Comments on: Ishmael Beah: Boy Soldier

By: boy soldier

boy soldier — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:20:12 +0000

[...] ounts the ease with which he was conditioned to kill. Jacked-up on a potent cocktail of …http://www.radioopensource.org/ishmael-beah-boy-soldier/boy-soldier.co.u [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:09:10 +0000

A lot has come to light since these blogs last year. Beah and his book have been found lagely to be fradulent. The dates, events, maps photos and people have all been called into question. Seems he spent only a few weeks as a child soldier, not two years. His defense has certainly not helped to clear the air as he denies being in school in Sierra Leone during this period…this, despite the evidence of school records, and the recollections of priests, fellow students, and school teachers. There is no mention in his bok of one living person who can substantiate his claims. In sort, Mr Beah is a fraud, and is not so much a victim of war as a child soldier, but rather a ‘soldier of fortune.’ Shame.

By: Potter

Potter — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:35:01 +0000

I did not read the book but according to the above Unicef and his American foster parents deserve some credit for the rescue as well. How important it is to have something/ someone good to grab onto. As well Ishmael was given an amazing opportunity because of what happened to him.

By: Potter

Potter — Wed, 09 May 2007 00:34:42 +0000

Thank you for the show. It was a surprise for me. I had read of children being drugged and literally used as weapons. Here I found myself appreciating Ishmael Beah’s healing and transformation by the end of the show. He carries his experience and the trauma from it as well or better than anyone that I know of. He made himself whole and healthy again by ultimately absorbing and then not allowing himself to forget the healthy good life he knew from before. He holds on to that healthy part for dear life. His health and sanity seems to come from not allowing that insane experience to consume him, to become all that he is, to color his whole world, but nevertheless not denying it either, simply allowing it it’s place, and transformed. He is able to rise above it ( with some help from his amazing Sierre Leonian friends and Shakespeare).

By: katemcshane

katemcshane — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:15:33 +0000

Errata — In the 10:49 paragraph, I meant to say, “though their writing is not what people usually describe as “political”.

In the 10:57 paragraph, I meant to say, “when you’ve lived through trauma that is beyond what many people have,…”

By: katemcshane

katemcshane — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:57:08 +0000

And when I said that I believe that Beah IS beyond bemusement and irony, I believe that when you’ve lived through trauma that is beyond what many people have not, bemusement is not, generally, a word that describes anything you feel — ever again. As far as I can see, anyway. As for irony, I would say that maybe you look at the absolutely bitter irony, hypocrisy, cluelessness that exists, but when I read people who can write about an horrific experience and what goes on in the world in those tones — bemusement and irony — I wonder if they’re taking some kind of psych drug.

By: katemcshane

katemcshane — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:49:55 +0000

mynocturama — Since most publishing houses are now owned by a handful of people, like Rupert Murdoch, I agree with you that the marketing of Beah’s book is a “legitimate concern”. There are many serious concerns that people should have, because so many wonderful writers cannot get their work published, due to their political beliefs, though they are not writing about what people usually understand as political writing. When I worked in an independent first-run bookstore, what sold more than anything was crap. Whenever a large corporation publishes anyone, there’s a reason, and I don’t believe for a minute that it has anything to do with raising consciousness about third world countries.

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:17:37 +0000

Mynocturama: What would really be ironic is if Tiffany & Co. were promoting the book.

I wonder, would a book written by a young Iraqi, one pressed into fighting with insurgents, be sold at Starbucks ? Would it be #4 on the NYT’s best-seller list?

(“First-world” would have been a better word choice)

By: mynocturama

mynocturama — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:01:40 +0000

Just wanted to clarify – my intent in my comment/question above wasn’t to indict Beah’s book being sold at a popular coffee shop chain. Though I’m sympathetic with katemcshane’s comments – I think the question of whether a book, a film, a painting, a piece of music, any bit of expression, is being “coopted” is a legitimate concern (note, for instance, how the color of Beah’s book cover matches the color scheme of the store) – I’m not necessarily against his book being available in that venue. I’m just somewhat wary of it, and wonder what his response may be. And while he may well be beyond irony and bemusement, I can’t say the same about myself. How can one not be bemused and ironic at this world sometimes?

I’m sure more of his books have been sold, being right beside those registers. And if that means more people reading his story in a genuinely open manner, and being genuinely moved, and more concerned about other parts of the world, how can that not be a good thing?

Not sure what my point is, but there you go. Oh – though I haven’t read Beah’s book, and not to distract from it, I am into Uzodinma Iwealaâ€™s â€œBeast of No Nation,â€ which I mentioned above. It’s remarkable, a brilliant literary feat. It’s written in this constant present tense. And Iweala’s scarily young, just like Beah.

And Chelsea, I have to ask: Did you mean to write “first-world coffee shop” rather than “first-class coffee shop”? I’ve had one too many burnt cups of coffee to agree with the latter. Anyway, sorry – trivial point for a serious show.

By: asheresque

asheresque — Mon, 07 May 2007 20:20:58 +0000

This is Levi from LitKicks. I ran into Ishmael just two weeks ago at a huge festival of international literature called PEN World Voices in New York City. One point this festival drove home is how vibrant and exciting the current African literary scene is, with wide-ranging authors from Ngugi Wa Thiongo to Alain Mabanckou to Yasmin Khadra to Valentine Achek Deng to, naturally, Ishmael Beah. I’d like to ask Ishmael what he thinks of the concept of an emerging pan-African “literary scene” and if he feels personally connected to this. I’d also like to know which writers from the continent he recommends most to American audiences.