Black Coffee discussion

The harrowing, utterly original debut novel by Uzodinma Iweala about the life of a child soldier in a war-torn African country—now a critically-acclaimed Netflix original film directed by Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) and starring Idris Elba (Mandela, The Wire).

As civil war rages in an unnamed West-African nation, Agu, the school-aged protagonist of this stunning debut novel, is recruited into a unit of guerilla fighters. 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 continues to spin further downward into inexplicable brutality, primal fear, and loss of selfhood. In a powerful, strikingly original voice, Uzodinma Iweala leads the reader through the random travels, betrayals, and violence that mark Agu’s new community. Electrifying and engrossing, Beasts of No Nation announces the arrival of an extraordinary new writer.

Beasts of No Nation is our group read for the month of January. We will start reading on the 15th. Show of hands of who all will be joining in?

I am looking forward to discussing this book. The movie was outstanding so I know the book will be too.

Count me in!

my library does not have this one. I will try to purchase by the start time. I put a request in for ILL as well. I have seen the movie and loved it

I'm in!

I just got my copy. I will start next week

I'm in! I don't have my copy yet however.

Hey Ladies! I read this book not to long ago, but it's still fresh on my brain. My nephew takes an African literature class in high school (college credit) and they recently read this book as well. He sent me a list of questions his teacher assigned them to answer....it may have actually come from the publisher.

In a couple of days, I'll post a couple of questions and we can begin our discussion.

Happy Reading!

Wow thank you for sharing Queen!

I'm about 10% in. I started it just because of this group, and I went in with no idea what it was about.

It's very good, but I'm not sure I can do it right now. This week is enough of a downer already.

Phil wrote: "I'm about 10% in. I started it just because of this group, and I went in with no idea what it was about.

It's very good, but I'm not sure I can do it right now. This week is enough of a downer alr..."

I totally understand Phil. It is that type of book!

How is everyone coming along w/ this book?

I was hoping for more dialogue. the author is describing and telling. I am trying to stay interested

I will be joining in reading this book. I am going to try and pick up a copy today.

My copy should be in my mailbox by Saturday. After reading the preview on amazon I'm excited about getting started.

Getting a copy

I have completed this book. I enjoyed the writing style and how the author used first person and how it's written from a child's perspective. Looking forward to answering some of those questions.

Maya: I thought the way the boy described what he saw helped give clarification of what really happens in a war zone. To me it shows what the child was going through as he tried to stay alive both physically and mentally.

Starting soon

Alright, here is the first group of discussion questions...

(view spoiler)[1. Beasts of No Nation opens with Agu's first encounter with the band of guerrilla soldiers. Commandant, their leader, tells Agu: "If you are staying with me, I will be taking care of you and we will be fighting the enemy that is taking your father" (p. 11). How would you describe Agu's feelings about becoming a soldier? To what extent is Agu's decision to join Commandant and the militants based on his own free will? How credible do you find Commandant's claim that he and his men are fighting the people who shot Agu's father?

2. The first time the Commandant orders him to kill another man, Agu enters an emotional fugue state: "Then I am hitting his shoulder and then his chest and looking at how Commandant is smiling each time my knife is hitting the man. It is like the world is moving so slowly and I am seeing each drop of blood and each drop of sweat flying here and there. I am hearing the bird flapping their wing as they are leaving all the tree. It is sounding like thunder. I am hearing the mosquito buzzing in my ear so loud and I am feeling how the blood is just wetting on my leg and my face" (p. 21). How does the author's rendering of violence in lyrical passages affect you as a reader? Why do you think the author chooses to depict such episodes in this fashion? How does the author use language and imagery throughout Beasts of No Nation to convey Agu's childlike awareness of the world around him?

3. Agu feels tremendous guilt for the acts that he commits as a soldier, a guilt that he tries to reconcile with his belief that he has no choice but to carry out these atrocities. "I am not bad boy. I am soldier and soldier is not bad if he is killing. I am telling this to myself because soldier is supposed to be killing, killing, killing. So if I am killing then I am only doing what is right" (p. 23). Is Agu's logic flawed? Why might wartime situations lead to the blurring of moral boundaries? What role does Agu's youth play in his rationalization of his behavior? (hide spoiler)]

Carmaleeta wrote: "Maya: I thought the way the boy described what he saw helped give clarification of what really happens in a war zone. To me it shows what the child was going through as he tried to stay alive both ..."


