return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   Reader reviews of A Long Way Gone

Read what people think about A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, and write your own review.

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
Hardcover: Feb 2007,
240 pages.
Paperback: Aug 2008,
240 pages.

Publication information
First book/First Novel


Author Information
Critics' Opinion:   
Readers' Rating:  
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book
Page 2 of 3 There are currently 18 reviews
for A Long Way Gone
Select your view:
Order Reviews by:
Click Here To Write Your Own Review
Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by momo
an asowme eye opener
i have not quiet finished the book. I'm just now starting chapter 18, but this book has opened up a lot in my mind and has helped me explore the life a boy would live in Africa. I have gotten so into this book that there are times I end up walking down the street on my way home with my nose in the book. this book is most definitely a school project gone right. it helps me escape my world, to enter another. With vibrant details and the concrete settings, I would definitely recomend this for a good read and have already done so to at the very least to 5 people.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by shottaboy
this book is awesome!
This is an excellent book there is so much to say about to

It is a well written book and explains and create an image of what kids my age goes through around the world.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Rachel
Amazing
I would rate this book 108,079,832, if i could. I don't know what it is but this book just amazes me. I think because it really happened. I read the book in 2 sittings and when i finished it i wanted to read it again. The way Beah wrote the book and explained everything and everyone around him is awesome. He writes in a very mournful and regretful tone, yet relives at some points and very well educated. I would recommends this book a = to anyone!!

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Kim
Great story, so-so writing
I’m always uncertain how to “rate” books like A Long Way Gone. Do you base it on the importance of the story, or the quality of the writing? Those of us in the U.S. tend to be fairly isolated in our comfortable lives, and need to be reminded that the type of events that take place in the book are still happening in other parts of the world. Ishmael Beah’s story is therefore an important one, and one I’d recommend to anyone with even the remotest interest in current events. While fairly well-written, however, I did find myself wanting more from the book. Events are related somewhat dispassionately, without a lot of depth. In addition, I felt the book ended too soon – I wanted to know the rest of Beah’s story.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Christina
Must Read!
This book was the most compelling piece of literature that I have ever read in a long time.

The imagery, was very well written that as a read it (in my busy office) I felt like I was walking with Ishmael throughout his journey, I was empathetic when he lost everything that meant something to him and I read into everything that he didn't understand and interpreted it into my own life.

This is something that the younger generations of inner city children and young adults NEED to read not only for a rude awakening, but to understand the perception of Americans that is broadcasted to other countries and how they should make an effort to change that image.

"A Long Way Gone," hits closer to home than I expected and will recommend this to anyone.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Darcie K
Incredible
I would never have understood how a child could become a willing killer if I hadn't read this story. It is a remarkable description that makes you not only believe, but also understand how it happens. I want young people to read this story, not only to know how good they have it in the US, but also to become aware of the circumstances in which others are trying to survive.
«  prev   1 2 3   next »

Lists of books with similar themes


Read-Alikes


Buy This Book:

Become a Member
The Expats by Chris Pavone
Editor's Choice
  •  Jun 17 
  •  Jun 15 
  •  Jun 13 
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah Jacket

Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Karen Joy Fowler

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Jacket

The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
TransAtlantic
Colum McCann

TransAtlantic Jacket

The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with...
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Top Ten Guidelines For How to Behave in a Book Club
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Themed Young Adult Books, Not About The Holocaust
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story... read more
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years... read more
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Coraline
Neil Gaiman
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
3. The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
5. Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Katherine Boo
More...
Book Club Recommendations
A Monster Calls
by Siobhan Dowd, Patrick Ness
Paperback (Mar/13)
The End of the Point
by Elizabeth Graver
Paperback (Feb/14)
Out of The Easy
by Ruta Sepetys
Paperback (Feb/14)
Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner
Hardback (Feb/13)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
Crime of Privilege
by Walter Walker
Four Stars            (Jun/13)
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
by Sahar Delijani
4.5 Stars            (Jun/13)
Her Last Breath
by Linda Castillo
4.5 Stars            (Jun/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate (Jun 12 2013)
Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: We've been discussing guidelines for book club etiquette. Which of these do you think are important?
Read the book
Listen thoughtfully to all members
Take notes while you're reading
Stay on topic when you're speaking
Enjoy yourself
Don’t get drunk
Bring chocolate, everyone likes chocolate!
Eat before you come so you don’t devour the snacks
Compliment others sincerely
Have a good sense of humor
Don’t fret the small stuff
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters

Online Book Club
More about
The Execution of Noa P. Singleton
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
You Only Get Letters From Jail


one of the finest and truest collections of 'American' short stories I have ever read

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"T M T C, T M T Stay T S"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Carol Rifka Brunt
Kent Wascom
Jennifer McVeigh
Elizabeth Becker
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us