Ishmael Beah, a long way gone from the nightmares of war, tells all of his experiences

My impression of Beah from the interview was that he was very cool, calm, and collected. In the ways that Beah presents himself, it is hard to believe that behind the peaceful and smiling face, he once was a child soldier. Just from looking at Beah, one could not tell that he suffered from the horrible nightmares of war. Beah’s on-air personality is very warm and friendly. In the interview, I liked the part where Beah says that the only way to move on is to forgive. In order for Beah not to be stick in the nightmares of war, he had to forgive all the people who had brainwashed him and caused him hurt.

Yes there are many things that Beah says in the interview that remind me of certain passages from his memoir. Beah talks about women carrying their babies on their backs while running away from the shooting, and not realizing that the babies were being shot to death. Beah also talks about fathers carrying back their dead sons. Both of these situations were used in his book A Long Way Gone on page 13.

Yes this is a book that I would recommend to my friends and family because I think it is important for people to be aware of the situation in Sierra Leone. This book is not fictional and just for reading pleasure, but contains real, personal experiences. If I did not read this book for class, I probably would not have read it at all. Therefore I would not have known what a serious problem that diamonds caused. I think people need to be more aware of world issues.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4yhPSQEzo