A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider
“...children have the resilience to outlive their suffering, if given a chance”- Ishmael Beah — #04 Book Review
This was only the third African author I had read by the age of 18. I cannot remember how I discovered it, for this was not recommended reading for school or by my peers. I was just searching, for anything, relating to Africa.
As a matter of fact, I am now thinking that this book should have been the first I reviewed, since it still resides on my bookshelf today. This was the book that made me realized the film ‘Blood Diamond’ was an actual catastrophic event.
Here in America, we hear of wars happening across the globe and even throughout history, but they seem so far away. We aren’t affected by it so we cannot fathom a life outside of our own.
Unlike Ishmael, I didn’t leave my village to be preform in a talent show, never knowing that it would be the last time I see my father, mother, brother, or grandmother. As a matter of fact, no one does, but it happened in Sierra Leone during their civil war. People left home and when it was time to return, there was no where to return to.
Wondering aimlessly from village to village with his brother and their friends, life has become filled with fear and unpredictability. Eventually, he finds himself alone and the following year is picked up by rebel soldiers.
Him and other recruits become addicted to drugs given to them by a commander in order to succeed in corrupting young minds so that it isn’t difficult to not only commit murder, but not feel any remorse over the act.
Thankfully, after some time he is able to leave this way of life, but being physically removed from this environment is one thing, while still living it in your mind and overcoming addiction, remains another.
Conclusion
For Beah to write this memoir, it is not only a radical act to bring awareness, but it’s a way of healing. Can you imagine what it took to relive these web of events in his mind in order to tell this story to the world? In an interview he stated that going back to being in a ‘civilized society’ was more difficult for him than becoming a child solider.
Instead of asking how one can recruit children to do audacious acts & why did this war lasted for over a decade, I encourage you to read for yourselves. You will learn that it did not just happen overnight. The war was going on for two years before it had reached Beah’s part of the country, the thought of war was once far from his mind too.
A crucial segment of civil war other than the corruption in the country itself, but within the diamond industry — blood diamonds. The ones us ladies are gushing to wear on our finger is a natural resource in Sierra Leone that was used to fund the rebels during the war, leaving its people poverty stricken and displaced.
In thinking of forgotten wars today: as in DR Congo, a war that seems like a far away nightmare. Cobalt, a resource in Congo‘s soil affects us here in the West as well. For it is used to power many electronic devices amid our laptops and phones that we use to write on Substack daily.
Quotes:
“When I was young, my father used to say, ‘If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.’ I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive.”
"Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am.
We must strive to be like the moon.' An old man in Kabati repeated this sentence often... the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others.
Additional Info:
*Blood Diamond Trailer: Fictional characters based on historical events that happened during the civil war.
About the Author:
Ishmael Beah, rose to fame after he wrote his memoir. He also has written two other books. ‘Radiance of Tomorrow’ (2014) & ‘Little Family’ (2020).
He was inspired by the acts of UNICEF who helped save him and other child Soldiers, he decided to become a human rights activist himself. In doing so he often travels to countries where communities are displaced due to war and chaos.
He has moved back to Sierra Leone with his wife and two daughters.
I remember discovering this book years ago, in San Francisco, in a Starbucks, of all places. I think it was at a time when Starbucks featured books. Anyway, it has always stayed with me. Thank you for the thoughtful review--and for mentioning Mr. Beah's other books, which I was unaware of. I will check them out.
You mention cobalt. I recently purchased "Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives," by Siddharth Kara. Have you read this? I've just started but it is eye-opening and horrifying.