M. D. Stern 2008-08-22

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

When I picked up this novella, I was captivated by the subject matter. The whole psychology and sociology of boy soldiers in Africa is one difficult to understand by American standards. This book was less than enthralling, and really had the potential to be so much more.

First: The entire book is written in some sort of pidgen English, which I suppose is to attempt to make the reader feel they are actually listening/speaking to the actual character. At first this was a novelty. Then it was something I thought I could live with. Finally it just became annoying. There were certain phrases that became outright irritating, such as repeating certain words, such as "I am killing killing..." Very tiring to read a book like this - and takes a long time.

Second: The story, as such, is told in present time and in flashbacks, and the reader seldom knows which is which. This leads to the feeling of jumping back and forth and not really becoming involved in the story. Of course, it did cross my mind this might be the intent of the author, but it didn't work for me.

Third: Disconnect with the character. I tried to connect in some way with the main character of Agu, but I just couldn't. I really didn't care about him one way or the other. The reason for this is related to the loss of story buildup in the flashbacks and lack of continuity. I'm sure the author intended this, but when the reader doesn't care about the main character (not hate - just total indifference), then the reader doesn't care about the story.

Fourth: Because of the lack of storyline, I really could not get a feel for the surroundings in the story. Where were they? What did it look like? There was no placement of the reader. I didn't feel like I was there. It was like reading a newspaper article.

Fifth: There were time lapses and little explanation. For example, Agu tells the reader at one point he is not able to handle a gun, as it is too heavy, so he must kill using a knife. Then, later on, he has a gun and the reader is never shown when/how/where he gets the gun. Did he have to prove himself in some way? Did some one just shove a gun into hands and expect him to use it? Did he take it off of some one who died? There were a lot of lapses in the story that I felt would have been nice to be fleshed out.

Overall, a disappointing work. This could have either been a collection of short stories, or truly fleshed out to novel length. And the pidgen English just had to go!

WPBIP 2008-03-31

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

This is a novel that has all the ingredients of greatness, but fails, miserably, in effect. Here is a story told in the first person by a child soldier, written by an African who has worked with former child soldiers. It's written in an all-present-tense pidgin (which is appealing at first), and deals with the horrors of war as seen by the type of person who speaks like this, but falls flat simply because this type of narrative device grows very tedious as the book is drawn out. I think this could have been an excellent short story, the kind I would have fallen in love with, but as a novel it's a poor effort. The stream of consciousness narration works in that it puts you in the mind of a small boy who is living a nightmare, but there's no room for development when combined with all the other narrative devices.

My biggest complaint with this novel is not the story itself: a poor novel is a poor novel, and all can be forgotten. However, it's got one of these "Get to Know the Author" sections at the back, and I find that kind of self-aggrandizing claptrap unbearable. I really hate it when authors grandstand, especially at the end of a sad, disturbing novel. It brings out the Holden Caulfield in me, and I want to puke (Imagine Dickens writing a postscript to Great Expectations: "Wow, I am a pretty big deal. Here is how I got to be such a great writer:...). I really wish I hadn't have purchased this book, and I feel deceived by all the (undeserved) good press it got.

Sabrina L. Williams 2008-01-28

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This book is phenomenal. However, after reading it, I really had nightmares about young boys being forced to be child soldiers. Perhaps it was too graphic.

Derrick Peterman 2008-01-06

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This book really grabbed me at first. Agu, a young African boy, survives an attack in his village, is found by a rag tag army and is and is given a choice. Either kill the man in front of him with a machete or be killed himself. In graphic detail, Agu hacks the man to pieces and is recruited into this rag tag rebel army, who's orders seem to be randomly raping and pillaging whatever villages they come upon.

What really works is that this harrowing tale is told through the eyes of Agu, rather convincingly, through his voice written in a juvenile and primitive English. We get snippets of horrific things happening, and have to reconstruct them in our minds and make sense of them, much like Agu is doing. This is where the book really shined for me, because Iweala did a great job putting me inside Agu's mind. It's not a pleasant world, but an unforgettable experience.

It's a short book, and the first half really grabbed me. The problem is that the plot started to wander aimlessly, much like the band of soldiers Agu joined. Things get increasingly chaotic and dangerous in Agu's world, and then the ending just sort of happens. It seems tacked on, and there isn't really anything unique or profound or original about how it ends. This book requires a certain focus to read, and unfortunately, doesn't reward that focus with much of a payoff.

Paul R. Mcclenon 2007-07-29

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A first-person acccount of the experiences of a young boy, forced into a war. Vivid and credible. Hard to set it down before finishing. Then impossible to forget it. (We all need to be aware of the forces that are displayed here!)