Reflecting on Ishmael's Reflections

After watching the YOUTUBE interview with Ishmael Beah, I cannot help but realize how his very demeanor is so much more inviting now than it would have been about seven years ago. It just blows my mind to think that the individual that was sitting there with George Stroumboulopoulos was the very child that witnessed the horrific events documented in A Long Way Gone. Throughout his discussion with the interviewer, he touches on a lot of things that he touched upon in his book. I recalled the way that he mentioned revenge in the interview was just like how he talked about it in the book. Another similarity was how he mentioned torturing the UNICEF workers until they had to receive hospital treatment. I love the way that Beah expresses himself on-air. You can tell that at times he is not so certain of exactly how to say what he wants to say correctly, but it doesn’t stop him. He is very congenial and does his best to be positive regardless of what he happens to be talking about at the time.
This book is definitely one that I would recommend to a friend. Though I hadn’t heard of it beforehand, it is one that I will keep dear to my heart because it was so good. I feel that it really expresses how terrible war can be, even to people that have no idea what war is really like. I am so happy that Ishmael has been able to be so successful and I hope that he continues with the story of what happened after he got to his “safe-zone”.