Review of A Dream For Peace
-
kennedyodindo
- Posts: 18
- Joined: 09 Jan 2022, 06:48
- Favorite Book: Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 26
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kennedyodindo.html
- Latest Review: Final Act by Van Fleisher
Review of A Dream For Peace
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Dream For Peace" by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah.]
A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah is a memoir with a befitting title. In it, Dr.Ghoulem Berrah is raised by his humble parents in Aïn Beïda, a town in the province of Constantine. After his brother's passing, he wears an earring to school per their tradition that says a woman must pierce the ear of her surviving son. When his nephew asks him to take up the teaching profession, he refuses. When the struggle to free Algeria from oppressive French rule intensifies, he joins the freedom fighters. He's arrested at some point and taken to prison. He also gets romantically involved with a girl known as Antoinette, a fellow freedom fighter. After some resemblance of peace returns to Algeria, he goes to America for further education and later becomes a professor at Yale University.
Still, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah doesn't find his calling. Until he meets the president of Côte d'Ivoire, His Excellency Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who asks him to come to Africa. Much to the surprise of many, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah leaves Yale University and goes to Côte d'Ivoire, a part of the world where mosquitoes spread malaria like they're paid to do so.
There is a lot to like about A Dream For Peace. To begin with, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah derives his happiness from being a servant of his people. Because he has the Ivorian president's ear, he uses his position to spiritually and economically enrich the Ivorian citizens. On many occasions, he refuses envelopes passed to him by government representatives.
There is also humor in this book, especially when it emerges that Tanzania's President, Mwalimu Julias Nyerere, was once so traumatized by the prospect of eating frog legs that he begged Dr. Ghoulem Berrah to not leave his side. In another incident, the Egyptian media mistook Dr.Ghoulem Berrah for Henry Kissinger, the then US secretary of state. And in another incident, when it was confirmed that Fidel Castro was going to insult the Côte d'Ivoire president during a summit attended by world leaders, Castro's microphone feed was tampered with and he spat his vitriol into the microphone, unaware he had no audience.
I also enjoyed reading this book because, through Dr. Ghoulem Berrah's view of the world leaders he interacted with, I learnt some intimate details about these world leaders that I couldn't have otherwise learnt.
As I said above, this book impressed me a lot, and so I didn't find anything negative about it or anything that could've made me put it down.
In the course of my reading, I didn't come across any errors, grammatical or otherwise. It's therefore my conclusion that A Dream For Peace was exceptionally edited. Regarding rating, I'm giving this book four out of four stars because Dr. Ghoulem Berrah impressed me enough. He was indeed an ambassador of peace and a deeply religious person. Throughout the book, he calls his wife "my love."
A Dream For Peace talks about struggles in Africa. It focuses on leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Jomo Kenyatta, Julias Nyerere, Hosni Mubarak, Kwame Nkrumah, and Mobutu Seseko, alongside their western counterparts such as Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Henry Kissinger, among others. And deep in its heart, there is the search for everlasting peace in the face of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Dr. Ghoulem Berrah right in the mix of things. Aside from being a politically charged book, this book is also about faith and religion.
In summary, I recommend A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah to readers who love reading about politics, history, and religion.
******
A Dream For Peace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah is a memoir with a befitting title. In it, Dr.Ghoulem Berrah is raised by his humble parents in Aïn Beïda, a town in the province of Constantine. After his brother's passing, he wears an earring to school per their tradition that says a woman must pierce the ear of her surviving son. When his nephew asks him to take up the teaching profession, he refuses. When the struggle to free Algeria from oppressive French rule intensifies, he joins the freedom fighters. He's arrested at some point and taken to prison. He also gets romantically involved with a girl known as Antoinette, a fellow freedom fighter. After some resemblance of peace returns to Algeria, he goes to America for further education and later becomes a professor at Yale University.
Still, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah doesn't find his calling. Until he meets the president of Côte d'Ivoire, His Excellency Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who asks him to come to Africa. Much to the surprise of many, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah leaves Yale University and goes to Côte d'Ivoire, a part of the world where mosquitoes spread malaria like they're paid to do so.
There is a lot to like about A Dream For Peace. To begin with, Dr. Ghoulem Berrah derives his happiness from being a servant of his people. Because he has the Ivorian president's ear, he uses his position to spiritually and economically enrich the Ivorian citizens. On many occasions, he refuses envelopes passed to him by government representatives.
There is also humor in this book, especially when it emerges that Tanzania's President, Mwalimu Julias Nyerere, was once so traumatized by the prospect of eating frog legs that he begged Dr. Ghoulem Berrah to not leave his side. In another incident, the Egyptian media mistook Dr.Ghoulem Berrah for Henry Kissinger, the then US secretary of state. And in another incident, when it was confirmed that Fidel Castro was going to insult the Côte d'Ivoire president during a summit attended by world leaders, Castro's microphone feed was tampered with and he spat his vitriol into the microphone, unaware he had no audience.
I also enjoyed reading this book because, through Dr. Ghoulem Berrah's view of the world leaders he interacted with, I learnt some intimate details about these world leaders that I couldn't have otherwise learnt.
As I said above, this book impressed me a lot, and so I didn't find anything negative about it or anything that could've made me put it down.
In the course of my reading, I didn't come across any errors, grammatical or otherwise. It's therefore my conclusion that A Dream For Peace was exceptionally edited. Regarding rating, I'm giving this book four out of four stars because Dr. Ghoulem Berrah impressed me enough. He was indeed an ambassador of peace and a deeply religious person. Throughout the book, he calls his wife "my love."
A Dream For Peace talks about struggles in Africa. It focuses on leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Jomo Kenyatta, Julias Nyerere, Hosni Mubarak, Kwame Nkrumah, and Mobutu Seseko, alongside their western counterparts such as Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Henry Kissinger, among others. And deep in its heart, there is the search for everlasting peace in the face of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Dr. Ghoulem Berrah right in the mix of things. Aside from being a politically charged book, this book is also about faith and religion.
In summary, I recommend A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah to readers who love reading about politics, history, and religion.
******
A Dream For Peace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Final Act by Van Fleisher
