emilyjackson 's review for:

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

3.0

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This book was horrifying and heartbreaking, but the reason it only gets 3 stars is because of one short passage that made me question everything in this book. Like many memoirs in recent times, there was some controversy about the authenticity of the book (call it James Frey syndrome). And what made me question everything I read was a passage about 75 pages in where Beah is going into very specific detail about him fleeing his village and the horrors he saw and he stops abruptly to mention that the reason he can recall everything in such great detail is because he has a photographic memory and has been able to recall great details since he was a small child. I felt that the need to explain himself hurt more than helped him and from there on out, it took me completely out of the narrative. I just kept thinking, "Wow, this is a terrible story...but is it real?" I hate that I had to question the entire thing because it was beautifully written and exposed the strife and suffering of hundreds of children during the war in Sierra Leone.