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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
I love using this book in my English classroom. It gives students an opportunity to examine their own humanitarian beliefs and discuss the pros and cons of memoirs at the same time. My students have never been more captivated by a book as they were when we read Beah's story. I have watched students cry with joy and sadness, I've watched them cringe, and I've watched them laugh. But my favorite part is that I've watched them become grateful for the little things in life. A must read!
"A Long Way Gone" was a story to remember. It shows the heartbreaking truths about many wars around the world. Wars fought by innocent children. One's that had no experience of fighting before the war. The story shows not only the struggles of a boy soldier, but the first half mainly talks about how Ishmael dealt with war when he first saw it. Though, I may have not found it the best book that I have read, for a few reasons, it was still very impressive. I do believe that the topic of child soldiers is a vital thing to observe, but the story could have been told differently. In a way to make me feel more. Though, what I did get from reading this, truly showed me that many other problems that people face in this world are far worse than mine. I hope that children do not have to go through these problems in the near future and that it ends completely. No one deserves to have their childhood destroyed like Ishmael had his.
The harrowing story of a little boy in Sierra Leone who, along with his friends, is swept up in the civil war of the 1990s. The group sets out one day from their home village to a neighbouring town for a talent competition, and never sees their families again. Perhaps the most disturbing elements are the ease with which victims are converted to soldiers, the efficiency of children as soldiers due to the lack of an adult moral compass, and the resistance to rehabilitation, which for them is effectively another removal from a family unit.
This is a crazy story with an uplifting ending. Please read it.
Depressing look on the state of the world. Even though the state of the country is currently better, the thought is heartbreaking (and so many countries are just a bit better, if at all)
I read this in preparation for a 7th grade book club unit that compliments our whole class novel, A Long Walk To Water. There were chapters that I had to reread, because I could not believe what I had just read. Stunning and beautiful storytelling. Heartbreaking overall.
This was a hard book to read, but very informative and compelling. I can appreciate how the author just told what happened without out spending too much time talking about his feelings about what happened. You could sense everything he was feeling in the scenes - the fear, the lust for power, the desire for violence, the guilt, the despair - without him saying so. I read this book in a day. It was fascinating. There are things happening in the world that never touch us, and this book allowed someone else's experience and pain to reach me.
I hurt while reading this book. It instilled profound sadness. I could feel my heart breaking as I moved through each chapter. Ishmael’s pain became my pain; his fear became my fear.
It’s as though Beah wrote this book while he was experiencing the Sierra Leonean war and not 10 years later. Which is a testament to how much it scarred him as a child. The vividness and the realness of the book made it difficult to read. Some days I had difficulty picking it up. I would cry through sections, then later have nightmares about what I had read.
There are some good parts too, which come across as overwhelmingly joyful. And despite the fact that it is difficult to read at times, I think anyone who cares about humanity should read this. This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last time something similar is going to happen. We need to stop turning a blind eye.
It’s as though Beah wrote this book while he was experiencing the Sierra Leonean war and not 10 years later. Which is a testament to how much it scarred him as a child. The vividness and the realness of the book made it difficult to read. Some days I had difficulty picking it up. I would cry through sections, then later have nightmares about what I had read.
There are some good parts too, which come across as overwhelmingly joyful. And despite the fact that it is difficult to read at times, I think anyone who cares about humanity should read this. This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last time something similar is going to happen. We need to stop turning a blind eye.
Not a fun read, not an easy read, but a very important read. I learned an incredible amount about the repercussions of a failed state from this book; more so than I did during the entirety of my political science degree. For me, the take aways from this book expanded well beyond the tragedy of children serving in wars. It made me think a lot about human conflict in general, as well as the role of our government and the security we take for granted.
So good. Really puts a face on the struggles in Africa that we hear so little about.
