Book Review Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

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Book Review This is a book review of a novel called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. The book was published on February 13th, 2007 by Douglas McIntyre and it has got 229 pages. The genre of this book is what is called a memoir which is basically a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public or private that took place in the author's life. A Long Way Gone is the true story of Ishmael Beah, who becomes an unwilling boy soldier during a civil war in Sierra Leone. My recommendation of this book is that it’s so fascinating and unique; rather than portraying one side in a positive light, it shows that there is no right side. Since the book is told from the point of view of a child soldier, you can tell what his real beliefs were at the time instead of the beliefs we assume they have. A Long Way Gone is an intriguing story of a child’s journey through an extremely, unpleasant and difficult experience. When Ishmael was 12 years old, his village was attacked while he was gone performing in a rap group with his friends. In the midst of the disorientation, bloodshed, and doubt of the civil war, Ishmael, his brother, and his friends roam from village to village in search for food and a habitat. Their daily lives were a battle of survival, and the boys found themselves violating acts that they would never have believed themselves capable of doing, such as shoplifting food from random children. Throughout the story, Beah is strained as a soldier by the army plus he becomes the very thing he feared of doing which was a killing machine well able to perform horrible violence. The army really becomes his family and he is forced to believe/ do things that each rebellious death may retaliate his own famil... ... middle of paper ... ... of the war. It is difficult to read about terrible things; as a society, we have a tendency to just ignore them. Even though the language of the book may not be that hard to understand, the subject and details make it pretty difficult to digest. This book had an huge impact on my perspective of war. It helped me to become aware that not all things are in black and white. A Long Way Gone is one of those books that goes beyond your imagination but its also a sad book because of Beah’s experience. But the positive thing about the book is that it gives people hope. For example, people can turn around and they can recover from any experience like Beah did. I would really recommend this book to people that would want to learn more about stuff like child soldiers or more information on African history. This book will definitely unveil to your eyes the realities of war.

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