Less Than Impressed

The past two books that've I've read for SSR have anything but "critically-acclaimed" in my opinion. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah and No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarty (the latter of which I didn't eve finish reading) weren't what I was expecting. I'd heard many reports that both books were extremely well-versed and i would greatly enjoy them. This was not the case.

A Long Way Gone was actually a very moving, insightful, 226 page non-fiction autobiography about an African boy who must flee from his home at the age of 12 from the rebels. He is on the run from the rebels for over a year, enduring everythig from being shot at, to losing friends and his brother, to starvation. When he is 13 years old, he is picked up by the government army and made to fight against the rebels. After years of violence, drugs, and other horrible acts, the army releases him to the UNICEF rehabilitation center. Things have been so bleak for Ishmael and the other boys in the army that his AK-47 and the other men the army have become his makeshift family. Ishmael actually states that he feels betrayed by the army for giving him up to UNICEF so he can resume a "normal" life. Although this was a moving story, my interest wasn't captured for most of the story because it appeared as though the same things happened over and over again in the first half of the novel. It was a continuous cycle: something horrific happens, he flees from the rebels, he's safe for awhile, repeat cycle. Although this may be the reality of living thorugh a genocide, it sometimes made for a boring read. Don't get me wrong, the problems throughout Africa should be made known. I just feel as though this novel didn't do so in the most effective of ways. But if you're looking for an inspirational read about hope and life-after-tragedy, this book would be perfect.


No Country For Old Men was a somewhat different experience. I was utterly displeased with this story that had gained fame as both a novel and movie. Everytime I wanted to return the book to the library, I would make myself continue reading for hope it'd get better. I only go to Chapter 6...The plot of the story seemed exciting: a man (Llewelyn Moss) discovers a massacre linked to a drug deal gone bad. Nearby, he finds a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. A drugdealer connected to the bad deal spots Moss and the rest of the novel is spent with Moss trying to outrun the hitman sent out to kill him and recover the money. Sounds good, right? However. McCarthy's style of writing is extremely confusing. His most annoying habit was not putting qoutation marks around someone speaking. I would read entire passages in confusion before I realized it was actually a dialogue. Fletcher said McCarthy was an acquired taste....I tasted and immediately spat it back out.