Book review of "A long way gone" (Book Review Sample)

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah
English literature has always been surrounded by controversy in terms of its appropriateness per age; and the content offered by every text. The inclusion of books in the curriculum should however consider the real reading and learning needs of the students and attempt to satisfy these needs by offering books that are challenging, thought-spurring, relatively engineered to allow them to generally think outside the box. The book by Ishmael Beah is crafted to give such students ideas outside of their worlds; featuring experiences of other similar children from a different background. The book is a memoir of an account of a boy living the civil war in Sierra Leone. As a boy, he was parted with his family, wandered his war ton country and eventually joined an army unit at the age of 12. His experiences, ranging from the brutal killings of his family, participation in a war he knew little about and his rescue by UNICEF when he was 16.
Ishmael Beah presents his story right up front with his experiences outline in a chilling chronology, where he described how the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) (Denov, 5) participated in the killing of his parents. His village was destroyed in 1993, at a time when he barely understood the war. The plot describes how Beah has no knowledge of the war and thinks these people were amplifying what took place. Two years later, in 1993 Ishmael was first directly affected by the war. He had left home with his older brother (Junior) and a friend. They were headed for the town of Mattru Jong in a bid to take part in a talent show. Ishmael and his friends had a rap and dance group and they sought to contest. After leaving, they heard that their village had been attacked by the rebels. They went back, only to find vehicles ferrying away the dead and the injured (Beah, 32). The government had arrived to defend the village a tad too late. During this time, he was forced to flee the attack, or be caught up in the indiscriminate killings.
There is art in the methodology in which Beah pulls together his story. He is obviously targeting an American audience and thus he needs to establish and immediate connection to his audience. He begins by making it known that he currently lives in New York City and also attends high school in the same place. The book can thus be said to feature an actual American basis while focusing on the wars around the world and its effect on the children of high school age; which is ultimately the prime target readership. Critics may argue that the book too surreal, and inapplicable to the high school audience. The real question lies in whether the audience should be limited to reading only what is familiar to them, and limit their thinking.
The book continues to feature the activities of the child soldier during the war, with description of the real life scenes. The near death experience before his recruitment is described intrinsically. On their way they met rebels who gathered everyone who is there in a village into a house. They torment a male in his sixties, questioning him and threatening him using their guns. One rebel threatens to execute him and fires his firearm near his head, petrifying him making him faint and this amuses the rebels. The rebels decide to choose a few recruits and they choose Ishmael’s brother, and the new recruits are told that they have to execute all the others (including Ishmael). Thy escape when confusion ensues due to gunshots fired in a nearby village.
Description and use of themes in accordance to the story is seen in such an excerpt, where the writer does not mince words. The use of ‘War Is Hell’ as a theme is visible in the excerpt. Conflict is heavily developed throughout the book; it being the main issue (Schubert, 4). Although some may point out that such incidences of violence are not complimentary to learning, the fact remains that this is an actual society; and the events captured are real and everyone deserves a read on such issues. It is also useful to realize that the story is revolving on what average high school students would not come up with as creative pieces; and it would actively add to their collection of creative thoughts.
Reading on, one realizes that the writer leans on the need for a breakout that is developed by the main character; as he badly needs a way out of the war and activities surrounding him (Anthonissen, 12). He has flashbacks on his activities, such as when he is in a hospital (in Benin Home). He remembers when he was a low-ranking lieutenant for a small squad. They were scouting when they came upon a rebel settlement and launch an attack on it. One Rambo sort figure (Alhaji) goes in first to kill some of the guards. When all sides open gunfire, Ishmael and his unit kill everybody in that settlement (Beah, 40). The recollection of such an event opens the mind of the reader to think of the actual evils that occur during such activity. This book in itself is an embodiment of evil in society; all society, and learners will gain useful insight from analyzing it in-depth.
The social implications of this book stands singly on the effect it will have on the behavior and the mindse...