Beasts of no nation : a novel / Uzodinma Iweala.

First Harper Perennial olive edition.

New York, NY : Harper Perennial Olive Editions, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2021.

©2005

146 pages ; 18 cm

BEIN JWJ Zan Iw12 2005Bd: Number line on title page verso indicates first printing: "21 22 23 24 25 LSC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1". Paperbound.

Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. Haunted by his father's own death at the hands of militants, which he fled just before witnessing, Agu is vulnerable to the dangerous yet paternal nature of his new commander. While the war rages on, Agu becomes increasingly divorced from the life he had known before the conflict started -- a life of school friends, church services, and time with his family still intact. As he vividly recalls these sunnier times, his daily reality spins further downward into inexplicable brutality, primal fear, and loss of selfhood. His relationship with his commander deepens even as it darkens, and his camaraderie with a fellow soldier lends a deceptive sense of normalcy to his experience.

English

May 09, 2022