Beasts of No Nation

by Iweala, Uzodinma

• ISBN13: 9780060798680
• ISBN10: 0060798688
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780061844546
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

About This Book

Beasts of No Nation: A Novel by Uzodinma Iweala is a harrowing and utterly original debut novel that delves into the life of a child soldier in a war-torn African country. This critically acclaimed book has been making waves in the literary world since its publication in 2006.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and educators in literature and social studies classes, particularly those focusing on African studies, conflict studies, and human rights. It's also a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of war and its impact on civilians, especially children.

History and Editions

Published on August 15, 2006, by HarperCollins as part of the P.S. Series, Beasts of No Nation has been a staple in educational resources for over a decade. The book's concise 176 pages make it an accessible read for both students and scholars. It has been widely praised for its vivid portrayal of the harsh realities faced by child soldiers.

Author and Other Works

Uzodinma Iweala is a talented author known for his brave and gifted writing style. Born on November 5, 1982, in Washington, D.C., Iweala graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English and American Literature and Language. He was selected as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists and has received several prestigious awards for his work, including the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780060798680

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780060798680 (The ebook for "Beasts of No Nation" is available right here on eCampus.com!)

Rental Options: Available through eCampus.com with various rental durations

Publication Details

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: August 15, 2006

Number of Pages: 176

Language: English

Item Weight: 0.49 pounds

Dimensions: 4.88 x 7.12 x 0.49 inches

Other Editions and Formats

• Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780060798680

Related ISBNs

• Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780060798680
• eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780060798680 (The ebook for "Beasts of No Nation" is available right here on eCampus.com!)
• Rental Options: Available through eCampus.com with various rental durations

Note: The provided ISBNs are accurate and specific to the book "Beasts of No Nation" by Uzodinma Iweala.

Excerpts

Beasts of No Nation
A Novel

Chapter One

It is starting like this. I am feeling itch like insect is crawling on my skin, and then my head is just starting to tingle right between my eye, and then I am wanting to sneeze because my nose is itching, and then air is just blowing into my ear and I am hearing so many thing: the clicking of insect, the sound of truck grumbling like one kind of animal, and then the sound of somebody shouting, TAKE YOUR POSITION RIGHT NOW! QUICK! QUICK QUICK! MOVE WITH SPEED! MOVE FAST OH! in voice that is just touching my body like knife.

I am opening my eye and there is light all around me coming into the dark through hole in the roof, crossing like net above my body. Then I am feeling my body crunched up like one small mouse in the corner when the light is coming on. The smell of rainwater and sweat is coming into my nose and I am feeling my shirt is so wet it is almost like another skin. I want to be moving, but my whole bone is paining me and my muscle is paining me like fire ant is just biting me all over my body. If I can be slapping myself to be making it go away I am doing it, but I cannot even move one finger. I am not doing anything.

Footstep is everywhere around me and making me to think that my father is coming to bring medicine to stop all of this itch and pain. I turn onto my back. The footstep is growing louder, louder, louder until I am hearing it even more than my own breathing or heart beating. Step slap, step slap, step slap, I am hearing getting louder, louder, louder and then shadow is coming into the light from under the door.

Somebody is knocking. KNOCK KNOCK. But I am not answering. Then they are angrying too much and just kicking so the whole of this place is shaking and the roof is falling apart small small so that more light is coming in. And the wood everywhere is cracking until I am hearing PING PING and seeing screw falling from the door into bucket near my feets. The sound is fighting the wall, bouncing from here to there, through the net of light, until it is like the sound is pushing the door open so there is so much brightness. BRIGHTNESS! So much brightness is coming into my eye until I am seeing purple spot for long time. Then I am seeing yellow eye belonging to one short dark body with one big belly and leg thin like spider's own. This body is so thin that his short is just blowing around his leg like woman's skirt and his shirt is looking like dress the way it is hanging from his shoulder. His neck is just struggling too much to hold up his big head that is always moving one way or the other.

I am looking at him. He is looking at me. He is not surprising at all to be seeing me even if I am surprising for him, but his face is falling and becoming more dark. He is sniffing like dog and stepping to me. KPAWA! He is hitting me.

Again and again he is hitting me and each blow from his hand is feeling on my skin like the flat side of machete. I am trying to scream, but he is knocking the air from my chest and then slapping my mouth. I am tasting blood. I am feeling like vomiting. The whole place around us is shaking, just shaking rotten fruit from the shelf, just sounding like it will be cracking into many piece and falling on top of us. He is grabbing my leg, pulling it so hard that it is like it will be coming apart like meat, and my body is just sliding slowly from the stall out into the light and onto the mud.

In the light, my breath is coming back and using force to open my chest to make me to coughing and my eye to watering. The whole world is spreading before me and I am looking up to the gray sky moving slowly slowly against the top leaf of all the tall tall Iroko tree. And under this, many smaller tree is fighting each other to climb up to the sunlight. All the leaf is dripping with rainwater and shining like jewel or glass. The grasses by the road is so tall and green past any color I am seeing before. This is making me to think of jubilating, dancing, shouting, singing because Kai! I am saying I am finally dead. I am thinking that maybe this boy is spirit and I should be thanking him for bringing me home to the land of spirits, but before I can even be opening my mouth to be saying anything, he is leaving me on my back in the mud.

I can see the bottom of truck parking just little bit away from me. Two truck is blocking up the whole road and more are parking on the roadside. The piece of cloth covering them is so torn up and full of hole and the paint is coming off to showing so much rust, like blood, making me to thinking the truck is like wounding animal. And around all the truck, just looking like ghost, are soldier. Some is wearing camouflage, other is wearing T-shirt and jean, but it is not mattering because all of the clothe is tearing and having big hole. Some of them is wearing real boot and the rest is wearing slipper. Some of them is standing at attention with their leg so straight that it is looking like they do not have knee. Some of them is going to toilet against the truck and other is going to toilet into the grasses. Almost everybody is carrying gun.

Beasts of No Nation
A Novel. Copyright © by Uzodinma Iweala. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.