It is at once a story of humanity's brutality and resiliency. A difficult read though in clear well-written casual language, A Long Way Gone is the startling account of a likable 12-year-old Sierra Leone boy's terrible turn as a soldier in that country's violent civil war in the 1990s. In the book, author Ishmael Beah, now 27 and living in New York, recounts the day rebels attacked his village, breaking his family apart, and forcing him and his friends to flee. What follows is an unbelievably frightening series of events.He tells of the subsequent confusion and struggle to survive while on the run in the jungle and the distrust that young males like him faced among the adults they encountered. The core of the memoir focuses (in surprisingly vivid detail) on his inevitable capture by rebel forces and his dehumanized descent into torture, drug use, and cold-blooded murder. Truly horrific; certainly a different perspective from what we read in the news. Fortunately for Beah, he was plucked out of his army (and substitute family) - against his will - and placed into rehab by UNICEF agents. Indeed, his rocky recovery and the patience with which it was administered by these agents and care-givers is equally as moving. And from there, he earned an opportunity to visit freezing NYC to address the UN on behalf of the war-troubled youth of Sierra Leone.
Heavy at parts of course but worth reading, for sure. Beah's storytelling is actually warm and sensitive. It says a lot about human nature - highlighting seldom reported happenings and ultimately demonstrating that positive can overcome even the worst of things.