Review by Dips Patel of the book and film “Beasts of No Nation” by Uzodinma Iweala / Cary Fukunaga & the memoir “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah

That same day (see two previous posts), I also happened to watch a corking film called ‘Beasts of No Nation,’ which is based on a book of the same title (by Uzodinma Iweala), set in an unnamed West African country.

It’s essentially about a kid who becomes a child soldier and then finds a way out and hope for a better life. Hugely affecting (both the book and the film) it ain’t pleasant or easy viewing (or reading for that matter), but it is worth watching as the performance of the child actor (Abraham Attah) is incredible and powers the film while easily holding his own against Idris Alba and I’d watch that rapscallion in anything – he is very, very good.

Even though it’s a work of fiction (having read ‘A Long Way Gone: the True Story of a Child Soldier,’ by Ishmael Beah, which is absolutely worth reading), it’s time well-spent watching or reading these books/film, a slip of a novel that you’d whip through in an afternoon, but is likely to stay simmering in your consciousness for a long while after and I could say the same about the film and the memoir too.

About the reviewer
Dips Patel is a graduate in Graphic Design which means he can colour in without going over the lines and when he does he makes it look deliberate, cool and edgy. He much prefers fine art where the art of talking nonsense is finer still allowing him extremely moderate success in introducing his work to a wider audience. Hobbies include reading stuff, watching stuff, commendably misguided attempts at painting stuff and consuming copious amounts of coco pops, clementines, curries, cakes and cocktails, not all at the same time which is frowned upon in polite society.