What is the What
by Dave Eggers
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Book Reviews of What is the What
Book Review: Dave Eggers' What is the What
Summary: 4 Stars
Too many stories have been told about the unrealized American Dream: of struggling immigrants--of opportunities lost, robbed, scammed--in the land of dreams-come-true. Of immigrants, coming to the United States in hopes of achieving greater material prosperity than was possible in their countries of origin, only to have their illusions shattered. Dave Eggers' What is the What is no different, eloquently depicting the heartbreaking tale of living in America for Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng.
As part of 20,000 Sudanese children, the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan, Deng was forced to trek great distances to avoid lethal raids by Arab militias. Leaving his home towards the relatively safer Ethiopia and later Kenya, Deng and the Lost Boys witnessed unimaginable horrors of death by starvation, dehydration, lion attacks, and government-sanctioned armed forces. Years later in a chance happening, Deng moved to the United States where he suffered subsequent hardships.
Written in Deng's voice, the fictionalized autobiography uses America as a framework for flashbacks to Deng's life story--his childhood before the cruelties of the second Sudanese civil war, during the trek to Ethiopia, and his stay at refugee camps. However, the troubles Deng endured in the United States are told in parallel to his experiences in Africa.
Eggers tells of Deng's tales through an imaginary conversation with a young African-American boy, a relative of the robbers who had ransacked Deng's meager possessions. Even though Deng had already suffered the unthinkable in Africa, his struggle in life continued even as he moved to America, the land of supposed hope. "God has a problem with me," Deng states matter-of-factly, his pain, dissatisfaction, and resentment long dissolved from the continual difficulties life dispensed his way.
The American Dream is only a line in Deng's epopee; a tiny matter Eggers used as a foil to emphasize the never-ending ordeals Deng will always face. The shattered American Dream sings the requiem for Deng's dreams and goals in life. America holds no future for Deng, only more misery, it seems to sing.
Like all gripping books that tell of heartbreakingly sorrowful tales, we the readers will become expert page-turners to find out if everything will turn out all right in the end. Do not be disheartened and continue to the end of the novel to see things work out for some characters. The lyricism and beautiful narration of Deng's life story makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. Hinged to every specificity right from the get go, we witness a detailed picaresque of the journey of the Lost Boys. With the second Sudanese civil war recently ended (1983-2005), the novel serves as a powerful testimony of the tragedy in East Africa. The novel asks: so what if American Dreams are unfulfilled and individuals like Valentino Achak Deng have suffered continuously, if the American public remains oblivious to similar events such as the ongoing genocide in Darfur?
"Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories. ... I speak to you because I cannot help it. It gives me strength, almost unbelievable strength, to know that you are there. ... I am alive and you are alive so we must fill the air with our words. I will fill today, tomorrow, every day until I am taken back to God. I will tell stories to people who will listen and to people who don't want to listen, to people who seek me out and to those who run. All the while I will know that you are there. How can I pretend that you do not exist? It would be almost as impossible as you pretending that I do not exist."
--Valentino Achak Deng, What is the What
Book Review: What is What is the What
Summary: 5 Stars
David Eggers beautifully tells the tale of the struggles and triumphs of Valentino Achak Deng, a Lost Boy of Sudan. Raised in peaceful, pre-Civil War Sudan, growing up walking for months to Ethiopia, maturing in various refugee camps, and reaching adulthood struggling to learn a new culture, Valentino has had a life of constant movement and hardship. Yet, the book does not leave the reader feeling depressed; Valentino's personality and strength reminds the reader of the resiliency of the human soul. At times it even manages to find humor despite the heavy subject matter.
Eggers' beautiful description and agility with language paints a portrait of the life Valentino led, the places he saw, the people he knew, and the events he witnessed. Labeled as a work of fiction, Valentino's preface ensures that this tale is an honest account of the life he knew. Relatable, imaginative, and descriptive in the most creative way, Eggers made this 535 paged book an addictive and enjoyable read. The novel has a high level of intensity, only stopping briefly just long enough for the audience to catch their breath. Showing rather than telling, his words hold much more weight and provoke vivid images: "She fell, and the white parts of her dress became red."
