sorry I missed a week!
I couldn't help it! I finished the book and it was so good. I don't have much time to write now, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but it was so compelling!

I guess I am not as far in the book.....
I find myself reading and wanting to hurry and finish the book, but at times I find that I can only read so much...it is definitely not a feel good book. The sorrow and fear that you feel, I can't imagine whats going to happen...well I can...with what the title is. He has just lost one of his friends. The death of Saidu was sad. After being on the run and being so alone for the few days makes us all wonder at the amount of human interaction we need on a daily basis. Having to sleep up in trees and share watering holes with huge snakes is not my idea of fun. But when tested we do what we have to do to survive. But it does make you wonder if you could stand that test...are you strong enough to face those challenges...could I really survive in the forest? Could I run from the fear of the rebels and not get caught?

Why?

What is it in the human brain and/or soul that might allow circumstances to dictate the direction of our lives as it did to Ishmael? Are we all victims of our circumstances? How do consciences become so seared? If homeless, hungry and without hope would we join in and ultimately become the monsters that we had originally hated? Would we become "one of them" not just for survival but actually enjoy the evil and cruelty that Ishmael describes in his writings. These questions haunt me as I think of all the "children soldiers" in the world today. Yes, today September 12, 2008 there are children without food, shelter and soon, if not to be already, without remorse. How can I just sit here and not do anything about it? What could I do to change the world? A point to ponder.

Can't put it down

This book is really out of my box too. I almost feel a little guilty that I can't stop reading. Why is something so disturbing and violent also so compelling? It's not 'my' world. I think what I find really interesting now is the way the violence has 'become' him. Between the migraines and the automatic behavior - it's uncanny. I'm not really sure where we're supposed to be in the book, but I'm at a place where Beah has completely become a soldier. He is now acting in the same way he found so appalling and animalistic - the behaviors he had first seen in the rebels toward his family.
How does this change occur? When, what, how is the switch finally flipped to the point that killing and destroying is now not only normal but enjoyable for him?

This book is so out of my "box". To feel the fear that Ishmael was feeling is unsettling . The joy of walking 16 miles to participate in a talent show, stopping to swim and just having a wonderful time being a young boy with his friends, is what being a young boy is all about. I can't even imagine at his young age, not knowing what will be happen next and being afraid for your life. To see the devastation that they witness and the unspeakable things that happen, is so hard to comprehend. We do live is such a soft "cushiony" world, I can't even imagine teenagers walking 16 blocks let alone 16 miles. Running for their lives after they are caught was so courageous. They are so many movies that we have watched over the years like this, but to actually sit back and to read this happening to a 12 year old and to know that this one young man is not the only one that this is happening to, makes you realize that the world is a scary place, that evil does exist, and bad things do happen. I do know that the next time I read the newspapers and see articles about things happening half a world away, I will see them in a different light. Reading this book will give me a greater insight to the horrors that people live every day. And I will pray harder for them.

Week # 2 (September 8-14)

Great Job Team...

It is never to late to join the club. Chapters 1-5 are an easy read, it will be quick to catch up. And if for some reason you were unable to get the book, you can join in on the next book! 

This week we will be reading Chapters 6- 10. I know it is hard not to read ahead but take your time read, meditate upon and focus on contributing to your blog.

Thanks!

A Broken Heart.

Week one complete...

What an amazing book right? I really enjoy reading literature that really challenges my way of thinking. It is hard to digest all that Beah sets up in the first 5 chapters. War, hunger, loss, violence, a culture so far from my pampered American way of life. The hardest fact however is that these soldiers, killers, are only babies. As an individual grows into and adult he/she develops the ability think clearly, provide for their needs, and to survive on their own. The only thing Ishmael, his brother and friends know to do is Run. It gets my blood boiling thinking of the beasts who can look straight into the eyes of these innocent children, yet still bring them so much pain. This book really tugs on my emotions. I was especially afraid when the rebel soldiers almost assassinated Ishmael, and other women and children in order to break the wills of their new child recruits. Thank God they escaped! I just wish I hold these babies, and protect them. I am ready to read on...

Also, my husband challenged me to watch the movie Blood Diamonds this week, in order to get a real visual of the life of a child soldier. I wept!

Chapters 1-5

OK, it's a great book!! I had to put down the other novel I had started. I'm through Ch. 6, I think. It breaks my heart! I thought about what I was doing at 7-12 years old, the life I had and my sisters had. I've never seen that much blood and carnage in my whole life.It find it interesting how he switches back and forth between recalling the past as and then reflecting from the present. He shows how clearly the events of the past are still affecting his present.I know that it is the case in many countries, but it boggles my mind how the 'RUF' can be natives of the same country and treat their own civilians, the people who's freedom they are 'fighting for' with such cruelty!

Figured it out!

OK, I'll paste my 'comment' here since I have read!! And I did respond! Sorry girls, I'll figure this thing out!

As I started reading “A long way gone” it seemed unfathomable to me that the citizens of Sierra Leone were not aware of the civil war raging in their country.Ishmael Beal was just a normal boy, part of a family unit that included parents, brothers and grandparents. He had never known hunger, he did not live in fear, and he even happily danced to American Rap. He was just a boy, whose main concerns were his appearance, dancing, and memorizing rap music lyrics. He had heard rumors of war in his country but felt that at times the stories were exaggerated. Then in what seemed like an instant his life dramatically changed. He went from an innocent child to a person exposed to the cruelty of humans at war. His priorities changed from dance to finding his family and survival. Ishmael describes the rebel’s cruel war tactics with such honesty and vivid reality that it makes my heart ache to think how circumstances can so swiftly change and effect lives. I know it will be hard for me to read this book as I sit in my cloistered living room, totally oblivious to the hurt and pain in our world. I will continue to read this book for no other reason other than to better understand and have more compassion for the things that are invisible to me but a reality to others. This is not a feel good book, this is a book that lingers in your mind long after you are finished reading the chapters.