Reviews

What Is the What by Dave Eggers

katieinca's review against another edition

4.0

I don't even remember when I started listening to this. It took months. When the choices were listening to election news or hearing about boys dying from violence, disease, and starvation, can you blame me?
I'm glad I read it. I won't read it again.

mefrost's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

becsmars's review

challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

mrswhite's review

5.0

What is the What, although labeled a novel for reasons I don't fully agree with, is the true story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the 4,000 Sudanese refugees granted U.S. citizenship after being displaced from their homes due to an unimaginably violent civil war. Along with 20,000 other children, most ten or younger, Deng was suddenly "orphaned" (fifteen years later Deng makes the unbelievable discovery that his parents did, in fact, survive the attack) when his village was burned down by Arab militants. Facing no other options, Deng and tens of thousands of children like him walked from the site of their decimated homes to Ethiopia in search of asylum. Although many children died making the unimaginably cruel journey, Deng was one of the lucky ones who survived, finding relative safety first in Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally in America.

Wanting to share his story but recognizing his limits as a writer, Deng elicited the help of Dave Eggers (McSweeney's, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), who did a truly phenomenal job. Eggers begins his story in Deng's Atlanta apartment where he has lived for several years, growing more and more disenfranchised with the promise of the American dream. Eggers writes,

"When I first came to this country, I would tell silent stories. I would tell them to people who had wronged me. If someone cut in front of me in line, ignored me, bumped me, or pushed me, I would glare at them, staring, silently hissing a story to them. You do not understand, I would tell them. You would not add to my suffering if you knew what I have seen."

Eggers reveals the details of Deng's difficult past through these "silent stories" told to strangers: the couple who forcibly entered his Atlanta apartment and robbed him at gunpoint, a disingenuous police officer, disinterested hospital staff, the college admissions officer who has little interest in helping him achieve his dream of a higher education, and the like.

It's hard to imagine why God, fate, luck, or whatever you want to call it would let a man like Deng suffer so much, but while it might be easy for the tone to turn angry it never really does. Understandably, Eggers' novel is both chilling and painful, but it is also inspiring and funny. I haven't been as impressed with, emotionally engaged in, and educated by a book this much since The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Simply put, it was amazing, and I'm a better person for having read it.

footprof's review

5.0

This was recommended to me by my daughter and she was right! I have read a few by Dave Eggers, and perhaps out of order of publication, and I was losing my confidence in his ability to remain on my "must read" author list. However, this book returns him to that short (or not so short) list. A great book with a roller coaster of emotions, informative about something I know (knew) little about (Sudan), and, having read about other war-torn, poverty-stricken areas in that part of the world, served to enhance that knowledge. Highly recommended!

jimio's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

suedd's review

4.0

This is the first of many lost boys books I read. Though it is fiction, its heartbreaking details ring true as they are similar to many non-fiction books. I came away in awe of the resisilience of human beings. The worst and best of humanity is found in this book.

nderiley's review

3.0

Deng's story of his lost childhood is saddening and amazing for his ability to survive. I can't imagine living through your country at war for such a long time and it's a tragedy that civil wars like these can take as many civilians as soldiers. As far as the writing goes, I appreciated Eggers not going into to much detail on the violence Deng encountered but I also found the narrative disjointed at times. Flipping back and forth from his journey as a refugee to modern day made sense in some scenarios but in others, it felt like the flip was more out of habit.

cpweiden's review

4.0

So un-Eggers like. Very tradtional,well-crafted story of the Sudan Civil War. Great read. I have been reading 2 books for 6 months. Yet, I finished this in about two weeks.

minnenina's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0