I heard this story on NPR this morning, about a former child soldier turned novelist, and I was deeply moved by some of the language and imagery I heard.
You can hear the full story, on NPR's website: here.
The poetry that stuck with me was near the end of the story, when Ishmael Beah was describing his native language, Mende, which is a tonal language (meaning that meaning is often derived from tone) and is apparently very image driven. A few examples of beautiful phrases they use are:
A soccer ball might be called a nest of air.
If night falls suddenly they might say the sky rolled over and changed its sides.
Have you ever heard anything so beautiful? Remember, this is a former child soldier speaking.
9 comments:
I read his memoir, A Long Way Gone, and it was pretty harrowing. His novel looks good, so it will probably end up on my wish list.
Fascinating story, Matthew--I can't imagine how much pain he saw in Sierra Leone. I am big on knowing an author's background and experiences--it often helps me understand the book better.
Love those images. Can't imagine what they say when they're in love.
Thanks for sharing the brief excerpts. Very intriguing and, yes, quite beautiful.
wow. This sounds familiar. Has he been on NPR before?
That language reminds me of my four year old son and how he talks to us- so beautiful and descriptive.
Those are some beautiful phrases. Lovely.
Forget French--Mende sounds like the kind of language every writer should learn. I guess the best do "speak" it in some way. Thanks for sharing this, Matt. Off to add it to my Goodreads TBR pile :) Happy new year!
All the good things can be found on NPR.
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