This book is the fictionalized autobiography of real-life Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng, who grew up mostly in a refugee camp in Kenya (where he lived for 10 years!)

Eggers weaves a present tense with the story of Valentino's childhood in Sudan. In the present tense Valentino is getting robbed and beaten in his Atlanta apartment because he trusted the people who came to the door. Finally when he is discovered bleeding on the floor of his apartment by his roommate, he is taken to the hospital where it takes ages for him to get help. As all of that is happening, in his mind Valentino tells the story of his life to his robbers, to the unhelpful people at the hospital, to the people who walk into the health club where he works at the front desk, and to the readers of the book.

It's difficult to imagine that one man has lived through so much! Paramilitaries backed by the Sudanese government attacked the village of Marial Bai where the little boy Valentino lived, and he ended up walking all the way to Ethiopia with a group of other "lost boys". He did not know if his parents were alive or dead for many years, until he was an adult. The walk to Ethiopia nearly killed Valentino, and did kill many of the other boys. After living in a refugee camp for several years in Ethiopia, with tens of thousands of others, he was forced to flee a massacre at that camp back across southern Sudan to northern Kenya, where he ended up living in another refugee camp for an entire decade. Along the way, boys and girls and men and women died from animals, insects, bombings, shootings, hunger, thirst. For someone who didn't know much about that world, some of this is surprising, such as how long refugees are trapped as refugees, when "temporary" camps become seemingly permanent. Kakuma (the camp in Kenya) is a place where Valentino and the refugees could not provide for themselves, owing to the poor quality of the land. It really is like being in prison.

For me, the saddest part of the entire story by far is the fate of Valentino's love Tabitha, another refugee from Sudan who ended up in Seattle. It's strange that I would feel that way, given how many terribly sad things happen in this book. I guess I would like to believe that among the survivors love is possible.

Names are a notable part of this story. Valentino picks up names like "Gone Far" (for having walked the farthest to Ethiopia) and "Sleeping" (for having decided to stop walking and die on the road, only to be saved by a girl who won't let him stay there) and "Dominic" (because his drama teacher couldn't remember names). The refugees come up with clever nicknames like "Potential Food" for the leader who describes every empty field as potential food (mockingly they point to every rock and every tire as potential food).

Finally there is the question of What is the What? The What is a reference to a Dinka story, where God offers the Dinka people a choice between the cattle they see before them, and the What (the unknown). Of course the Dinka chose the cattle which gave them life (abundance, etc). At the end of the book Valentino gives a speech that frames that choice as a mistake of timidity, although I find myself disagreeing with that thought. Abundance seems like a decent choice if it's offered! But Valentino's life offered no abundance. He was thrown about from one What to another. Coming to America was the first time in his life where he chose the What -- the first time he was free to make his own choice.

After finishing the book, I remembered a point earlier in the story where Tabitha and Valentino traveled to Nairobi (where they share their first kiss), and she urged him to run away from their group and not return to the refugee camp. He wouldn't do it, because to run away would mean other refugees would never again be permitted visits outside the camp. I find myself wishing he'd have listened to her and chosen that What instead of the What at the end of the book (coming to America). I wonder if he ever feels that way.

You can visit Valentino's foundation here:
http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/

Zo één van die zeldzame romans waarvan je vrij snel weet dat je hem zes sterren wil geven.

I picked this book up at this particular moment for a reason. While I've really liked, even loved, several of the books I've read so far this year, I haven't really felt blown away by anything. I was looking for something that was going to blow me away, and I thought this book might fit the bill. Luckily for me, I turned out to be totally right.

This book succeeds completely on two levels. On the one level, if you want to learn about what was happening in Sudan in the eighties and nineties, this book will tell you pretty much everything you need to know. But fortunately, for all the information that's imparted, Dave Eggers doesn't forget that his book must also work as a novel, and it does. It really, really does. The book is longer than it looks--more than 500 pages--but they go by swiftly. I can't remember the last time I got this absorbed in a book; I would forget my surroundings entirely, and given that I was reading a lot of it on rush-hour trains and crowded train platforms, that's really saying something.

I think my experience of reading this book made me understand what people mean when they call something an "instant classic." That term has always seemed like hyperbole to me--after all, the whole reason books are considered "classics" is because they stand the test of time; there's nothing instant about it. But I truly believe What Is the What is going to be one of those books that's still being read decades from now. There's really no excuse for not reading this at some point. Very highly recommended.

No 121 in my Reading the World Journey - South Sudan.