Rather than just only telling a "sob story" about Valentino's life, the book provides insightful social and political commentary. In the Sudanese Civil War, there were obvious enemies and oppressors, but Valentino tells about the unexpected enemies and rivals that Civil War creates: "I came to resent the sight of my own people, to loathe how many of them there were, how needful, gangrenous, bug-eyed and wailing." In the refugee camp, these issues became deeper with the mixing of many nationalities and ethnicities. He does an excellent job of making the reader understand the paranoia, suspicion and distrust that festers underneath the surface of refugee life. When Valentino is interviewing applicants for a job in Kakuma refugee camp he faces a conflict of race. "I found myself trusting the Kenyan, whom I did not know, more than my own countrymen. This happened occasionally and always it was a conundrum."
The book shows the identity crisis caused from moving quickly from country to country, always having an uncertain future. "What was life in Kakuma? Was it life? There was a debate about this. On the one hand, we were alive which meant that we were living a life, and that we were eating and could enjoy friendships and learning and could love. But we were no where." As he traveled from place to place during war times, his attitude became bleaker and bleaker, yet reveals an unsettling truth, "I knew that the world was the same everywhere, that there were only inconsequential variations between the suffering in one place and another."
Probably the most surprising struggle Valentino faced was adjusting to life in America. He looked to America as a haven, a holy land with no problems or worries. The reality of America was much different and caused conflict in the hearts of Valentino and the other Lost Boys. The duality of African refugee life in America is troubling. Facing poverty, theft, racism, and intolerance in America, the refugees have to be careful as to not seem ungrateful. "[America] is a miserable place, of course, a miserable and glorious place that I love dearly and of which I have seen far more than I could have expected."
Provocative and informative, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the story of the Lost Boys or East African Affairs. This clear tale of one man's journey is emotional and thought-provoking all at once. Eggers and Deng make great storytellers as documented in What is the What.
-JULIA Z
Book Review: Powerful and sad
Summary: 5 Stars
My high school education about Africa consisted of, "Africa is a continent, and we took slaves from there." It's no wonder I had little to no understanding of the history of the continent. I never even learned about apartheid until college, and before reading this book I wouldn't have been able to find Sudan on a map.
And that, I suppose, is why Dave Eggers wrote this book. Yes, Darfur has become a buzz word as of late, especially in liberal towns like mine where people enjoy putting signs on their front lawns featuring the issue of the week (it feels like just yesterday I was reading about gay marriage in my neighbor's landscaping...), but still--the average American is hard-pressed to care or even basically understand what life is like for the average refugee in a third-world country.
What is the What is the mostly-true story of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee--also known as one of the "Lost Boys"--who was forced to leave his village and wander from refugee camp to refugee camp after the Sudan Civil War started in the 1980s. I say "mostly true" because Eggers embellished a bit and altered the timing of certain events to make the book have a more fluid narrative. But the heart of the story is true, and everything that is said to have happened really did happen to refugee boys in Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Because of the news reports about Darfur, I had an idea of the atrocities committed against certain tribes in Africa. But hearing it as told from the perspective of one individual completely changes your understanding of what these people go through on a daily basis. Because Achak is a young boy for most of the story, the style of the language is very simple, clear and innocent. And there's nothing quite as powerful and disturbing as witnessing the total destruction of a village--your home and everyone you know burned, raped, kidnapped or killed--while seeing it through the eyes and comprehension of a six-year-old.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that this book is going to leave you mildly depressed. Yes, Achak does make it out of the Kenyan refugee camp and over to America, but that doesn't mean his struggles end, nor do the struggles of the countrymen (and especially women) he left behind at camp. You will shake your head constantly reading this novel, because all of it is so absolutely senseless. People killing, maiming and raping each other over religious or ideological differences. Because of ignorance, politics and economics. None of it is necessary, and the vast majority of the victims didn't cause the problems and don't have any desire to be a part of them.
I encourage you to pick up this book, and buy a few copies for your friends and family. The proceeds go to the Valentino Achak Deng foundation, which pays for his college tuition, and also sends money to other refugees still in Africa. Valentino is also back in his home village, now that the Sudanese Civil War has come to an end, and is trying to build a middle school there to educate the youth of Africa. While I think the donation is a good enough reason to buy the book, I think the information it imparts is obviously far more worthy. You don't have to devote your life to helping African refugees, but you should know their story, and know what is happening in that part of the world. That is, afterall, what Valentino asks for at the end of the book. To simply acknowledge that he exists. It doesn't seem like much to ask.
