Interview with Ishmael Beah

I thought that this interview with Ishmael Beah was quite remarkable. Ishmael seemed so happy, which after reading the book seemed so impossible. Also he is able to talk freely and rationally about all the things he went through, I don’t think an average person would be able to do that. I know I wouldn’t be able to talk about it if it was me who went through a civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael does mention a few lines from his book “A long gay gone”, particularly the scene where mothers are running with dead babies on their backs and fathers carrying dead children. In general, I did like the book and would recommend this book to almost every person I know. However there is one “but”: I think that because of the graphic nature of the book people under the age of sixteen should not read it. I say this not because all the graphic descriptions could harm a young person’s mind, but because generally this book will not mean much to younger people. I believe that one must have a somewhat developed mind in order to comprehend what this book really means. All the graphic descriptions will seem to be just some words on the piece paper; I do not think they would be able to visualize all the horrors of this war and fully understand what the words mean.