A review by lindagreen
Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan by Rafal Gerszak

3.0

The journal portion of this book is nicely done, providing a rarely seen glimpse into what this world is like. The photos are exquisite as well and not the same repetitive ones we see in newspapers or on the television. My problem, then, isn’t with the content of the book at all but more the chosen organization. This seems to be a melding of an adult picture book (although some of the writing has been done in such an elementary language that I’m not positive about that) with a memoir. I suppose that’s a creative approach but it just doesn’t seem to work here. I think a full memoir with a companion photography book would have been much more effective. As it is, I feel cheated by not enough photographs and an overabundance of journal entries. But, as I said, the journal entries are well done and could easily stand alone…so, the reader is somewhat cheated on both sides of the coin. A good book to check out at the library but not one I would be likely to recommend as currently published.

ARC Galley Proof