It took me some time, but I eventually appreciated the author's writing through the eyes a child

question 1. I think Agu really thought he was fighting the people that killed his father. Young children can be influenced very easily once your support system becomes non existent. At this point he probably felt like he had no choice.


question 2. I like how the author made it lyrical. Maybe is represented a drug induced state that many of the child soldiers endure.

question 3. Agu knows he is no longer a boy. I think he feels that that life is over when he lost is family. Maybe he feels like he is a soldier like the men that killed his father. He is a child that was traumatized and now he has no choice but to do what he can to survive.

Can't wait to start! I'm in!

My answers to the first questions are a lot like Maya's. lol

For the second question, Maya stated: "Maybe is represented a drug induced state that many of the child soldiers endure."

I never really looked at it like this, but it makes so much sense. Certain drugs are suppose to heighten your senses, so is reasonable that Agu would be more in tune with his exact feelings.

2nd group of discussion questions:

(view spoiler)[

4. During his participation in the assault and murder of a woman and her daughter on one of his group's evening raids, Agu acknowledges his own bloodlust: "Far away, I am hearing screaming and gunfire and my head is growing smaller and my body is growing bigger. I am wanting to kill; I don't know why. I am just wanting to kill" (p. 47). How has Agu has changed from his earliest days as a soldier? How are we to understand Agu's murderous impulses?

5. In remembering the day U.N. peacekeepers came to rescue his mother and sister, Agu reflects: "[W]ar is taking everything away from us. Nothing in the village is the same without women cooking food and selling groundnut and talking talking so all of the men are just staying quietly quietly like somebody is dying" (p. 69). What roles do women play in the war-torn world that Agu encounters? What do you think his flashbacks of his mother allow Agu to relive? What is the significance of Agu's self-description at the end of the book: "I am all of this thing, but I am also having mother once, and she is loving me" (p. 142)?

6. "I am thinking that everything is moving so fast, I will be old man before the war is over. I am knowing I am no more child so if this war is ending I cannot be going back to doing child thing" (p. 93). Do you agree with Agu that he "cannot be going back to doing child thing," or do you think that he has some hope of fulfilling the visions and dreams of his childhood? To what extent has Agu retained childlike qualities in the midst of his ordeal? (hide spoiler)]

question 4. At this point, I think Agu is used to the killings because of the drugs. He feels like he is not a bad boy because he is a soldier now. In my opinion, the drugs give him the motivation to kill.


question 5. I'm not really sure what the flashbacks of his mother represent. It seems as if Agu zones out and allows himself to remember his family from time to time. This allows him to find solace during war. Like a coping mechanism.


question 6. Agu feels that when this war is over nothing will ever be the same. He has accepted that his father is dead and he may never see his mother again.

Finished. I agree that the more lyrical passages were attempting to describe fugue states and drugged states. I'm curious to know what type of drug the "gun juice" is- amphetamines?

I actually thought the fugue and PTSD descriptions didn't go far enough. Considering the trauma being described, the narrative was too linear and coherent.

got my copy in the mail yesterday and will start tonight. I'll come back to answer the questions.

Sorry y'all. I haven't been able to stay focused. My oldest son went away to boot camp, and I've been so sad.

Lee wrote: "Sorry y'all. I haven't been able to stay focused. My oldest son went away to boot camp, and I've been so sad."

Poor Mama. He will do great!

Lee wrote: "Sorry y'all. I haven't been able to stay focused. My oldest son went away to boot camp, and I've been so sad."

hang in there Lee. It will get better

Lee wrote: "Sorry y'all. I haven't been able to stay focused. My oldest son went away to boot camp, and I've been so sad."

:(

Lee wrote: "Sorry y'all. I haven't been able to stay focused. My oldest son went away to boot camp, and I've been so sad."

Hang in there! It's okay if you decide to read something cheerful instead.

1. Beasts of No Nation opens with Agu's first encounter with the band of guerrilla soldiers. Commandant, their leader, tells Agu: "If you are staying with me, I will be taking care of you and we will be fighting the enemy that is taking your father" (p. 11). How would you describe Agu's feelings about becoming a soldier? To what extent is Agu's decision to join Commandant and the militants based on his own free will? How credible do you find Commandant's claim that he and his men are fighting the people who shot Agu's father?
Children are easily manipulated and not only that but I think Agu knew that Commandant was no one that you just say no to. And how would he eat and get shelter etc? And I think he believed that he was fighting in honor of his father.

Last Group of Discussion questions:

(view spoiler)[

7. At the moment of Commandant's assassination, Agu makes a dramatic decision: "Never will I be feeling sorry for him. Never will I be helping him. I am lowering my gun" (p. 123). Discuss the significance of Agu's decision to betray Commandant. What do you think enables him to act in this way? To what extent is his decision an act of revenge?

