Books : What Is the What (Vintage)

Rating: - Post Modern Colonialism
[...]

"In the case of What Is the What, Eggers has made the very daring decision not only to fictionalize about extreme events that he never experienced, but to base his fictions of genocide on the true story of a real, living person. This might be his way of addressing precisely his lack of experience. But then why go to all the narrative trouble? Eggers could just as well have transcribed Deng's extraordinary story without fictionalizing it. The unadorned story, the true story humbly recorded and presented, would not have been lacking in force. The eerie, slightly sickening quality about What Is the What is that Deng's personhood has been displaced by someone else's style and sensibility -- by someone else's story. Deng survived his would-be killers in the Sudan, only to have his identity erased here."

And

"And Eggers's book is also another unsettling thing. I never thought I would reach for this vocabulary, but What Is the What's innocent expropriation of another man's identity is a post-colonial arrogance -- the most socially acceptable instance of Orientalism you are likely to encounter. Perhaps this is the next stage of American memoir. Perhaps, having run out of marketable stories to tell about ourselves, we will now travel the world in search of desperate people willing to rent out their lives, the way indigent people in some desolate places give up their children. Perhaps we have picked our psyches clean, and now we need other people's stories the way we need other people's oil."

---

Rating: - Absolutely Amazing
This is one of the most compelling books I've read in years. I picked this up after having watched the documentary, God Grew Tired of Us (also highly recommended) and, while I realize that the story of the Lost Boys has been told and retold, it hasn't been portrayed in such a moving and heartfelt way as in Egger's book. It is both funny and sad, deflating yet inspirational.

If you are already familiar with the Lost Boys' stories, you will find this book enlightening. It is sufficiently detailed to help the reader understand the types of atrocities these children endured during their time in Sudan and their struggles once reaching the US - in a way that the documentaries are not able to fully convey. If you are not already familiar with them, I think you will find the book moving and inspirational nonetheless. More than just telling the amazing story of a group of boys, it highlights the role of the Western world in developing countries, the impact that US charitable organizaitons can have on the lives of the less fortunate and the issues with which many African countries have struggled for centuries.

---

Rating: - Easy to read entree into important topic
If you don't want to have to work too hard to learn some basic facts about Sudan and the African refugee experience, this book provides a great entrée. Plus, if you buy the book, all of the proceeds go to the foundation that is building a school in protagonist Achuk Deng's home village in southern Sudan. Given the successful marketing campaign behind the book - it was prominently displayed in every single airport bookshop that I visited during a recent trip, including in countries where English is not the official language - it would appear that the proceeds may be substantial. Deng's story is horrific, but yet it is inspiring to see what the human spirit can endure and still survive. As other reviewers have commented, this would make for a good high school text, especially since the publisher has made available a handy reader's guide and other helpful resources. (The website www.valentinoachakdeng.org has book resources, photos and information on the real-life Deng and his projects.)

Although fewer pages are devoted to it, we also get some sense of the difficulties faced by Sudanese refugees in assimilating into U.S. culture. Like many immigrants, the protagonist looks forward to streets paved with gold, only to face minimum-wage work, crime, racism, and formidable barriers to success at every turn.

I gave it four stars because, like other Amazon reviewers, I found the mixing of fact and fiction troubling. Why was this necessary, I kept wondering. What is real, and what is not? Wouldn't Deng's real-life experiences have been more compelling? And how can something be labeled an "autobiography" when it is written in the voice of a completely different person with a vastly different life experience? Indeed, Deng's name does not even appear on the front cover.

Especially since the book was fictionalized, I wondered why it had to open with a robbery at the hands of two African Americans in Atlanta, and why that had to occupy the whole first half. I especially disbelieved the emotional tenor of the novel; it was too light and upbeat considering the real Deng's struggles with crippling despondency. Also too contrived and artificial was the device through which Eggers chose to tell this story - as a series of imaginary conversations with Americans that Deng encountered.

This novel did spark my interest in reading the nonfictionalized autobiographies of other Sudanese "Lost Boys." (Stephen Balbach's Amazon review lists several.) In the end, anything that generates greater awareness and interest in the plight of the Sudanese is a good thing, and hopefully it will translate into more practical assistance for those who so desperately need it.

---

Rating: - I laughed until I cried...
There were many points were I laughed until I cried and then cried until I had to close the book- so engaging, entertaining, and unbelievable. A sad but remarkable story that defines the strength of the human spirit.

---

Rating: - WONDERFUL
A beautifully written, deeply touching story. Should be required reading for high school kids as there are lessons in humanity, history, war, race relations, and love.