Friday, March 30, 2007

"Thoughts of Joy..." ~ Beasts of No Nation (Iweala)




"Thoughts of Joy..." can be found here.




You can't let the light-weight of this book fool you; it is very heavy in content. It was an extremely difficult book to read and to rate. The language in which the narrator speaks is broken pidgin English, but I found it to be easy to comprehend; however, it may cause some to be annoyed.

The story of civil war is told through the eyes of Agu, a young boy, that is torn from his place of hiding to either join the rebel soldiers or die. Agu's experience is horrifying and leaves him stripped of all innocence. What else would you expect with the oxymoron "child-soldier"?

This by no means is a pleasurable read. It is filled with brutality and sadness. I learned from it, so ultimately I'm glad I read it, but it's not for everybody.

3 comments:

kookie said...

You are right that it is not for everybody, but it does give people a different perspective on war that we wouldn't get from the news. (That is, if the news covered wars in Africa in the first place). Good review.

Wendy said...

Great review, Joy. I agree with what you said.

Lisa said...

I also agree with what you said. It is so very heavy for such a small book. The author isn't afraid to show you just how brutal it is. I look at my children, in a room full of toys, in a country full of privilege and I can't imagine a child of that age put into circumstances like that...