8. As Agu departs with Rambo and the other soldiers, he witnesses his best friend Strika in his death-throes: "Strika is just looking like one piece of refuses on this road. I am trying to be crying, but no tear is coming out from my eye, and I am trying not to be fearing, but Strika—Strika is my brother and my family and the only person I can be talking to even if he is never talking back until now" (p. 131). What role does Strika play in Agu's adaptation to army life? Do you think his presence serves in some way to keep Agu safe from harm? Why does Agu come to see Strika as a member of his family?

9. What does Agu leave behind when he deserts the other soldiers in his army? Discuss the series of events leading to his departure. Did any single event seem to precipitate his decision to leave?

10. "[Amy] is telling me to speak speak speak and thinking that my not speaking is because I am like baby. But every time I am sitting with her I am thinking I am like old man and she is like small girl because I am fighting in war and she is not even knowing what war is" (p. 140). Does Agu truly know what war is? Has his time in war transformed him into an adult, or an "old man" as he says? In what ways does Agu remain a child—albeit one permanently changed by his experiences? (hide spoiler)]

question 7. I think he turns on commandment because of the physical abuse.


question 8. I think strika and Agu bonded because they are close in age. They seemed to have understood each others pain.

question 10. I think Agu shuts down because he is going through PTSD. between the abuse and fighting a war he does not understand, I feel he is in shock. Not to mention the drug withdrawals he is going through. Agu could be checking his new surroundings for safety

Never have I considered putting a book down because it's just too sad. But I am really having to push myself with this one. So far I'm still going.

During his participation in the assault and murder of a woman and her daughter on one of his group's evening raids, Agu acknowledges his own bloodlust: "Far away, I am hearing screaming and gunfire and my head is growing smaller and my body is growing bigger. I am wanting to kill; I don't know why. I am just wanting to kill" (p. 47). How has Agu has changed from his earliest days as a soldier? How are we to understand Agu's murderous impulses?
I think it all has to do the fact that his life has changed so suddenly at such a young age and he's confused. He knows what he is doing is wrong and he feels guilty but he also has that "hunger to kill" that some serial murders get and for him it's okay because he tells himself that he's "not bad boy" and that he will become a doctor and pray for forgiveness and it will all be better. He was just too young for this world.

This book hits you like a ton of bricks while reading it. When you finally finish and get the bricks off, you still feel their impact for a while.

I just finished this book finally. I had to put it down several times because it was just too much and I'm not a "sensitive" reader if you will. I have no clue how to rate or review this book. I will come back to answer the questions.

I ended up feeling cynical about the whole book. I recently saw someone use the term "depression porn" on another thread, and I think that phrase could be applied here.

My review is over here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

At the moment of Commandant's assassination, Agu makes a dramatic decision: "Never will I be feeling sorry for him. Never will I be helping him. I am lowering my gun" (p. 123). Discuss the significance of Agu's decision to betray Commandant. What do you think enables him to act in this way? To what extent is his decision an act of revenge?

It was a bit movie cliché for me. But in that moment he battled between loyalty and betrayal. Agu had a complicated relationship with Commandant. In the beginning he admired him and aspired to be just like him and worked hard to impress him. towards the end of this book you see a shift change in his admiration for him. I think it had everything to do with his situation; rape, hunger, fear, killing etc.

8. As Agu departs with Rambo and the other soldiers, he witnesses his best friend Strika in his death-throes: "Strika is just looking like one piece of refuses on this road. I am trying to be crying, but no tear is coming out from my eye, and I am trying not to be fearing, but Strika—Strika is my brother and my family and the only person I can be talking to even if he is never talking back until now" (p. 131). What role does Strika play in Agu's adaptation to army life? Do you think his presence serves in some way to keep Agu safe from harm? Why does Agu come to see Strika as a member of his family?

Strika was my favorite character and it broke my heard when he died. Agu and Strika represented hope and familiarity for each other. I imagine it is like being in a foreign place or situation and having nothing but fear, losing everything you have and have ever know and then you see someone who reminds yourself of you. They had no choice but to become best friends and brothers. They were the youngest and had both lost their families.

I'm watching the movie now. Commandant may be the enemy but Idris Alba honey! Jesus have mercy on me! lol

kisha wrote: "I'm watching the movie now. Commandant may be the enemy but Idris Alba honey! Jesus have mercy on me! lol"

LOL!!!! Same here Kisha! I couldn't hate him because he was Idris Alba. LOL!!!!

Girl the struggle is real lol

lol