some friends. After months of wandering on paths and in the forest, they come to a farm outside of a village. Beah finds out his family is in the village and as a group they start walking. Then the rebels attack and his family is dead.
Torn, tired, and angry, Beah will eventually lose everything he cared about; his family, his health (both mentally and physically), and almost his life. As a boy soldier recruited by the Sierra Leone Army he changes drastically. Drugs, energy stimulants, and other illegal acts (in the United States) cause him to kill without thinking, never even cringing at
the sight of death and basically causing him to feel almost inhuman.
A LONG WAY GONE is Ishmael Beah's memoir based on his experiences and the tragic events of his life. I loved this book because it was a huge eye-opener about the war in Sierra Leone and how it affected everyone, even children. I also believe that everyone should read this book at least once in their life time. Maybe then people can help those who have become boy soldiers or anyone affected by a war. Maybe A LONG WAY GONE could change the world, make it a more peaceful place; that is what I hope can happen.
Reviewed by: Rachel - The Class
Great Audio Book! Authentic and Powerful October 24, 2008
Great Book! A Long Way Gone receives a lot of criticsm as book b/c the author, whose second language is Englsih, wrote the book at a "low and simple" level. As an audio book, the author's native accent and culture shine through really adding to the power, message, and personal connection you make with the story. I loved it, and could not be happier that I purchased this audio book. It's sad yet hopeful, and will twist your emotions. Great book for just about anyone!
 An original eye-opening read from beginning to end October 19, 2008
I expected this book to be filled with descriptions of blood and gore from beginning to end and wondered if it was really worth reading. Though the book contains its share of horrible war stories, it's much more than that. We learn about Ishmael's life before war, and how war can creep up on a perfectly normal child. We hear about his flight from war, and what happened after he escaped violence. The war itself is only a small section of the book, though, of course, the war and its effects define Ishmael's life in the book.
Reading A Long Way Gone, you learn a little about what Africa is like in peace and war and the difference between city and countryside. Ishmael explains why he does what he does, and he is very easy to relate to and understand throughout. Overall, it's a great read.
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