Thought Patterns
by Emanuel
In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael, the young author, grabs your hand and leads you right into the heart of yet another African tragedy. I was expecting rebels forcing very young children to take up arms for their cause and this disturbing first hand account illustrates that rebels are not the only ones favoring this warfare strategy. The NY Times book review presents this unusual work quite well:
Beah’s autobiography is almost unique, as far as I can determine — perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century: the rise of the pubescent (or even prepubescent) warrior-killer.
A segment of Sierra Leone’s troubled late 20th century history was recently brought to cinephiles’ attention in the Oscar nominated Blood Diamond but A Long Way Gone is rather a very personal account of a young boy’s story, which lead him to drug induced Rambo-style killings and out of that hell to share with us his story. A small detail which I found interesting is how early 90s hip hop is present in this tale and how it was a strong factor of hope and of reminiscing of better times for Ishmael as he went through incredibly difficult periods.
An excellent yet very difficult read.
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Thought Patterns
on July 9, 2007 at 14:36
[...] Although I am not a fan of weapons in general, this particular assault riffle is as much an icon as it is a weapon. Appreciated by fighters for its simplicity and its reliance, it also became a symbol of revolutions and of some of the most sordid images we’ve witnessed since its creation, amongst which, African child soldiers. [...]