Conclusion

I greatly admire Beah's memoirs of his soldier life. Some parts I liked very much, but the reality of it all is just disgusting. It must have been hard for Beah to dig into his memory to remember such horrifying events. The detailed used is almost too perfect, creating a undesirable image in the readers head. I wonder how Beah could have remembered everything so vividly. He makes no mention of a journal, but due to the location and circumstances I highly doubt he could keep one over a period of time. If events are so horrible for people, the brain just cancels out many of the memories of it. Possibly Beah didn't lose any of the memories but the circumstances in each battle or event made him remember them. Another possibility is that he did forget some of the memories during those days. The memories he may have lost would have been much more grotesque then the memories retained.
It is hard to say I like A Long Way Gone. Though it is very well written, the revolting occurrences make it hard to like. I think mature readers should read it so that they can understand life in other countries. It is a great awakening for readers who know little about the outside world.

New York

I found Beah's trip to New York to be very interesting. First off, I couldn't believe that his uncle didn't believe he was going to New York until he arrived there. Is it common for overseas caretakers to let there children wander for a day or two? That's what Beah's Uncle thought he was doing until he received a call from New York. I also found it interesting about what Beah though New York would be like. Full of crime and violence, mass amounts of drugs and gangs. Do foreigners really think that's what American cities are like? When Beah found out that it wasn't he seemed much happier.
I never heard of such a UN conference before. It seems like is really doing some good for this world though. Children from all over the world to discuss problems facing childhood must have been a real impacting moment on his life, seeing he wasn't the only one with similar problems.
The food issue was also interesting. Beah had absolutely no idea what he was eating and he didn't like it very much. American food tastes so good to many of us, but foreigners that never have tasted our food may not like it. Americans don't really know so much about the cultures outside of our own. After reading through this part of the book, I realized how lucky, yet sheltered many Americans are to the rest of the world.

The War and Rehab

Beah spent little time talking about the war while he was there, but made many references to it later on. I found this peculiar. My guess though is that when he was a boy soldier, every raid seemed to be the same except when a unusual event occurred. I was hoping to get a firsthand account of every battle, trying to understand the life of a boy soldier. Beah does however accomplish this with very little effort, due to the fact that after his first battle I could tell exactly what horrors they experienced. I don't understand how they could learn to love such fighting.  The mass amounts of drugs that they took probably lessened there reaction to everything. Beah's writing style is very intriguing since he did almost everything expected without completing a more traditional approach.
The rehab program seemed to be poorly done. Every time  Beah mentions the rehab, he makes it sound weak and puny. The boys repeatedly break out, hurt others, and push the limits. Once everyone started running away to the city, they just tried to let them go in a more orderly manner. I feel bad for the people who had to run this rehabilitation center. They kept getting hurt and made fun of. The program probably would have been better if they had done it in a more military fashion. It should have been like boot camp. Give them a strict military commander who makes them do ridiculous drills, duties, and exercises until they are beat mentally. Then after they start to recover slightly from all the work, find a way to build them up as men. It seemed that Beah's rehab should have been done quicker and much more efficiently.

Saidu's Death

I though it was interesting about the death of Saidu, one of Beah's friends from his second group. There is many possibilities of how he could have died, but it just came so randomly. He fainted in one chapter, but suddenly died in the next. My first thought would be severe exhaustion, or maybe malnutrition. It could be that he was just running on adrenaline some time due to the events that occurred, and his fainting could have do to lack of it. I would think though that he would show signs of weakening before fainting or his death, but no significant signs were shown. With Beah's detailed descriptions, it seems like it would most definitely be mentioned.
Another possibility could have been some kind of life form(including viruses) that could have been infecting his body, or using him a a host in a parasitic relationship. Then again, no signs of pain, or weakening were mentioned. I'm sure that in Africa there may be something that could kill without anyone knowing, but his death just doesn't seem to follow the path of an outside source.
A chapter before Saidu's fainting, he mentions that every time they get captured or caught, part of him dies on the inside. Eventually, he would just be there, but not mentally alive as he was. Beah even mentioned this possibility to the reader briefly showing how he though he went. I would agree. When those mystical men crossed the bridge, he was on the edge of breaking. As they got closer, he lost hope figuring they'd be caught triggering the mental shut down producing a faint. After he was revived, he acted normally. It would be reasonable to think that later on when Beah learns of his parents whereabouts that Saidu's may increase as well. Perhaps not though. My thought is that he gained a feeling in inner depression after realizing Beah would soon have his family, but he still wouldn't have his. This lack of will would probably kill his mental activity as he said. Once asleep, there was no will to wake up.

Introduction

Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone is a very interesting yet very disturbing non-fiction book. It deals with the authors horrifying life as a youth in Sierra Leone. He served as a boy soldier during the countries civil war. Beah did a great job with detail and imagery, almost too good of a job. The events of which he describes are just so horrible, gruesome, and grotesque that the reader may need a break. From what I've read it seems like a very well written book but it certainly isn't one that will keep someone from reading it all night. A break is almost required after some of the chapters due to the intensity and the horrors.
Just last night I was telling some parts of the book to someone. After a little while, he briskly told to to stop, I was using to much imagery. I found that surprising, because my descriptions weren't nearly as precise as Beah's. He truly had a horrible childhood. After reading just about the rebel attacks in the first few chapters, will really make the reader understand on how messed up this world really is.