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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Rereading this memoir really made me think about the consequences of war that bleed into every aspect of society. Beah's memoir was powerful and helped my book club group and I to have some meaningful conversations about the effects of war and the idea of hope that Ishmael holds onto throughout his experience as a boy soldier. I highly recommend!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
The journey of a young boys quest for freedom...eye opening, heart wrenching and thought provoking...a must read!
It's beyond scary how many selfish, downright evil people there are in the world and all the innocent people they hurt, kill or brainwash. I would definitely recommend this true account of a Sierre Leonean boy who must become a soldier. This book also reinforces my anti-gun sentiments. Thousands of lives would be saved if AK-47s didn't exist.
Mesmerizing
Such a difficult subject but I'm so glad to have read this book and so glad the author had such a great outcome in spite of what he went through.
Such a difficult subject but I'm so glad to have read this book and so glad the author had such a great outcome in spite of what he went through.
He wrote this from his point of view as a child and so it is missing some of the larger context and emotional insights you might expect from a book like this. Nonetheless, I really liked this book. After having seen several documentaries on Rwanda, the atrocities he details here were maybe less surprising than they should be, although still pretty horrendous. I found it particularly eye-opening with respect to the challenges of rehabilitating child soldiers, and it raises larger questions about the possibilities and means of rehabilitation of people who have experienced and/or committed such violent acts in general.
This was a gut punch to read. The subject matter and the details were rough, but what was almost worse was the almost conversational tone in which it was written. You would think that glossing over certain traumatic events would be less impactful, but to me it was more, since it said to me that he was either desensitized to the violence of the subject or he was hesitant to bring back such memories.
Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart or for people who have been traumatized
Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart or for people who have been traumatized
Compelling and moving in its simple narrative style. Really makes you think about what these kids went through - unimaginable!
Ishmael spoke at the Book Fest in DC a few years ago. His voice still tattoos my brain. He escaped death and led a second life after being a child soldier. He was saved twice, first on a UN trip to NYC and second after escaping to Guinea. On his way back from NYC the first time, he wrote “If I was to get killed upon my return, I knew that a memory of my existence was alive somewhere in the world”. 😭