response to A Long Way Gone

While I enjoyed this story, I couldn't help but notice that I was unable to really immerse myself in it. As I said in my previous post, it is hard to imagine what life as a child soldier is like. Regardless of how real and horrifying this story is, I just had no way of knowing what that kind of dread feels like or how Ishmael Beah was able to survive this without going completely insane. Even on the first page he mentions how unreal this war felt until it was right at his front door. When the refugees appeared and began talking about dead relatives and destroyed homes. This is when the war begins to resonate for Ishmael. I felt like this part was speaking directly to me. How can I possibly understand what war is like when a tank has never rolled down my street or soldiers have never marched through my local park? There is just no way to imagine this terror without the experience which Ishmael received in plenty. Even then he seems unbelieving of his situation. Even though this story is an excellent account of the horrors faced by child soldiers, it just cannot resonate for me. It just serves to make me angry that I live in a world where children are on the front line. But then again, every man and woman is somebody's child. My parents often say that no matter how old I get, I will always be their baby. well Ishmael was a baby, and he had to march off to war.