Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ch, 1&2, a Long Way Gone
I thought that the beginning of the book was really cool. How those boys all the way in Sierra Leone danced hip-hop and listened to LL Cool J. As I got further into the reading, I knew it was going to get bad from the in class warnings and just the title "Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." I was still very shocked at just how graphic it was. I can deal with gory movies and I don't mind seeing zombies being chopped to pieces with blood spurting everywhere ((haha 28 Weeks Later)), but this was so different. I think it was different because the description of the woman and baby's face was a capturing I saw it in my head (though I'm sure my image was very different), which was really gross to be honest! I don't want to imagine a war like this! With this poor woman and a child who didn't get a chance to experience or live really. I put the book down for a while and kind of read it paragraph at a time after that, and luckily nothing else was quite as bad. The authors dreams are really disturbing though. He sees himself dead, and I know I would be totally messed up if any of this happens to me. It makes me really want to figure out how he turned out mentally stable because I know I wouldn't! I don't mind reading this book because we know it has a good ending. The guy lives in America! He's alive! I just hope the journey to the end isn't as scary =)
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7 comments:
I also wonder how hard it must be for him to remain mentally stable after all he experienced. Part of me still wonders if he is emotionally detached from people like he had to be in killing all those people just for sport.
I agree...Those images described were horrible and scary! I cannot believe that a kid like that could actually see that and not be mentally scarred for life!! Good post!!
Yeah, those images were rather scary also. and i also got freaked out when he said that he saw himself, and like i had to read it like 5 times until i kind of understood that it really was written like that.
I agree with you on many things. I thought it was really cool that the boys were listening, dancing, and dressing like rappers from the U.S. I think it is also reassuring knowing before starting to read the book that Ishamel is still alive and living in the U.S. That made me feel a little bit better while I was reading the book.
I agree Jenny. I loved how him and his friends were all into music and what not. They were just like us. And I also agree that it is disturbing how Ishmael Beah went into so much detail about the baby and the mother. But I think he did it just so we know what he had seen and how bad it was. I'm sure it was even worse if we were experiencing it firsthand, but we aren't and I think that he does a good job of making us feel like we are.
I agree with the part about the baby getting shot. That was the worst of the whole section. That image will probably never leave my head, because it's so terrible and graphic. It's sad that Beah can go from being a normal kid, listening to music and dancing, to experiencing people being shot.
I love this post and all the responses to it--you're all doing an excellent job! I agree with Jenny and Maggie--the image of the mother with the baby on her back is actually the most upsetting to me of all of them.
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