A Long Way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Soldier
Written and Narrated By: Ishmael Beah
Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
Haunting, even if inaccurate
There have been many reports that A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is not entirely accurate. Some say the time frame is such that he might have been a boy soldier for only a few months rather than the years he claims in the book. Others say that, while events are true to what was going on, not all of them could’ve happened to one person: that he compiled events to make them more sensationalized.
Whatever, A Long Way Gone is at times sweet, at times heartbreaking. The sweetness comes from the pure innocence of a boy who just wants to sing and dance hip-hop—that’s why he and his friends were away from their village when rebels attacked it: they were on their way to a talent show.
But when their village is destroyed, Ishmael, his brother, his friends are cut off from their families and have to run for their lives, finding food and water where they may. Soon, all are separated, and Ishmael is chosen to be part of the Sierra Leonean army, fighting against the rebels, which he does gladly as he believes they were the ones who murdered his family.
As just a boy, he is made to fight, encouraged to use drugs, and soon he is a boy soldier who kills without remorse. When an elder officer of the army speaks to him of Shakespeare, he feels he has found a kindred spirit and has no problem annihilating others in an effort to earn the man’s respect.
After many years (yeah, yeah, yeah: We’re not absolutely sure of exactly how long), he is taken from the ranks and “saved”, only to be placed in a camp where his anger comes to a boiling point; he is without drugs, without true friends, in the midst of other saved boy soldiers, this time those who fought for the rebels and who would just as soon kill him as he would kill them. More brutality ensues.
A Long Way Gone is a hard-hitting look at what it takes for an innocent to turn to murder (brainwashing, drugs, constant stress, thoughts of revenge) and then to see that youth try to find another path. By the book’s end, when Freetown has becomes a firestorm of a place, Ishmael knows that, if he doesn’t get out, he’ll likely have to kill again or be killed. And we watch as he desperately tries to find a sense of hope in a world of chaos and constant war and violence.
The audiobook is greatly enhanced by the fact that Beah narrates it himself. There are tones of hope, tones of longing, and at the most frightening times, there’s a detached relaying of atrocities committed by a young and numb boy.
Whether or not it’s true in its entirety, the fact remains that these events were lived by him, by other young boys driven to do the same. It’s sobering; it’s sad. It’ll haunt you for quite some time.
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