Seann's review
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
Seann's review
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Seann's review
rating:
Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone is probably one of the saddest books I've ever read. While Beah is a good storyteller, I kept having to remind myself that this isn't a novel, that this is his real-life account. Particularly towards the end, Beah's writing shines as he comes to grips with his past: how could he possibly forgive himself, forsake his country, grow up without a family, and build a new life without the shame of his former? Perhaps the memoir's biggest effect is personal: thanksgiving for my childhood, which seemed so perfect. While the memoir's beginning is difficult to read, the rest of the book leaves you relieved that someone survived to tell us this story.