Book Review: Bowls of Bright Oranges
Summary: 5 Stars
As told to author, Dave Eggers, in What is the What, Valentino Achak Deng, recounts his walking journey from the war-torn Sudan and how he eventually arrived in the United States . In this epic novel, that made it to the New York Times bestsellers list, we are introduced to one of the "Lost Boys", survivors of the massacre to their homeland who walked a journey that lasted months with many other motherless (and fatherless) boys and some girls. We realize that many of them made the journey while more did not, having lost their lives to hunger, malaria, being eaten by lions, eating raw meat, the enemy soldiers, and loss of hope among many other things. Achak's hope was in getting to their destination where there would be "bowls of bright oranges" on every kitchen table.
Achak "tells" his story, while living in Atlanta , GA , to the many people he encounters in his life through his daily living. The beginning of his retelling starts as he is being subjected to a home invasion. While he is gagged, he obviously cannot physically talk, but in his mind, he is telling one of his captors, a child, his story as if to say, "Don't you know what I've been through? So why would you pick me to do this to?". In "telling" his story to the people he encounters, we meet his childhood friends, William K, Moses, his walking partner, Deng, Achor Achor, and the leader of the walking boys, Dut. We learn of their fates and how without each of these boys, Ackak does not know how he would have made it.
While reading this novel, I thought of my own son, a nine year-old boy, around the same age that Achak was while on his journey. As many sons are to their mothers, Achak was enamored with his. He frequently remembers her bright yellow dress and through his description, you can visualize the deep admiration, respect and love he had for her for she was everything to him. So to have to leave everything you know and venture on this journey, having to know who to trust and who knows the safest journey, when to rest, and when to keep walking, is so much for an adult, but especially for little boys. That he made it through this journey simply speaks to God's purpose that he had for this boy and increased my faith just by reading about it. We also learn, as readers, what the "what" is.
Dave Eggers did an awesome job of helping Achak tell his story. In reading, you definitely get a sense of Achak's dialect. In addition, while reading, I really heard Achak's voice; it read like a transcription. Dave Eggers made himself invisible so you could know Achak and his journey. This novel has a subject matter I thought was going to be difficult to get through, however he told the story for Achak in a poignant, sometimes funny way with a beautiful use of language and emotion that surpasses all boundaries of language or culture. This book is highly recommended for those that enjoy stories of hope and perseverance.
Lena Willis
APOOO BookClub
Book Review: A vivid biographical novel
Summary: 4 Stars
A biographical novel, What is the What depicts a story about a Sudanese man who flees from his home to live in America. Dave Eggers wrote this story based on the real life events of Valentino Achak Deng. It could either be called a fictional story or a biography. All the stories are true; however, some of the dialogue has been re-created. Eggers gave the stories emotion with his imaginative writing style. He portrays Valentino with such depth; it is hard to believe that Eggers is not the one who experienced all the life-threatening situations.
Valentino is a Lost Boy, who walks all the way from Sudan to Kenya to Ethiopia with lots of other young men trying to get away from the Civil War. When he finally immigrates to America he has to get used to living this new, modernized life. Though he has been living there five years, Valentino forgets the lesson: "never open the door to strangers."
The story starts with Valentino opening the door to a woman and man who hit him, tie him up and then rob his house. As Valentino comes in and out of conscious he notices he is not alone. The two thugs leave him with a young boy named Michael, who sits watching TV and Valentino calls him TV boy in his mind. Valentino then starts to imagine telling this boy about the various stories in his life.
Valentino's memoir discusses his life in the peaceful village that soon turns into a war ground. Eggers does an excellent job of describing the intense detail of the violence and hanging on to every word, waiting to read what happens to Valentino. The story moves back and forth from past to present and presents all the human emotions. All Valentino's tales, which Eggers reproduces so well, allow readers to experience who Valentino is. After reading this novel we better understand the cultural and political aspects during that time period in Africa, and the sufferings the young boys and families had to go through.
Finally, the "What" is introduced by Valentino's father. When reading the title of the book, it confused me. But after reading and understanding what the What actually is, the line is so powerful and used in an excellent context. We find out the difference between learning what is known and unknown. It is an old village story that teaches children and young adults to look for their own What in life.
Creating this mystery in discovering oneself by describing it as a What, is effective and catching. Valentino's stories are heart-felt and written with such emotion but not exaggerated. It is difficult to predict whether a fiction writer can successfully to tell the true tormented anecdotes of a Sudanese boy, but clearly Eggers does a great job in re-accounting the suffering stories about starvation, miles of walking, being eaten by lions and a small love story. It is a book I would recommend to readers who enjoy novels based on real life. Dave Eggers grabs the essence of Valentino Achak Deng and vividly expresses the experiences to us.