The story follows Valentino Achak Deng, one of tens of thousands of boys displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese War, which spanned nearly two decades, from 1987 to 2005. While a novel, What Is the What has been called by Eggers a “fictionalized autobiography.” As Deng explains in his introduction to the text, they decided that it should be considered a novel because many of the events occurred when he was too young to have sharp and vivid memories of the conversations; however, it is important to know that all the major events in the book are true.

This is one of the better Reading the World books I have encountered. It is full of South Sudanese history and describes the program to bring South Sudanese refugees to the United States.

5 stars

ما هذا العمل ماهذا الألمممم؟؟؟؟؟

I don't think I've ever felt so terrible for not-loving a book. There are many possible explanations for this -- I've read far more disturbing stories of genocide and conflict; I'm decently educated about the Sudan/Lost Boy situation; my expectations were unreachably high; I have no soul -- but I don't think any of these should have protected me from the full impact of what is, undeniably, an extremely humbling true story, told with great sensitivity. There was nothing wrong with this book, and I actually can't articulate a single flaw in it, except that I -- me, who sobs to the key of everything -- was not moved. In fact, up to the final paragraph (which was wonderful), I was barely engaged, constantly distracted by things like when to shower, or whether my apple crisp was overbaked. I'd parse out the banality of my own evil here, but I have to run - this sack of kittens won't drown itself!

du-du-dear reader!

haha, just a little inside joke there! don't worry if you don't understand it, because you probably won't, because it's between me and just one other person (that i know of) and that's why it's inside! and you're on the outside! so suck my dick! hahaha just kidding!

well, as you have already noticed, the title of today's show is "lions and tigers and armed mujadeen militia, OH MY!" and that's because the book we'll be discussing today is david eggers' fiction debut, "WHAT UP?!" by dave eggers! ok who's ready? i am! let's go! (get ready!)


REVIEW:

semi-fictionalized autobiography of valentino achak deng, a sudanese man who experienced firsthand the civil war violence.
refugee, comes to america, retells his history by "talking" to people and objects around him in his current life in america.
lions eating kids, kids shooting people with AK-47's, rape, pillaging, tons of totally fucked up shit!


VERDICT:

honestly, while this book is historically significant (great insight into what happened), any aspirations eggers may have had to write a "great novel" fall short, and as a piece of literature, it's above-average at best. and considering it follows heartbreaking work, in which eggers demonstrated nothing less than pure fucking genius, it's downright disappointing.

The worst book I have ever read. What's wrong with everyone? You can have sympathy for refugees and not like the book. If you like this book you obviously have no taste. This assault on the English language and the reader's attention is rated higher than 1984. Go figure. The author is not even African. Ah!!

hi, dave eggers.

it's kira again.

remember how i was ragging on you about your self-indulgence when i reviewed 'a staggering work...'?

well, this book basically proves me right. i shan't gloat, only explain.

writing as another person, the luminous and deeply wonderful valentine, you are finally freed from the shackles of Dave Eggerness, and able to include everything that makes your writing so special, and omit everything that makes you a wee bit tedious.

this book, despite being about a truly horrifying topic (fucking sudan, man) is so full of hope and humanity and heart, that i have no trouble imagining myself reading it again, in years to come. the suffering is handled deftly, without any excess, where a less skilled writer might be tempted to really grind the reader's face in the horror. but not you, dave, because you are truly skilled, and you know that the horror is strong enough to speak for itself, and it doesn't need a bullhorn.

after reading the book, i went online to valentine's website and saw all the pictures from your trip to sudan together, and read about your project, and how you gave him all of your proceeds, which is just lovely.

oh, dave. i was just so proud of your after reading this miraculous book. thanks for it, and mcsweeney's and 826 valencia and the believer and everything else.

What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny,

My review: Valentino Achak Deng was a refugee from the Sudanese Civil war. Although this book is a fictionalized memoir of his life and struggles from a boy into manhood, many portions of the book are true. The plight of Deng’s struggles through starvation and his struggles in the refugee camp were detailed. Once in America, his struggles do not end. Deng’s goal was to finish college and go back to Africa a changed man. He did finally finish college and has made it his life long journey to build schools for the Sudanese children. He is working towards making life bearable in poverity stricken areas throughout Africa.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I would have enjoyed it even more had this been a work of non-fiction. The majority of the book was non-fiction but certain stories were embellished or gaps were filled in by the author, which deemed it a work of fiction. The prose was beautiful and at times I could see Deng and the lost boys running in the forest, and I could also envision the daily lives of the poverty stricken people in Ethiopia and Sudan.

I was exposed to this book through the "One Book, One Philadelphia" program, and I devoured it over the course of a few days immediately after I read Imaculee Ilibagiza's book Left to Tell (part of my "death and destruction in East Africa" kick, I suppose). It turned out to be a very interesting juxtaposition, as Ilibagiza consistently credits her faith, even miracles, for bringing her through the Rwandan holocaust alive, while Dave Eggers's Deng consistently doubts the beneficence of his God.

