Allah is Not Obliged
  • Published:
    May-2007
  • Formats:
    Print / eBook
  • Main Genre:
    General Fiction
  • Pages:
    215
  • Rating:
  • Purchase:
  • Share:
ALLAH IS NOT OBLIGED TO BE FAIR ABOUT ALL THE THINGS HE DOES HERE ON EARTH.

These are the words of the boy soldier Birahima in the final masterpiece by one of Africa's most celebrated writers, Ahmadou Kourouma.

When ten-year-old Birahima's mother dies, he leaves his native village in the Ivory Coast, accompanied by the sorcerer and cook Yacouba, to search for his aunt Mahan. Crossing the border into Liberia, they are seized by rebels and forced into military service. Birahima is given a Kalashnikov, minimal rations of food, a small supply of dope and a tiny wage. Fighting in a chaotic civil war alongside many other boys, Birahima sees death, torture, dismemberment and madness but somehow manages to retain his own sanity. Raw and unforgettable, despairing yet filled with laughter, Allah Is Not Obliged reveals the ways in which children's innocence and youth are compromised by war.
Click on any of the links above to see more books like this one.



EDITIONS
Sign in to see more editions
    • First Edition
    • May-2007
    • Anchor
    • Trade Paperback
    • ISBN: 030727957X
    • ISBN13: 9780307279576
    •  
    • Sep-2007
    • Vintage (UK)
    • Paperback
    • ISBN: 0099433923
    • ISBN13: 9780099433927
    •  
    • Sep-2006
    • William Heinemann (UK)
    • Hardcover
    • ISBN: 0434009571
    • ISBN13: 9780434009572
    •  
    • Jun-2011
    • Knopf
    • eBook
    • ISBN: 0307793842
    • ISBN13: 9780307793843
    •  
    • Mar-2015
    • Edinburgh University Press
    • eBook (Kindle)



View the Complete Ahmadou Kourouma Book List