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Comments on: A Long Way Gone http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/ Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:47:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: JD Cook http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-242305 JD Cook Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:36:41 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-242305 I just wanted to say how much of an influence Ishmael Baeh has been to me. As a high school student our teachers try to get us to read books that will mean sometning to us in the future. I read this book for a class assignment and it has changed my perspective of things. It is now easier for me to enjoy life while looking at all of the horrible things that are happening right now. He is a true hero, and I hope everyone gets a chance to know his story and to feel its effects. I just wanted to say how much of an influence Ishmael Baeh has been to me. As a high school student our teachers try to get us to read books that will mean sometning to us in the future. I read this book for a class assignment and it has changed my perspective of things. It is now easier for me to enjoy life while looking at all of the horrible things that are happening right now. He is a true hero, and I hope everyone gets a chance to know his story and to feel its effects.

]]> By: emile modisadife http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-126317 emile modisadife Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:40:14 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-126317 i was introduced to the book by a friend, that still this day troubled my thougths and gives me sleepless nights. my country went through the aparthied era, but the were no child soldiers I'm afraid. Your life story is nothing similar to went on in South Africa but gave me alot of sight on my specetive in life. I complain alot about my life and whats going on in my country. we are the same age, while i got what ever i wanted and still complaind somewhere in the same continent someone was going through a very hard sn difficult time. your book maid me see life on another way for that I'm graetfull. emile modisadife South Africa i was introduced to the book by a friend, that still this day troubled my thougths and gives me sleepless nights. my country went through the aparthied era, but the were no child soldiers I’m afraid. Your life story is nothing similar to went on in South Africa but gave me alot of sight on my specetive in life. I complain alot about my life and whats going on in my country. we are the same age, while i got what ever i wanted and still complaind somewhere in the same continent someone was going through a very hard sn difficult time. your book maid me see life on another way for that I’m graetfull.

emile modisadife South Africa

]]> By: Nigel http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-121360 Nigel Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:03:12 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-121360 So much for Ishmael; Beah and his tale. It has all been found to be false according to investigations by a leading Australan newspaper. The dates are wrong, the map is exaggerated by over ten times, the people and events he speaks of, in some cases did not exist. This guy has some gall to go around the world representing child soldiers as their spokesman. He is one of the most callous persons I have ever come across who purports to work for the betterment of humanity. Shame. So much for Ishmael; Beah and his tale. It has all been found to be false according to investigations by a leading Australan newspaper. The dates are wrong, the map is exaggerated by over ten times, the people and events he speaks of, in some cases did not exist. This guy has some gall to go around the world representing child soldiers as their spokesman. He is one of the most callous persons I have ever come across who purports to work for the betterment of humanity. Shame.

]]> By: context for humanity » Blog Archive » A Long Way Gone http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-21866 context for humanity » Blog Archive » A Long Way Gone Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:14:34 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-21866 [...] What is so striking and moving in Ishmael Beah’s account of his life as a child soldier in war torn Sierra Leone is how deeply he pulls us as reader into his soul as an innocent child. Almost half of the book recounts his experiences during the war before taking up arms. The tension of what we know will come (but not how) is harrowing, and when at last he does enter into a world of violence, death and drugs, we are no longer able to separate his actions from the soul we have grown so close to. He has let us into his inner world, from which we are somehow able to understand his most inhumane actions. As a child soldier, he becomes completely severed emotionally and pscyhologically from his behavior. We, like him, watch it from the outside. We can never ultimately escape from our own actions, however, and with equal depth and honesty, he takes us through his reckoning with himself. [...] [...] What is so striking and moving in Ishmael Beah’s account of his life as a child soldier in war torn Sierra Leone is how deeply he pulls us as reader into his soul as an innocent child. Almost half of the book recounts his experiences during the war before taking up arms. The tension of what we know will come (but not how) is harrowing, and when at last he does enter into a world of violence, death and drugs, we are no longer able to separate his actions from the soul we have grown so close to. He has let us into his inner world, from which we are somehow able to understand his most inhumane actions. As a child soldier, he becomes completely severed emotionally and pscyhologically from his behavior. We, like him, watch it from the outside. We can never ultimately escape from our own actions, however, and with equal depth and honesty, he takes us through his reckoning with himself. [...]

]]> By: 5th Estate · The book that made Jon Stewart’s heart hurt http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-6388 5th Estate · The book that made Jon Stewart’s heart hurt Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:38:33 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-6388 [...] Ishmael Beah, whom I’ve blogged about before and received lots of emails about as a result, was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Please click on the link to watch him in interview for five minutes – he is brilliant. [...]

]]> By: Richard http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-286 Richard Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:55:39 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-286 We hear about the barbaric acts of child soldiers in war-ravaged African "countries" from our foreign correspondents and polished news anchors. We see the images: small boys, armed with automatic rifles almost too heavy for them to carry, patrolling the land with expressions of emptiness and anger. Our understanding of this horrific world is so limited; the realities so inaccessible. How often have we had the opportunity for a child soldier, removed from the drugs and propaganda, to open our eyes? This is the first time I've ever heard of one. We hear about the barbaric acts of child soldiers in war-ravaged African “countries” from our foreign correspondents and polished news anchors. We see the images: small boys, armed with automatic rifles almost too heavy for them to carry, patrolling the land with expressions of emptiness and anger. Our understanding of this horrific world is so limited; the realities so inaccessible. How often have we had the opportunity for a child soldier, removed from the drugs and propaganda, to open our eyes? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of one.

]]> By: Graham http://www.fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/comment-page-1/#comment-277 Graham Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:24:00 +0000 http://fifthestate.co.uk/2006/11/a-long-way-gone/#comment-277 The dismissal of individuals who commit atrocities in times of war as inhuman allows readers to maintain a safe distance from both the individual who committed the atrocities, and from the conflict itself. It seems that “A Long Way Gone” will help readers see that many atrocities committed in times of war are not the acts of inhuman individuals, but individuals swept away by fear, suspicion, and violence. This realization makes war even more horrifying, as readers begin to question what they would do in such a situation. Hopefully, in addition to its psychological impact, this work can also have a political impact, furthering efforts to address the root causes of war.

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