The account of the Second Sudanese Civil War and the subsequent Diaspora are nothing short of amazing. I was constantly reminding myself that the events Eggers relates actually took place, and each time this sunk in, finding myself crushed by the magnitude of hardship. Valentino Achak Deng has endured enough suffering for hundreds at every turn of his life, yet continues to move forward, continues to relate his story to those who will listen. Overall, the book is a masterfully told depiction of one of the great tragedies of our time. Everyone should read this.

Yet I found myself unconsciously glancing at the title page every time I opened this book... What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, A Novel, by Dave Eggers. "Interesting choice of designations," I initially thought. But then, as I realized the magnitude of this tale, and further, I was reminded of the magnitude of the Sudanese Diaspora, my thoughts resolved themselves a bit. Isn't it a bit disturbing that the job of telling the story of an African man who has had one of the hardest lives I could imagine falls to a wealthy, white, American novelist? What happened to this African's voice? Now, I realize, as I have had this discussion with several already, that all of the proceeds go to charity, that Deng wrote the foreword praising Eggers as the perfect partner, and that Eggers's literary stylings are all but absent from the book. I realize that these two men had the best intentions in mind when composing this story. Yet I also notice the thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Sudanese whose voices were appropriated, subsumed even, under the device of "The Autobiography, A Novel, by a Storyteller". Wasn't there a Sudanese (perhaps Deng himself) who could've related this same tale? Perhaps it may not have been quite as engaging in its prose, or quite as well organized, or moved as well in its narrative pace, but at least it wouldn't have reeked of colonialism. This was an African war, involving solely Africans, in fact, on which the United States and the rest of the developed world were distinctly absent from. While I do not pretend Eggers or his publishers intentions mirror those of the recent administrations of the United States, one would think the African nature of this story would demand an African voice.

Or perhaps I need to step off my soapbox and thank Deng and Eggers for a wonderfully personal account of one of the most awful sets of events I have ever read about. Five stars for the book. It was great, you should read it. Minus one star for an air of suspicion that may get more malicious as I think about the implications of this book more.

This book is one of a series that make up the Voice of Witness series - a collection of books intended to give a voice to people whose lives have been plagued by conflict, persecution, exile and other such humanitarian crises. Such noble intentions aside, most people will encounter this book because of the author, Dave Eggers, author of the love-it-or-hate-it novel A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

The book tells the semi-fictionalised biography of Valentino Achak Deng, a young man who has as many names as he has had "homes": Achak; Valentino; Dominic; Sleeper; Gone Far; Red Army; Sudan; and Lost Boy.

Achak grew up in Southern Sudan amid the dormant political and cultural tensions between the "Arabs" of the North and the "Africans" of the South. His home-village is remote geographically and culturally. He has a pleasant life as a boy amid the safety and relative comfort of his extended family, but this life is shattered with the arrival of the civil war between the Islamic government of the North and the rebel army of the South, the SPLA. We witness the Islamic government's policy of "draining the river to catch the fish" by violently wiping out whole villages across Southern Sudan with the use of bombing raids and mounted Arab militias. Achak watches as the men are slaughtered, and the women and children are carried away to be sold as slaves.

Achak escapes, and begins his endless journey, first walking from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia; then from Ethiopia to Kenya; before travelling to the US.

Achak's journey is almost unbearably tragic and dangerous. He is one of innumerable war orphans and refugees, and thousands of young boys die on the journey. Achak's survival can only be attributed to the weight of odds, though, as time passes, Achak understandably begins to question whether God is punishing him for some unknown but monumental sin.

As is probably obvious, What is the What is not an easy read. There were moments when I wanted to throw it under my bed and forget about it because the repeated confrontation with the tragedy, cruelty and stupidity of human life was too much to bear. However, Achak is extremely likeable, and I began to really care about his welfare. It was also hard to give up on the hope that such an honest, benevolent, and determined person could not be rewarded at the end of the day. Mostly, though, the story is so well told, at the same time both a simple account of events and a complex emotional and metaphorical study of humanity.

Egger's debut work and this story share similarities: both are about "orphans". Both are semi-autobiographical. Both protagonists are searching for an escape from the tragedy of their pasts, in one way or another.

The differences are also numerous. Eggers' debut infuriated readers by combining confrontational emotional confession with tricksy literary games. While clever, these often seemed like pressure valves; like Eggers could only expose so much before ducking behind his post-modern stunts. Also, Eggers' voice was aggressively young and energetic - never sitting still; always performing literary cartwheels and painting elaborate metaphors.