- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Granta Books (7 Feb 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 186207741X
- ISBN-13: 978-1862077416
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 97,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A compelling novel tackling the topical issues of the Sierra Leonian civil war and the use of child soldiers.
About the Author
Delia Jarrett Macauley was born in Hertfordshire, of Sierra Leonian parents. She is a writer, broadcaster and academic, and is the author of The Life of Una Marson, 1905-65 (Manchester University Press, 1998), a biography of the BBC's first black programme maker, She has presented features on Radio 3, and has taught at various universities, including Leeds and Birkbeck College. She lives in Clapham.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
It was late November, crisp and chilly, but I was dressed lightly and wore no tights, to avoid discomfort on the flight. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was late November, crisp and chilly, but I was dressed lightly and wore no tights, to avoid discomfort on the flight. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GETTING UNDERNEATH THE DIRTY SKIN OF INNOCENT WARRIORS,
This review is from: Moses, Citizen and Me (Paperback)
The issue of child soldiers in West Africa's recent bloodiest of wars in Sierra Leone would not be too many people's choice of a setting for a debut novel. That this is the very topic Delia Jarrett-Macaulay grapples with in her initial literary offering is therefore quite significant and reflects a deep-rooted sense of conviction which permeates this moving, haunting and eventually uplifting tale of lost innocence and rediscovered humanity. It is estimated that there are over a million children who were co-opted into the ethnic conflicts of Sierra Leone over the past ten years. Their stories have only ever dribbled out of the war zones in staccato bursts of tabloid sensationalism, just enough to keep us interested while not being examined in sufficient detail to provide as intuitive an understanding of the psychological, emotional and physical scars that these children must have endured. Citizen, the protagonist of the novel, is an eight year old boy who was released back into his home community after the war, to find himself ostracised, frightened and mis-trusted by all and sundry, for his part in the savage murder of his grandmother by a mob. The arrival of his cousin Julia from England results in a challenging re-examination of the family dynamics. Julia has come to establish the truth of the terrible event and she sets to work on re-connecting the shattered parts of Citizen's body and mind. This is a remarkably accomplished and confident piece of story-telling, de-layering with every page the fragility of the moral veneer of our humanity. Citizen generates in turn feelings of horror, sympathy, frustration and hope in the reader. The underlying sentiment of this story is complex in its simplicity: War is a nasty place and it kills the souls of all survivors, regardless of colour, creed, social class and age. Moses, Citizen & Me brings this to life in startling vividity. Read it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting, magical, poetic, down to earth and funny,
By A Customer
This review is from: Moses, Citizen and Me (Paperback)
You don't expect so much humour in a book about child soldiers, in particular one who has killed his own grandmother. Jarrett Macauley blends magical realism, the western cannon and poetic humour as well as wisdom as she looks at the lives of these traumatised ex soldiers, who are also just kids trying to learn and re-find themselves in the world. The rainforest is brought to life for the reader, the sense of being in tropical Africa is very strong - the evocation of the immense cultural network that these educated people can tap into is also fascinating. But the best thing is the story! I can't recommend it highly enough, even if you 'never read serious novels' or don't care particularly about Africa, you will care about this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Understanding the real consequences of war,
By Christina "coolchocbabe" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Moses, Citizen and Me (Paperback)
The war in Sierra Leone was avidly covered by the BBC as a result of British government/army intervention which succeeded in bringing an end to the atrocities for so many innocent people; but how many people who religiously watched this media/political coverage stopped to think about the effects on children? on a whole generation of students whose education was disrupted? how their families could possibly re-integrate them back into what was left of family life if and when they could possibly block out/forgive the fact that they had been rebel soldiers in order to avoid certain death themselves?
Delia plays an excellent role in providing fertile soil for the imagination of those who want to think about the real consequences of war on 3 generations traumatised by 10 years of terror.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
