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Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse)'s Reviews > A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
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I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry for what I am about to do. It seems unbelievably curmudgeonly of me to judge this book harshly given its subject matter. But I can't let the deep empathy I feel for this former Sierra Leonean child soldier cloud my judgement of his memoir. I give him five stars - more! - for his courage, his honesty and the remarkable work he is doing to shed light on the life of child soldiers in Sierra Leone and elsewhere; to raise consciousness and motivate political action to put a stop to the brutality and corruption of the regimes that use them.
But, this is about the book--did the book work, did the book move me as it had the immense potential to do, did it put me into his world and let me share his trauma and pain at a visceral level - making me angry, sad, guilty, moved to action? And the answer to all of that is, not really.
It had three major flaws (really, I blame the editor):
1. The lead-up to Beah's kidnapping into the army lacked the kind of rich detail that made the loss of that life resonate throughout the rest of the story. (for a contrast, see Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes aka Someone Knows My Name).
2. The time spent in the army -- the drugs, the brutality of the 'training', the weeks-long missions in the bush, fuelled only by drugs and fear, the orgies of killing, raping and looting -- all that we know happens, we didn't see here. Beah's time in the army was the shortest part of this book. For him, emotionally and psychologically, it's completely understandable--even if he wanted to (unlikely) he probably can't--because of the drugs and trauma--even remember. It's a terrible thing, but this book needed him to.
3. The book ended abruptly with a major piece of the story left hanging -- I guess I can't tell you what. So often, books - especially memoirs - inherently have a built-in problem with the end. We always know the end -- at least in broad strokes, but you still have to take us there, and take us to a point that it makes sense to stop even though obviously, if you're writing it, the story didn't stop. In this case, Beah stopped about two crucial plot points before he should have.
What was most effective for me was the rehabilitation section of the story. This is where Beah's detached, almost fugue-like point-of-view seemed to work so well. It's also where his memories of what he experienced were set up in stark relief to the difficulty of his recovery -- that contrast, and the level of detail that then emerged, made for compelling reading. In fact, I'm upping from 2 to 3 stars solely based on the redemption the rehabilitation segment offers the story. It made up - to some extent - for flaws 1 and 2. Maybe the entire story should have been set during the rehabilitation period, with flash forwards and flashbacks?
Because of some work I am doing right now for an organization working in the field of international development and poverty reduction, I am particularly interested in how to tell these kinds of stories: how do you avoid exploitation while retaining the emotional power of the story to motivate readers to empathy and action? What form works? What level of detail? What tone and POV?
Dave Eggers wrote a jacket blurb (as did Jon Stewart) -- and this book shows me a little why Eggers' approach, as in What Is The What (at its heart, a remarkably similar journey) and in Zeitoun -- works so well, where this one didn't. It takes a deft writer to manage these literary choices: it's about how the story is told as much or even more than what the story is.
Maybe that's just me -- maybe I'm asking a memoir to use fictional devices and story-telling techniques and maybe that's just not fair. Maybe that's why Eggers is the epitome for me, because he is able to tread that line perfectly (imho, and brings, too, the journalist's eye to the story).
What do you think? Should memoirs be held to the same standards as fiction in terms of plot, pacing, tone, characterization, etc.? All or some of these? Or is there a different set of standards that need to be applied, a different way to experience them?
But, this is about the book--did the book work, did the book move me as it had the immense potential to do, did it put me into his world and let me share his trauma and pain at a visceral level - making me angry, sad, guilty, moved to action? And the answer to all of that is, not really.
It had three major flaws (really, I blame the editor):
1. The lead-up to Beah's kidnapping into the army lacked the kind of rich detail that made the loss of that life resonate throughout the rest of the story. (for a contrast, see Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes aka Someone Knows My Name).
2. The time spent in the army -- the drugs, the brutality of the 'training', the weeks-long missions in the bush, fuelled only by drugs and fear, the orgies of killing, raping and looting -- all that we know happens, we didn't see here. Beah's time in the army was the shortest part of this book. For him, emotionally and psychologically, it's completely understandable--even if he wanted to (unlikely) he probably can't--because of the drugs and trauma--even remember. It's a terrible thing, but this book needed him to.
3. The book ended abruptly with a major piece of the story left hanging -- I guess I can't tell you what. So often, books - especially memoirs - inherently have a built-in problem with the end. We always know the end -- at least in broad strokes, but you still have to take us there, and take us to a point that it makes sense to stop even though obviously, if you're writing it, the story didn't stop. In this case, Beah stopped about two crucial plot points before he should have.
What was most effective for me was the rehabilitation section of the story. This is where Beah's detached, almost fugue-like point-of-view seemed to work so well. It's also where his memories of what he experienced were set up in stark relief to the difficulty of his recovery -- that contrast, and the level of detail that then emerged, made for compelling reading. In fact, I'm upping from 2 to 3 stars solely based on the redemption the rehabilitation segment offers the story. It made up - to some extent - for flaws 1 and 2. Maybe the entire story should have been set during the rehabilitation period, with flash forwards and flashbacks?
Because of some work I am doing right now for an organization working in the field of international development and poverty reduction, I am particularly interested in how to tell these kinds of stories: how do you avoid exploitation while retaining the emotional power of the story to motivate readers to empathy and action? What form works? What level of detail? What tone and POV?
Dave Eggers wrote a jacket blurb (as did Jon Stewart) -- and this book shows me a little why Eggers' approach, as in What Is The What (at its heart, a remarkably similar journey) and in Zeitoun -- works so well, where this one didn't. It takes a deft writer to manage these literary choices: it's about how the story is told as much or even more than what the story is.
Maybe that's just me -- maybe I'm asking a memoir to use fictional devices and story-telling techniques and maybe that's just not fair. Maybe that's why Eggers is the epitome for me, because he is able to tread that line perfectly (imho, and brings, too, the journalist's eye to the story).
What do you think? Should memoirs be held to the same standards as fiction in terms of plot, pacing, tone, characterization, etc.? All or some of these? Or is there a different set of standards that need to be applied, a different way to experience them?
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Reading Progress
November 18, 2010
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Started Reading
November 18, 2010
– Shelved
November 25, 2010
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Finished Reading
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
heartbreak-boys
Comments Showing 1-50 of 68 (68 new)
message 1:
by
Jessica
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rated it 4 stars
Nov 27, 2010 07:28AM
good questions. good review--
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i can't believe you are ragging on the memoir of this poor fella, with all he went through. geez. JUST KIDDING. i'm'na think about yer questions. come back to you when i have the definitive answer. it won't take long.
thanks, Jessica -- i should have said, I still recommend it as a read. It's such an important story.and jo, I KNOW!! I should be flogged.
LOL on 'it won't take long.' Take as much time as you need. we'll wait.
I own the book, but haven't read it yet. Some colleagues of mine have taught it in a pre-English Comp course.
jessica, that's interesting. how do they use it?
I'm glad you wrote this. I didn't love it, either (and for the same reasons), but was afraid to publicize my dislike for fear of backlash. Stay strong!
;-) it's a shame, really, that a book with such a powerful story isn't told as well as it could be...
I do like your review Jennifer. I felt similarly, that it is a powerful experience, but told in a way that seemed detached from the boy that had to survive at all costs. Though this is understandable, given the severity and trauma. it seems he still has to reach out to/access that boy and convey those emotions, sensations, and experiences in the future in a compassionate way and it may take decades more for him to get to that place. The times that I felt that he had full access to who he was, was in the beginning before his village was attacked and when he moved in with his uncle toward the end.
His story did teach me how these boys have no choice and for some reason he was able to find a way out t another world and find a family and find love outside of Sierra Leone. He had a great survival instinct. But with all this said, his story needed to be told, because it teaches us so much about the world and the childhood of so many children and how it shapes our perspectives and our futures.
Thanks for your comment, Virginia! This is particularly true: But with all this said, his story needed to be told, because it teaches us so much about the world and the childhood of so many children and how it shapes our perspectives and our futures. As I think back on this book, I think it is the message that rehabilitation is possible that sticks with me.
Agree with your review.
I actually thought how the book was written- with the detached feeling- made me think that this boy has made it, but still is not free. I'm guessing that was not intended, but that is the feeling I got. The sense of, look, these things all happened. I lived it. I survived. Well most of me did. The end.
Julie, you have a very valid point. I haven't read this in a while, but in the meantime, I've read a lot more African literature and I've found that detached voice is common. It works very well in a fictional context to imply what you are suggesting. I'm still not 100% sure it works in a non-fiction/memoir - I'm open to that interpretation (I'd have to re-read it to see if it hits me the same way now as when I first reviewed).Thank you for commenting!
Julie and Jennifer, so true about the boy being detached and though he has made it, may still not be free. Very insightful.I do think. as I said in my previous review, that 'it is understandable, given the severity and trauma. it seems he still has to reach out to/access that boy and convey those emotions, sensations, and experiences in the future in a compassionate way and it may take decades more for him to get to that place.'
It is too painful to not not detach from it. If other African stories convey so much pain, and the rehabilitation process that comes after that, it is inevitable that there is a detachment process from the person that you want to distance yourself from (your former self) and it will take many years to love that vulnerable former self and feel compassion for him/her again.
I also wonder if that detached way of speaking/narrating is a cultural way of re-telling, something that I may not be aware of. Open to input.
Thank you for this ongoing conversation.
I often think that books such as this one are not written for the reader but more so for the author as a means of coming to terms with their past -- a means of healing -- of being heard.
Maybe I am too sensitive or imaginative but I am being taken there and find it too painful to read past page 32 for the while
Perfect review. Couldn't have said it better myself. I wanted to feel empathy for Ishmael's pain, but the book lacked a deeper connection with the reader. Still, an amazing amount of courage for writing and sharing this important, true story.
Thanks for your review. I am reading to bring literature of diverse voices into my classroom, and this is a big responsibility of selecting which books to buy. The voice is important but the quality and how it is told is more important with all the options and the need to have a rationale for parents and administrators. I like your review. Can you recommend memoirs or novels you've found in your professional position?
I found lots of fictional aspects in this novel as a memoir embeds fiction because, otherwise, it would be an autobiography. Anytime a memory is recalled, one cannot help but elaborate, alter meaning, or alter storyline a bit. We have holes in our memory, as you pointed out, that we oftentimes fill with stories. A good memoir is going to add fiction and memory in its genre. You mention the unresolved storylines in Beah's book. Yet, the memoir genre (memory + fiction) grants the writer this stoppage.
To answer your original question: "Should memoirs be held to the same standards as fiction in terms of plot, pacing, tone, characterization, etc.?"
Yes. And of course you don't have to like the story.
But I will defend Beah, and I agree with Kristi's comments in "message 20." The author is not a western storyteller. If you want to read a white guy tell an African's story, then Lawrence Hill is a better option. Beah on the other hand is not a western storyteller. When I read the book, it sounded like an African telling me the story. I'm not sure if I would trade that for a better written book???
Lawrence Hill is not a white guy :-) (but I take your point, and thank you for responding!)
I don't believe you should judge an actual account against a fiction read. Cultures are very different and it may not be in his culture to focus the same things Americans do. I also believe that this may be a very difficult topic to talk about which usually keeps people tight when writing.
I agree with you and I also understand that it can be really harsh to judge this type of book but it is true and it is very brave that you posted about this.
I have found this to be the case in a few memoirs I've read. In this instance, I didn't find it terribly distracting--possibly because I listened to the audio and wasn't looking at the print on the page. Sometimes it does detract from the story. I remind myself that these people didn't set out to become authors. But, in other cases, I've wondered how their editors keep getting paychecks.
Your review summed up my response very well. I was very glad to have read the book to understand a little about something I knew nothing about, and I admire the author immensely, but as a book, it was very matter of fact and not thoroughly engaging. Still glad to have read it !!!!
I loved this book- and think that a lot of the more traumatizing moments were glazed over because the point of the story wasn't about what was happening in Sierra Leone or during the battles he fought, but about his personal redemption and journey. For me, the little hints of stories that he told after the fact (like how they killed everyone during a dance) made me realized that, as a reader, I cannot begin to imagine the true torment he endured and made the facts and examples he did give that much more gut-twisting. I understand your point, but he may have purposefully done this.
No, nonfiction in general and especially memoirs and autobiographies should not be held to the same standards as fiction when it comes to telling the story. You cannot sensationalize something and then claim that it is true. I also believe that Beah spends less time talking about his combat experiences because they are traumatic to him. My brother is a combat veteran and I can't get him to tell me anything. You cannot look at this like a fiction novel.
Well said, Jennifer!
This book made me look myself as soldier coming into the Army at 19 and how I molded young women and men some under 18 that killing is okay and justifiable and what that does to people.
Interesting point of view. I found it incredibly mature from the writer not to cheapen the impact of the story by gory details. With all the war & espionage films the audience became desensitized and what is expected now to shock & provoke would have been unheard of 20 years ago. To me the power of this book is in the untold rather than what is explicit as it precisely can let you imagine and empathize.
I get where you're coming from but then again if he had included all the things that he did while he was in the army it would have sterged getting repetitive, plus it would have taken up more then half the book. Also one more thing if you had a childhood as traumatic as his would you want to go and tell the world in great detail how you murdered hundreds of people?
I totally agree with you. I wanted to know more details about his life in army. Also, I wanted to know how he end up in US. He mentioned that he live with the woman, but did she adopt him, giving he already was 18? How she found him in other country? If his passport was not stamped, how he managed to leave for US? The ending left more questions then answers.
I disagree with your review, and felt completely immersed, and spared the details of horrific events in gruesome and ugly detail, while still experiencing the events as a spectator. I think Beah did an incredible job, and i do not believe that someone in his situatio should be held to the same literary standard as those who are career writers.
This review perfectly encapsulates how I felt about the book. I wanted so badly to connect with the author, but the narrative voice was so detached (probably due to necessity) that it didn't make me feel. Intellectually, I was horrified and recognized the gravity, but more in the way that you do when you read a news story. I was really confused by the abrupt ending. Like you, I think a different editor could have made a world of difference.
I think you're asking this memoir to be more subjective and fictionalized. There's nothing wrong with wanting that. However, I think it's important to remember that many of the most loved memoirs are extremely subjective. There's a fine line between factual, authentic nonfiction and a literary fiction based on true events.
wow must sound like such a good book :D
I thought the same thing. I felt guilty giving it 3 stars too, but the book just ended!!! I was wondering if maybe I didn’t get the full download at first. Makes no sense as.
Excellent review. I completely agree with all your points. I was also disappointed in the lack of character development, primarily with his family and friends. I think if I was able to form a better picture of these individuals, I would have felt more emotion from their lives and deaths. Instead, this part of the story fell flat. I think the memoir rushed into the beginning of the war rather than taking the time to give a back story and allow the reader to form more of a connection to the characters.
I think your critique was imminently fair. A memoir can, I think, always be told well.
I was impressed with the book, glad it didn’t include more of the army violence, and thought the ending worked well. The best parts of this memoir were glimpses of home life before the war and the rehabilitation.
Interesting review! Just started to read it and will look forward to reflecting on your points. I’ve just finished writing my own memoir about life working in conflict zones and taking care of my terminally ill mother and have had some comments from my editor about getting more personal and less detached. It can be very very difficult to open up about those things to the world, especially in Beah’s case, if some of the events provoke intense shame.
I ready whole book it reminds me in 2005 when they government military kidnapped me from Tanzania refugees camps while I was 12 years old . I feel him and that’s how it goes when u be come a boys oldies
I totally agree. I felt the same way. You put what I felt into words, really good review!
I think a memoir is much different than a fictional book, since it is the true story of someone's life events and feelings. The purpose may or may not be to entertain the reader. I enjoyed reading Ishmael's story, and was thankful he left out a lot of the gruesome details from the war. The writing style made me feel more connected to the author and culture while reading.
I don't hold memoirs, biographies, or autobiographies to the same standard as fiction because this is someone's personal story. So there are going to be lulls in the story, there are going to be details (that we know happened) that said person didn't experience, and so on. If you remember in the book the time that he was a child soldier was very quick, one minute he was a soldier and the next the war was over. So he just so happened to not have experience as much as some of the other child soldiers that spent a significantly longer period of time as one.Also I just wanted to note that you stated a lack of mentioning drug use in the book but their definitely was; he described the concoction called "brown brown" that they forced him and the other child soldiers to take.
incredible review. these were all my thoughts as well. i guess i do hold memoirs to a certain standard.
I agree. I was surprised by how short the section about him being in the army was. I attributed it to the fact that maybe he didn’t want to stir up all that trauma and relive it but it seemed like if you were writing a book about it that that part of the story was crucial. I agree 12/10 for bravery and perseverance.
He does not owe us vivid descriptions of his trauma. I’m glad he shared his story with us. It’s insane to say it should have more violence
Exactly my thoughts. Couldn't give it more than 3 stars for those reasons.
